Seeland (Switzerland)

Seeland (Drei-Seen-Land) or Pays des trois lacs is a region in Switzerland, at the foot of the first mountain range of the Jura Mountains containing the 3 lakes of Morat, Neuchâtel and Bienne (Biel). In previous eras, it was the floodplain of the Aare and is thus swampy. After the huge hydrological works Jura water correction, the area drained out and could support more cultivation. Seeland is one of the most important regions in Switzerland for growing vegetables, particularly in the Grand Marais (Grosses Moos).

The region is at the boundary of the cantons of Bern, Fribourg, Neuchâtel and Vaud, forming part of the linguistic boundary region between French- and German-speaking Switzerland.

The Bernese Seeland is one of five administrative divisions (regions) in the Canton of Bern, with a population of 72,076 (as of 2015) in 46 municipalities.

During the Ancien Régime Bern acquired the rural bailiwicks or counties of Aarberg, Buren, Erlach and Nidau from the estates of the Lords of Aarberg-Valangin, Strassberg-Büren, Nidau and the Counts of Neuchâtel. Between 1595 and 1628 they were combined together militarily into the so-called Seefähnchen. However, they were politically separate. It was not until 1783-84 that Johann Friedrich von Ryhiner's administrative compendium of the Bernese State presented the four counties as a united region. The Bernese Seeland expanded in 1815 when the city of Biel/Bienne and the surrounding lands of the Prince-Bishop of Basel were given to the Canton of Bern.

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