It is located where the Aare flows out of Lake Thun (Thunersee), 30 kilometres (19 miles) southeast of Bern.

Besides tourism, machine and precision instrument engineering, the largest garrison in the country, the food industry, armaments and publishing are of economic importance to Thun.

During the early Bronze Age there were a number of settlements along the lake shore and the Aare.

A site at Renzenbühl had a local chief or nobleman's grave which contained one of the richest collections of early Bronze Age artifacts in Europe.

The Thun-Renzenbühl axe, dating from 1800 BC, is one of the earliest examples of damascening technique in the world.

[4] Another site at Wiler contained approximately 1,500 maritime snail shells which were harvested from the Mediterranean and traded over the Alps.

The Aare became the frontier between the Christian Burgundians and the Pagan, German-speaking Alemanni, who lived north.

[5] The region of Thun became a part of the Holy Roman Empire in 1033, when Conrad II gained the title of King of Burgundy.

The emperors entrusted the Zähringen family, centred in Bern, with subduing the unruly nobles of central Switzerland.

Around 1190 Duke Bertold V of Zähringen, built Thun castle and expanded the town.

Thun was connected to the railway network of Switzerland in 1859 and telephone access made available in 1888.

The wettest month was August during which time Thun received an average of 138 mm (5.4 in) of rain or snow.

The month with the most days of precipitation was June, with an average of 12.9, but with only 132 mm (5.2 in) of rain or snow.

The driest month of the year was February with an average of 46 mm (1.8 in) of precipitation over 8.3 days.

[11] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules on a Bend Argent in chief a Mullet of Seven Or.

[12] In the 2019 federal election for the Swiss National Council the most popular party was the SVP which received 26.6% (-4.2) of the vote.

[16] For 30 years, authorities, associations and other population groups have been visiting the Zähringer towns.

In Germany, this friendly alliance includes: Freiburg im Breisgau, Villingen-Schwenningen, Neuenburg am Rhein, Bräunlingen, St. Peter in the Black Forest and Weilheim an der Teck, and in Switzerland: Bern, Freiburg, Burgdorf, Murten and Rheinfelden.

[24] The historical population is given in the following chart:[5] From the 2000 census[update], 26,334 or 65.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 5,852 or 14.5% were Roman Catholic.

The number of jobs in the primary sector was 66, of which 63 were in agriculture, 1 was in forestry or lumber production and 1 was in fishing or fisheries.

In the tertiary sector; 2,910 or 20.6% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 918 or 6.5% were in the movement and storage of goods, 968 or 6.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 345 or 2.4% were in the information industry, 663 or 4.7% were the insurance or financial industry, 1,075 or 7.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 692 or 4.9% were in education and 2,457 or 17.4% were in health care.

Here public transport bus service, both within the urban area and connecting Thun with nearby towns, is provided by Verkehrsbetriebe STI.

Intercity passenger rail service is provided by BLS AG and by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS).

The Steamship Blüemlisalp, the former Hotel Bellevue-Du Parc, the former Hotel Thunerhof, the zum Rosengarten House, the Landsitz Bellerive, the armory (Mannschaftskaserne), the former hospital at Platzschulhaus, the Rathaus (Town council house), the Reformed Church of Scherzligen and the Sammlung Historisches Armeematerial (Collection of Historical Military Equipment) are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.

This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude.