Jura

Jura, department, France

Jura (zhürä`), department (1990 pop. 249,600), E France, in Franche-Comté, bordering on Switzerland. Lons-le-Saunier is the capital. The area is a major producer of Gruyère cheese and a center for the manufacture of plastics and pipes.

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Jura, mountain range, France and Switzerland

Jura (jr`ə, Fr. zhürä`, Ger. y`rä), mountain range, part of the Alpine system, E France and NW Switzerland, occupying parts of the French region of Franche-Comté and the Swiss cantons of Vaud, Neuchâtel, Bern, Solothurn, and Basel. It extends in narrow, parallel ridges c.160 mi (260 km) from the Rhine River at Basel to the Rhône River SW of Geneva; Crêt de la Neige (5,652 ft/1,723 m), in France, is the highest peak. The Jura's rounded crests and summits are covered with dense pine forests and good pasture lands. The region is drained by the Doubs, the Ain, the Loué, and smaller streams. Major cities include La Chaux-de-Fonds, Neuchâtel, and Biel, Switzerland, and Besançon, France. Hydroelectric plants in the Jura supply power to pulp and paper, textile, and woodworking industries. Important watch industries, particularly in the Swiss towns of Le Locle, La Chaux-de-Fonds, and Grenchen, are also there. Export products from the French Jura include brierwood (for pipes), plastics, and cheese. The Jura Mts. are a popular year-round resort region. Composed of sandstone and limestone and rich in fossils, the Jura gives its name to the Jurassic period. The mountains N of Lake Constance in SW Germany are called the Swabian Jura.

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Jura, canton, Switzerland

Jura (jr`ə, Fr. zhürä` , Ger. y`rä), canton (1993 pop. 68,300), 3,256 sq mi (840 sq km), NW Switzerland. In the Jura Mts., bordered by the Swiss cantons of Bern on the south and Solothurn in the east and by France in the north and west. Its capital is Delémont, and its chief rivers are the Doubs and Birs. Agricultural products, horses, and cattle are the major economic concerns. The traditional watchmaking industry has long been important in the Jura region; textiles and tobacco are also manufactured. The region that now comprises Jura had been part of Bern canton until dissension between Roman Catholics (largely French-speaking) and Protestants (largely German-speaking) led to requests for an independent canton of Jura. The vote came in 1978, and the following year Jura became Switzerland's 23d canton. The region was a prince bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire from 999 until the Congress of Vienna in 1815. It had had close ties to the Swiss Confederation since the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) and in 1815 it was made part of Bern canton.

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Jura, island, Scotland

Jura, island, Great Britain: see Hebrides, the.