The geography of Switzerland

Landscape in the Valais. © Photo: go-and-discover.com. All rights reserved.

Switzerland in Europe

Switzerland is located in the middle of Europe. Its neighbouring countries are: Germany to the north, Austria and Liechtenstein to the east, Italy to the south and France to the west.

Composition of Switzerland

Switzerland has 4 regions:

  • The German-speaking Switzerland, the largest region of Switzerland. Swiss German is spoken there. It includes the well-known cities of Bern the capital of Switzerland, Zurich is the largest city and economic capital of Switzerland, Basel is its capital regarding the pharmaceutical industry,
  • The Romandie, the French speaking part of Switzerland. It includes Geneva, which hosts many international organisations and is the diplomatic capital of Switzerland, Lausanne which is a charming town turned towards very advanced cutting edge technology,
  • The Italian-speaking Switzerland, extremely beautiful region consisting mainly of Ticino. Italian is spoken there. 
  • Graubünden, region consisting almost entirely of mountains, a fascinating canton. Romansh, Swiss German and Italian are spoken there.

The cities

The capital of Switzerland is Bern, also known as the federal city.

Switzerland is divided into 26 cantons: Appenzell Outer Rhodes, Appenzell Inner Rhodes, Aargau, Basel-Country, Basel-City, Bern, Freiburg, Geneva, Glaris, Graubünden, Jura, Luzern, Neuchâtel, Nidwald, Obwald, Saint-Gall, Schaffhouse, Schwytz, Solothurn, Ticino, Thurgau, Uri, Wallis, Waad, Zug, Zurich. Some cantons are bilngues, the only trilingual canton is Graubünden.

The largest Swiss cities ( ranked in descending order of population) are :

  • Zurich
  • Geneva
  • Basel
  • Lausanne
  • Bern, the capital

Relief

Geographically , Switzerland is composed of

  • the Alps occupying most of the territory,
  • the Swiss plateau in the center, where most of the population lives
  • and the Jura chain in the most western part of the country.