The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each. The mountain range sensu Johann Gottfried Ebel (* 1764, † 1830) is located in France, Switzerland, and Germany.[1] The name “Jura” is derived from the Celtic root "jor" which was latinised into "juria", meaning forest (i.e., "Jura" is forest mountains).[2][3][4]
In France, it covers essentially the region of Franche-Comté, stretching south to the region of Rhône-Alpes east of the department of Ain, where the range reaches its peak at Le Crêt de la Neige. The southern end of the French Jura is in the northwest of the department of Savoie. The north end is in the very south of Alsace. Roughly 1600 square kilometers of the mountain range is protected within the Jura Mountains Regional Natural Park.
In Switzerland, the range covers the western border with France in the Cantons of Basel, Solothurn, Jura, Bern (i.e., Bernese Jura), Neuchâtel, Vaud, and the border with Germany in the Canton of Schaffhausen. It includes also the Canton of Basel-Landschaft. The Swiss Jura has been industrialized since the 18th century and was a major center of the watchmaking industry. Therefore, there are relatively large cities at very high altitudes, such as La Chaux-de-Fonds, Le Locle, and Sainte-Croix (renowned for its musical boxes). This area has had a marked decline in population since about 1960. The Swiss Jura is also one of the three distinct geographical regions of Switzerland, the other being the Swiss plateau and the Swiss Alps.
In Germany, the Jura is lower in altitude, stretching into Bavaria in the Swabian and Franconian plateaus.
The mountain range has given its name to the French department of Jura, the Swiss Canton of Jura, and the Jurassic period of the geologic timescale.
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