Switzerland

Facts & Figures

Map of Switzerland

President: Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (2012)

Land area: 15,355 sq mi (39,769 sq km); total area: 15,942 sq mi (41,290 sq km)

Population (2012 est.): 7,925,517 (growth rate: 0.92%); birth rate: 10.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 3.9/1000; life expectancy: 81.17

Capital (2011 est.): Bern, 125,681

Largest cities: Zurich, 1.83 million

Monetary unit: Swiss franc

More Facts & Figures

Index

Switzerland Main Page
New Constitution Establishes a Unified, Neutral State
Switzerland Joins the UN and Moves to the Right Politically

Geography

Switzerland, in central Europe, is the land of the Alps. Its tallest peak is the Dufourspitze at 15,203 ft (4,634 m) on the Swiss side of the Italian border, one of 10 summits of the Monte Rosa massif. The tallest peak in all of the Alps, Mont Blanc (15,771 ft; 4,807 m), is actually in France. Most of Switzerland is composed of a mountainous plateau bordered by the great bulk of the Alps on the south and by the Jura Mountains on the northwest. The country's largest lakes—Geneva, Constance (Bodensee), and Maggiore—straddle the French, German-Austrian, and Italian borders, respectively. The Rhine, navigable from Basel to the North Sea, is the principal inland waterway.

Government

Federal republic.

History

Called Helvetia in ancient times, Switzerland in 1291 was a league of cantons in the Holy Roman Empire. Fashioned around the nucleus of three German forest districts of Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden, the Swiss Confederation slowly added new cantons. In 1648 the Treaty of Westphalia gave Switzerland its independence from the Holy Roman Empire.

French revolutionary troops occupied the country in 1798 and named it the Helvetic Republic, but Napoléon in 1803 restored its federal government. By 1815, the French- and Italian-speaking peoples of Switzerland had been granted political equality.

In 1815, the Congress of Vienna guaranteed the neutrality and recognized the independence of Switzerland. In the revolutionary period of 1847, the Catholic cantons seceded and organized a separate union called the Sonderbund , but they were defeated and rejoined the federation.