"Swiss" redirects here. For other uses, see Swiss (disambiguation).
"Swiss Confederation" redirects here. For Swiss Confederacy, see Old Swiss Confederacy.
This article is about the country. For other uses, see Switzerland (disambiguation).
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![Location of Switzerland (dark orange)on the European continent (white) — [Legend]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Europe_location_CHE.png)
0.874Switzerland (German: die Schweiz,[note 3] French: Suisse, Italian: Svizzera, Romansh: Svizra), officially the Swiss Confederation (Latin:Confoederatio Helvetica, hence its abbreviation CH), is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe[note 4] where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.
Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Central Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2 (15,940 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 7.8 million people concentrates mostly on the Plateau, where the largest cities are to be found. Among them are the two global cities and economic centres of Zurich and Geneva.
Switzerland comprises three main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, and Italian, to which the Romansh-speaking valleys are added. The Swiss therefore do not form a nation in the sense of a common ethnic or linguistic identity. The strong sense of belonging to the country is founded on the common historical background, shared values (federalism, direct democracy, neutrality)[6] and Alpinesymbolism.[7] There are 3 bilingual cantons whereas Graubünden is the only one of the states that features three official languages. The establishment of the Swiss Confederation is traditionally dated to 1 August 1291; Swiss National Day is celebrated on the anniversary.
The Swiss Confederation has a long history of neutrality—it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815—and did not join theUnited Nations until 2002. Switzerland is home to many international organizations, including the second largest UN office, the Red Cross, the World Trade Organization, the International Labour Organization and sports federations such as the International Olympic Committeeand FIFA. On the European level it was a founder of the European Free Trade Association and is part of the Schengen Agreement – although it is notably not a member of the European Union, nor the European Economic Area.
Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world by per capita gross domestic product, with a nominal per capita GDP of $69,838.[4]In 2010, Switzerland had the highest wealth per person of any country in the world (with $372,692 for each person).[8] Switzerland also has one of the world's largest account balances as a percentage of GDP, only placing behind a few oil producing countries. Zurich and Geneva have respectively been ranked as the cities with the second and third highest quality of life in the world.[9] In 2010, World Economic Forumdeemed Switzerland the world's most competitive country.[10]
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