Switzerland country profile

  • Switzerland population
  • Switzerland currency
  • Switzerland capital and currency

    • •

    jobs.ac.uk Career Advice

    Officially named the ‘Swiss Confederation,’ Switzerland is a landlocked, mountainous Central European country bordered by France, Italy, Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein. It is dominated by the Alps, with Zermatt the distinctively pointed Matterhorn mountain (4778m) being the most well-known landmark. The population of 8 million people are concentrated in and around the capital Bern, as well as the large cities of Geneva and Zurich. Switzerland operates a multi-party federal democratic republic government with a collective ‘head’ of state known as the Federal Council. Switzerland has for centuries been a neutral state, which means it cannot take part in armed conflict, unless it is attacked. Although it lies at the heart of Europe, Switzerland is not a member of the EU and Swiss-EU relations are based on a series of bilateral agreements, such as participation in the passport-free Schengen Area. It is also one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with

    •

    Switzerland

    Country in Central Europe

    "Swiss Confederation" and "Suisse" redirect here. For other uses, see Switzerland (disambiguation); Swiss Confederation (disambiguation); Swiss (disambiguation); and Suisse, Moselle.

    Swiss Confederation

    Five official names

      • Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft (German)
      • Confédération suisse (French)
      • Confederazione Svizzera (Italian)
      • Confederaziun svizra (Romansh)
      • Cōnfoederātiō Helvētica (Latin)
    Motto: (unofficial)
    "Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno"

    "One for all, all for one"

    Anthem: "Swiss Psalm"
    Show globe
    Show map of Europe
    Location of Switzerland (green)

    in Europe (green and dark grey)

    Capital
    46°57′N7°27′E / 46.950°N 7.450°E / 46.950; 7.450
    Largest cityZurich
    Official languages
    Religion

    (2023)[3]

    Demonym(s)
    • English: Swiss
    • German: Schweizer/Schweizerin
    • French: Suisse/Suisses
    • switzerland country profile

      • •

      Switzerland country profile

      Some key dates in the history of Switzerland:

      1291 - ursprung of the Old Swiss Confederacy when three cantons form an alliance to resist outside control. A loose confederation of independent small states or cantons, initially within the Holy Roman Empire.

      1474-77 - Burgundian Wars, a conflict between Burgundy and the Old Swiss Confederacy and its allies, establishes the confederacy as a power in a europeisk political landscape dominated bygd France and the Habsburgs.

      1499 - After the Swabian War the confederacy fryst vatten effectively independent, though still nominally part of the Holy långnovell Empire until the Treaty of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years' War in 1648.

      1798 - French invasion. Switzerland becomes a French client state.

      1815 - In the wake of the Napoleonic wars, the borders of Switzerland - and the territory's neutrality - are established at the Congress of Vienna.

      1847 - Brief civil war, the Sonderbund War: seven Catholic can