3. Switzerland in its full nameSwitzerland in its full name
the Swiss Confederation, is athe Swiss Confederation, is a
federal republic consisting offederal republic consisting of
26 cantons, with Bern as the26 cantons, with Bern as the
seat/capital of the federalseat/capital of the federal
authorities. The country isauthorities. The country is
situated in westernsituated in western
Europe,where it is borderedEurope,where it is bordered
by Germany to the north,by Germany to the north,
France to the west, Italy toFrance to the west, Italy to
the south, and Austria andthe south, and Austria and
Liechtenstein to the east.Liechtenstein to the east.
Switzerland comprises threeSwitzerland comprises three
main linguistic and culturalmain linguistic and cultural
regions: German, French, andregions: German, French, and
Italian, to which theItalian, to which the
Romansh-speaking valleys areRomansh-speaking valleys are
added.added.
4. Switzerland is a landlocked country
geographically divided between the
Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura,
spanning an area of 41,285 km2
(15,940 sq mi). The population is
about 7.9 million, resulting in an
average population density of around
190 people per square kilometre
(485/sq mi).While the Alps occupy the
greater part of the territory, the Swiss
population of approximately 8 million
people is concentrated 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.
Zurich
5. Switzerland lies between latitudes
45° and 48° N, and longitudes 5°
and 11° E. It contains three basic
topographical areas: the Swiss Alps
to the south, the Swiss plateau or
middleland, and the Jura mountains
on the north. About a hundred of
Switzerland's mountain peaks are
close to or higher than 4,000
metres (13,000 ft).At 4,634 m
(15,203 ft), Monte Rosa is the
highest, although the Matterhorn
(4,478 m/14,692 ft) is probably
the most famous. The largest lake
is Lake Geneva. The Rhone River is
both the main input and output of
Lake Geneva.
GENEVA
6. The Federal Constitution adopted in 1848 is
the legal foundation of the modern federal
state. It is among the oldest constitutions in
the world. A new Constitution was adopted
in 1999, but did not introduce notable changes
to the federal structure
7. The Swiss Parliament consists of two houses: the Council of
States which has 46 representatives (two from each canton
and one from each half-canton) who are elected under a
system determined by each canton, and the National
Council, which consists of 200 members who are elected
under a system of proportional representation, depending
on the population of each canton. Members of both houses
serve for 4 years. When both houses are in joint session,
they are known collectively as the Federal Assembly. The
Federal Council constitutes the federal government,
directs the federal administration and serves as collective
Head of State
8. Switzerland has a stable, prosperous and
high-tech economy. In 2011, it was ranked
as being the wealthiest country in the
world in per capita terms (with 'wealth'
being defined to include both financial
and non-financial assets).It has the world's
nineteenth largest economy by nominal
GDP and the thirty-sixth largest by
purchasing power parity. It is the
twentieth largest exporter and eighteenth
largest importer of goods
9. Education in Switzerland is very diverse because the
constitution of Switzerland delegates the authority
for the school system to the cantons. There are both
public and private schools, including many private
international schools. The minimum age for primary
school is about six years in all cantons, but most
cantons provide a free "children's school" starting
at four or five years old.[
There are 12 universities in Switzerland, ten of which
are maintained at cantonal level and usually offer a
range of non-technical subjects. The first university
in Switzerland was founded in 1460 in Basel. The
biggest university in Switzerland is the University of
Zurich with nearly 25,000 students.
10. In addition there are various Universities of
Applied Sciences. In business and
management studies, University of St.
Gallen, (HSG) and International Institute
for Management Development (IMD) are
the leaders within the country and highly
regarded internationally.
11. Switzerland lies at the crossroads of several
major European cultures that have heavily
influenced the country's languages and culture.
Switzerland has four official languages: German,
French, Italian, Romansh.
Switzerland has no official state religion, though
most of the cantons (except Geneva and Neuchâtel)
recognize official churches, which are either the
Catholic Church or the (Protestant) Swiss Reformed
Church
12. SportsSports
Skiing, snowboarding and
mountaineering are among the most
popular sports in Switzerland, the
nature of the country being
particularly suited for such activities.
