Back Швеицариа Abkhazian Swiss ACE Швейцарие ADY Switserland Afrikaans Schweiz GSW ስዊዘርላንድ Amharic Switzerland AMI Suiza AN Swissland ANG Siwizalan ANN

Switzerland

This article is about the country. For other uses, see Switzerland (disambiguation).
"Swiss Confederation" redirects here. For other uses, see Swiss Confederation (disambiguation).

Swiss Confederation
(in other official languages and Latin)
German Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft
French Confédération suisse
Italian Confederazione Svizzera
Latin Confoederatio helvetica[1]
Romansh Confederaziun svizra
Motto: (unofficial)
"Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno"
"One for all, all for one"
Anthem: "Swiss Psalm"
Location of Switzerland (green)

in Europe (green and dark grey)

CapitalNone (de jure)
Federal cityBern[a][2][3]
Largest cityZurich
Official languages
Religion
(2023)[4]
Demonym(s)
  • English: Swiss
  • German: Schweizer/Schweizerin
  • French: Suisse/Suissesse
  • Italian: svizzero/svizzera or elvetico/elvetica
  • Romansh: Svizzer/Svizra
GovernmentFederal assembly-independent[5][6] directorial republic
Viktor Rossi
LegislatureFederal Assembly
• Upper house
Council of States
• Lower house
National Council
History
• Founded
1 August 1291[b]
• Sovereignty recognised (Peace of Westphalia)
24 October 1648
7 August 1815
12 September 1848[c][7]
Area
• Total
41,285 km2 (15,940 sq mi) (132nd)
• Water (%)
4.34[8]
Population
• 2025 estimate
Neutral increase 9,060,598[9] (99th)
• 2015 census
Neutral increase 8,327,126[10]
• Density
207/km2 (536.1/sq mi) (67th)
GDP (PPP)2025 estimate
• Total
Increase $881.083 billion[11] (35th)
• Per capita
Increase $97,581[11] (6th)
GDP (nominal)2025 estimate
• Total
Increase $947.125 billion[11] (20th)
• Per capita
Increase $104,896[11] (5th)
Gini (2023)Negative increase 31.5[12]
medium inequality
HDI (2023)Increase 0.970[13]
very high (2nd)
CurrencySwiss franc (CHF)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)
UTC+2 (CEST)
Date formatdd.mm.yyyy (AD)
Calling code+41
ISO 3166 codeCH
Internet TLD.ch, .swiss

Switzerland,[d] officially the Swiss Confederation,[e] is a landlocked country located at the intersection of Central, Western, and Southern Europe.[f][14][note 1] It is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Austria and Liechtenstein to the east, and Italy to the south. Switzerland is geographically divided among the Swiss Alps, the Swiss Plateau, and the Jura mountains; the Alps cover the majority of Switzerland's territory, whereas most of the country's 9 million people are concentrated on the plateau, which hosts many of its largest cities and economic centres, including Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Lausanne, Winterthur, and Lucerne.[17]

Switzerland is a federal republic composed of 26 cantons, with Bern serving as the federal city and the seat of the national government.[a][3][2] The country encompasses four principal linguistic and cultural regions—German, French, Italian, and Romansh—reflecting a long-standing tradition of multilingualism and cultural pluralism. Although culturally diverse, the national identity remains fairly cohesive, rooted in a shared historical background, common values such as federalism and direct democracy,[18] and Alpine symbolism.[19][20] Swiss identity transcends language, ethnicity, and religion, leading to Switzerland being described as a Willensnation ("nation of volition") rather than a nation state.[21]

Switzerland originates from the Old Swiss Confederacy established in the Late Middle Ages as a defensive and commercial alliance; the Federal Charter of 1291 is considered the country's founding document. The confederation steadily expanded and consolidated despite external threats and internal political and religious strife. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The confederation was among the first and few republics of the early modern period, and the only one besides San Marino to survive the Napoleonic Wars.[22] Switzerland remained a network of self-governing states until 1798, when revolutionary France invaded and imposed the centralist Helvetic Republic. Napoleon abolished the republic in 1803 and reinstated a confederation. Following the Napoleonic Wars, Switzerland restored its pre-revolutionary system, but by 1830 faced growing division and conflict between liberal and conservative movements; this culminated in a new constitution in 1848 that established the current federal system and enshrined principles such as individual rights, separation of powers, and parliamentary bicameralism.

The country has maintained a policy of armed neutrality since the 16th century and has not fought an international war since 1815. It joined the Council of Europe in 1964 and the United Nations in 2002, and pursues an active foreign policy that includes frequent involvement in peace building and global governance. Switzerland is the birthplace of the Red Cross and hosts the headquarters or offices of most major international institutions, including the WTO, the WHO, the ILO, FIFA, the WEF, and the UN. It is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and participates in the European single market and the Schengen Area. Switzerland is among the world's most developed countries, with the highest nominal wealth per adult[23] and the eighth-highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.[24][25] It performs highly on several international metrics, including economic competitiveness, democratic governance, and press freedom. Zurich, Geneva and Basel rank among the highest in quality of life,[26][27] albeit with some of the highest costs of living.[28] Switzerland has a longstanding banking and financial sector, advanced pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and a strong tradition of watchmaking, precision engineering, and technology. It is known for its chocolate and cheese production, well-developed tourism industry, and growing startup sector.

