Neuchâtel (literally: French: Neu New + Old French Châtel now château Castle is the capital of the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel. The city has as of December 2007 approximately 32 600 inhabitants by and large French-speaking although the city is sometimes referred to historically by the German name which has the same meaning since it originally belonged to the Holy Roman Empire and later Prussia ruled the area until 1848.
