The geography of Switzerland
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.