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Switzerland flag
Swiss Confederation
Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft
Confédération Suisse
Confederazione Svizzera
Confederaziun Svizra
   Switzerland is an Alpine country, given that much of the territory is included in this mountain range and has no access to the sea, while the northern part is hilly. This country has maintained for centuries a status of neutrality within a fairly warlike continent; in the absence of raw materials, Switzerland has focused its economy on high-quality industrial and agricultural products, as well as on the banking sector.
Government type Federal republic
Area 41,285 km² (15,940 sq mi)
Population 8,982,000 inh. (2024)
Population density 218 inh/km² (563 inh/mi²)
Capital Bern (137,000 pop., 431,000 urban aggl.)
Currency Swiss franc
Human development index 0.962 (1st place)
Languages German, French, Italian, Romansh (all official)
Life expectancy M 82 years, F 85 years
Location in Europe

Boundaries:

France WEST
Italy SOUTH
Austria and Liechtenstein EAST
Germany NORTH

GEOGRAPHY DATA OF SWITZERLAND


Largest cities
Zurich 434,000 pop., 863,000 urban aggl.
Geneve 207,000 pop., 612,000 urban aggl.
Basel 176,000 pop., 517,000 urban aggl.
Lausanne 144,000 pop.
Bern 137,000 pop., 431,000 urban aggl.
Winterthur 119,000 pop.
Highest mountains
Monte Rosa 4,634 m (15,203 ft)
Dom 4,545 m (14,911 ft)
Weisshorn 4,505 m (14,780 ft)
Matterhorn 4,478 m (14,692 ft)
Longest rivers
Rhine 1,320 km (820 mi) total, 375 km (233 mi) in Switzerland
Rhone 812 km (505 mi) total, 264 km (164 mi) in Switzerland
Inn 510 km (317 mi) total, 104 km (65 mi) in Switzerland
Doubs 458 km (285 mi) total, 75 km (47 mi) in Switzerland
Aare 288 km (179 mi)
Ticino 248 km (154 mi) total, 91 km (57 mi) in Switzerland
Largest lakes
Lake Geneva 580 km² (224 sq mi) total, 345 km² (133 sq mi) in Switzerland
Lake Constance 536 km² (207 sq mi) total, 173 km² (67 sq mi) in Switzerland
Lake Neuchatel 215 km² (83 sq mi)
Lake Maggiore 212 km² (82 sq mi) total, 40.5 km² (15.6 sq mi) in Switzerland
Lake Lucerne 114 km² (44 sq mi)
Lake Zürich 88 km² (34 sq mi)

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS OF SWITZERLAND

   Switzerland is a confederation made up of 26 cantons; Grisons (Graubünden), Bern and Valais are the 3 largest cantons and together make up 44% of the territory; Zurich, on the other hand, is the most populated canton, with over 1.5 million inhabitants, followed by Bern, the only other one over a million people.

   In the country there are 34 urban centers with at least 25,000 inhabitants, 6 of which even exceed one hundred thousand inhabitants, but none exceeds half a million people; the distribution of the major centers is not very uniform also because it follows the morphology of the territory, with some areas more densely populated than others.



Bern



Useful links

Federal Statistical Office
Switzerland Tourism