BRIG (Fr. Brigue, Ital. Briga), a town in the Swiss canton of the Valais, situated at the foot of the northern slope of the Simplon pass, south of the Rhone. Its older houses are very Italian in appearance, while its most prominent buildings (castle, former Jesuits' college and Ursuline convent) all date from the 17th century, and are due to the generosity of a member of the local Stockalper family. The prosperity of Brig was bound up with the Simplon pass (q.v.) so that it gradually supplanted the ancient village of Naters opposite, becoming a separate parish in 1517. Its mediaeval name was Briga dives. The opening of the carriage road across the Simplon (1807) and of the tunnel (1906), as well as the development of the tourist industry in the Upper Valais, have increased the importance and size of the town. The opening of the Lotschberg tunnel beneath the Lotschen pass (1913) affording direct communication between Milan and Berne and the Bernese Oberland, has further contributed to its pros perity.
It is an important frontier station on the international railway from Paris through Lausanne (or Berne) to Italy. Pop. (1920) 3,132, almost all Roman Catholic and 2,342 German-speaking, 401 French-speaking and 387 Italian-speaking.