  1. ^ Confoederatio helvetica (CH), in the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  2. ^ a b Georg Kreis: Federal city in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 20 March 2015.
  3. ^ a b Holenstein, André (2012). "Die Hauptstadt existiert nicht". UniPress – Forschung und Wissenschaft an der Universität Bern (scientific article) (in German). 152 (Sonderfall Hauptstatdtregion). Bern: Department Communication, University of Bern: 16–19. doi:10.7892/boris.41280. S2CID 178237847. Als 1848 ein politisch-administratives Zentrum für den neuen Bundesstaat zu bestimmen war, verzichteten die Verfassungsväter darauf, eine Hauptstadt der Schweiz zu bezeichnen und formulierten stattdessen in Artikel 108: "Alles, was sich auf den Sitz der Bundesbehörden bezieht, ist Gegenstand der Bundesgesetzgebung." Die Bundesstadt ist also nicht mehr und nicht weniger als der Sitz der Bundesbehörden. [In 1848, when a political and administrative centre was being determined for the new federation, the founders of the constitution abstained from designating a capital city for Switzerland and instead formulated in Article 108: "Everything, which relates to seat of the authorities, is the subject of the federal legislation." The federal city is therefore no more and no less than the seat of the federal authorities.]
  4. ^ "Religions". Neuchâtel, Switzerland: Federal Statistical Office. Archived from the original on 12 September 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  5. ^ Shugart, Matthew Søberg (December 2005). "Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive And Mixed Authority Patterns". French Politics. 3 (3): 323–351. doi:10.1057/palgrave.fp.8200087. ISSN 1476-3419. S2CID 73642272.
  6. ^ Elgie, Robert (2016). "Government Systems, Party Politics, and Institutional Engineering in the Round". Insight Turkey. 18 (4): 79–92. ISSN 1302-177X. JSTOR 26300453.
  7. ^ Kley, Andreas: Federal constitution in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 3 May 2011.
  8. ^ "Surface water and surface water change". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Switzerland | Population counter (real-time estimate)". 1 February 2025. Archived from the original on 5 February 2025. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  10. ^ Jacqueline Kucera; Athena Krummenacher, eds. (22 November 2016). Switzerland's population 2015 (PDF) (Report). Swiss Statistics. Neuchâtel, Switzerland: Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), Swiss Confederation. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  11. ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2025 Edition. (Switzerland)". www.imf.org. International Monetary Fund. 22 April 2025. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  12. ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income – EU-SILC survey". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Human Development Report 2025" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 6 May 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  14. ^ Berner, Elizabeth Kay; Berner, Robert A. (22 April 2012). Global Environment: Water, Air, and Geochemical Cycles – Second Edition. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-4276-6. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  15. ^ James Redfern (1971). A Lexical Study of Raeto-Romance and Contiguous Italian Dialect Areas. Mouton Publishers. p. 38. ISBN 9783110824841. The canton of the Ticino marks the geographic descent from high Alps to plain and is, therefore, a land of climatic as well as linguistic transition, where heat and abundant moisture favor almonds, figs, and all the fruits common to southern Europe, except the olive.
  16. ^ OECD (2002). OECD Territorial Reviews: Switzerland 2002. OECD Publishing. p. 80. ISBN 9789264160651. The Regio Insubrica spreads over three Italian provinces (Verbano-Cusio Ossola, Varese, Como) and the Swiss canton of Ticino. The national border cuts across a culturally and geographically homogenous territory. The region is peripheral for both countries, but it is an essential pole of communication between Northern and Southern Europe.
  17. ^ "BFS: 9 Millionen Menschen in der Schweiz – 20 Minuten". 20 September 2023. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  18. ^ Vatter, Adrian (2014). Das politische System der Schweiz [The Political System of Switzerland]. Studienkurs Politikwissenschaft (in German). Baden-Baden: UTB Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8252-4011-0. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  19. ^ Zimmer, Oliver (12 January 2004) [originally published: October 1998]. "In Search of Natural Identity: Alpine Landscape and the Reconstruction of the Swiss Nation". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 40 (4). London: 637–665. doi:10.1017/S0010417598001686. S2CID 146259022.
  20. ^ Lang, Josef (14 December 2015). "Die Alpen als Ideologie". Tages-Anzeiger (in German). Zurich, Switzerland. Archived from the original on 15 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  21. ^ Schmock, Nico (30 January 2019). Die Schweiz als "Willensnation"? Die Kernelemente des Schweizer Selbstverständnisses (in German). GRIN Verlag. ISBN 978-3-668-87199-1. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  22. ^ "Switzerland - Alps, Neutrality, Confederation | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 13 December 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  23. ^ "Global wealth databook 2019" (PDF). Credit Suisse. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2020.Archived . The country data comes from Table 3.1 on page 117. The region data comes from the end of that table on page 120.
  24. ^ Ghosh, Subir (9 October 2010). "US is still by far the richest country, China fastest growing". Digital Journal. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  25. ^ Bowers, Simon (19 October 2011). "Franc's rise puts Swiss top of rich list". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  26. ^ Bachmann, Helena (23 March 2018). "Looking for a better quality of life? Try these three Swiss cities". USA Today. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  27. ^ Taylor, Chloe (20 May 2019). "These cities offer the best quality of life in the world, according to Deutsche Bank". CNBC. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  28. ^ "Coronavirus: Paris and Zurich become world's most expensive cities to live in because of COVID-19". Euronews. 18 November 2020. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.


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