Davos

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Davos

Canton	Graubünden
District	Prättigau/Davos
Coordinates	46°48′N, 9°50′E
Population	10,998 (December 2003)
Area	254.48 km²
Elevation	1560 m
Postal code	7260 Davos-Dorf 7270 Davos-Platz
SFOS number	3851
Website	www.gemeinde-davos.ch
Twin towns	Aspen (USA), Sanada (Japan), Chamonix (France)
Davos

Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland.

It is located on the Landwasser River.

Aerial view of Davos in winter

Davos is famous as the host to the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum (WEF), an annual meeting of global political and business elites, which is often referred to as simply Davos. It is also known as a winter sports area, including serving as the site of the annual Spengler Cup ice hockey tournament, which is hosted by the HC Davos local hockey team.

Davos in summer

1 History
2 Pronunciation
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

Davos was a popular destination for the rich and ailing because the microclimate in the high valley was deemed excellent by doctors and recommended for lung disease patients. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote an article about skiing in Davos in 1899. Davos is also the setting of Thomas Mann's novel Der Zauberberg (The Magic Mountain), which takes place at a sanatorium.

In the "natural ice" era of winter sports, Davos, and the Vaillant Arena (previously known as Davos Eisstadion) was a mecca for speed skating. Many international championships were held here, and many world records were set, beginning with Peder Østlund who set four records in 1898.

Subsequently, Davos became famous as a ski resort, especially with citizens from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. After a peak in the 1970s and 1980s, the two-part city has re-established itself as a leading, yet less high-profile, tourist attraction.

Weissfluhjoch

The five main ski areas are:

Parsenn / Gotschna
Jakobshorn
Pischa
Rinerhorn
Schatzalp

[edit] Pronunciation

English-speaking broadcast journalists covering the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting, along with many speakers at the meeting itself, commonly mispronounce the town's name by emphasizing the a and mispronouncing the o to make the word rhyme with "moss", i.e., DAH-voss ([ˈdaː·vɔs]). The correct pronunciation is DAH-vohs (['daː·vos]).