page_title: Chiasso
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Chiasso / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: Brogeda custom area on Swiss-Italian border Italiano: L'area doganale di Brogeda sul confine Svizzero - Italiano
context_page_description: Chiasso is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
  As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is located at the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso. The municipality of Chiasso includes the villages of Boffalora, Pedrinate and Seseglio.
  In 2007, the three mayors of Chiasso, Vacallo and Morbio Inferiore decided to unite into one commune. The new united commune with a population of approximately 15,300 people over a territory of 9.2 km², was rejected by the population in November 2007.
context_section_description: Chiasso has an area, as of 1997, of 5.33 square kilometers (2.06 sq mi).  Of this area, 1.63 km² (0.63 sq mi) or 30.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.65 km² (1.02 sq mi) or 49.7% is forested.   Of the rest of the land, 1.94 km² (0.75 sq mi) or 36.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.02 km² (4.9 acres) or 0.4% is either rivers or lakes and 0.04 km² (9.9 acres) or 0.8% is unproductive land.
  Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.7% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 18.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 14.4%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.7%.  Out of the forested land, 47.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees.  Of the agricultural land, 7.9% is used for growing crops, while 4.3% is used for orchards or vine crops and 18.4% is used for alpine pastures.  All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
  The municipality is located in the Mendrisio district, on the Italian border.  Since Pedrinate merged into Chiasso in 1976, it has been the most southerly municipality in Switzerland.
caption: Border crossing and surrounds at Chiasso
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