Winter sports are practiced by the
natives and tourists since the second
half of the 19th century with the
invention of bobsleigh in St. Moritz.
13.
14. Convent of Saint JohnConvent of Saint John
The Convent of Saint John is an
ancient Benedictine monastery in
Müstair village of Val Müstair,
Switzerland, and, by reason of its
exceptionally well-preserved heritage of
Carolingian art, has been a UNESCO
World Heritage Site since 1983. The
Convent of Müstair is a Christian
monastary from the Carolingian period. It
has Switzerland's greatest series of
figurative murals, painted c. 800 AD,
along with other Romanesque art and
designs.
15. La Chaux-de-FondsLa Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds is a
Swiss city of the district
of La Chaux-de-Fonds in
the canton of Neuchâtel.
It is located in the Jura
mountains at an altitude
of 1000 m, a few
kilometers south of the
French border
16. TheThe Abbey of Saint GallAbbey of Saint Gall
The Abbey of Saint Gall is a religious
complex in the city of St. Gallen in
present-day Switzerland. The
Carolingian-era Abbey has existed since
719 and became an independent
principality during the 13th century, and
was for many centuries one of the chief
Benedictine abbeys in Europe. It was
founded by Saint Othman on the spot
where Saint Gall had erected his
hermitage. The Carolingian Convent of St
Gall was one of the most important in
Europe. It was in operation from the 8th
century to its secularization in 1805. Its
library is one of the richest and oldest in
the world and contains a number of
precious manuscripts
17. TheThe LavauxLavaux
The Lavaux is a region in the canton of
Vaud in Switzerland, in the district of
Lavaux. Although there is some evidence
that vines were grown in the area in Roman
times, the actual vine terraces can be traced
back to the 11th century, when Benedictine
and Cistercian monasteries controlled the
area. The Lavaux consist of 830 hectares of
terraced wineyards that stretch for about
30 km along the south-facing northern
shores of Lake Geneva. The Lavaux
Vineyard Terraces stretch for about 30 km
(19 mi) along the south-facing northern
shores of Lake Geneva from Chillon Castle
to the eastern outskirts of Lausanne in the
Vaud region
18. Monte San Giorgio is a wooded
mountain (1,097 m above sea level)
located between the south of
canton Ticino in Switzerland and
the region of Lombardy in Italy.
Monte San Giorgio became a
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in
2003, because it "is the single best
known record of marine life in the
Triassic period, The pyramid-
shaped, wooded mountain of
Monte San Giorgio beside Lake
Lugano is regarded as the best
fossil record of marine life from the
Triassic Period (245–230 million
years ago)
19. Jungfrau-AletschJungfrau-Aletsch
The site includes several of the highest
mountains in the Central Alps along
with the largest glacier in Eurasia. The
Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area
(officially Swiss Alps Jungfrau-
Aletsch) is located in south-western
Switzerland between the cantons of
Berne and Valais. It is a mountainous
region in the easternmost side of the
Bernese Alps, containing the northern
wall of Jungfrau and Eiger, and the
largest glaciated area in western
Eurasia, comprising the Aletsch
Glacier. The Jungfrau-Aletsch
protected area is the first World
Natural Heritage site in the Alps.
20. The Bellinzona site consists of a group of
fortifications grouped around the castle of
Castelgrande, which stands on a rocky peak
looking out over the entire Ticino valley.
Running from the castle, a series of fortified
walls protect the ancient town and block the
passage through the valley. A second castle
(Montebello) forms an integral part of the
fortifications, while a third but separate castle
(Sasso Corbaro) was built on an isolated
rocky promontory south-east of the other
fortifications.
The Unteraar Glacier is the larger
of the two sources of the Aar river
in the Bernese Alps. It emerges
from the association of the
Finsteraar Glacier (near the
Finsteraarhorn) and the Lauteraar
Glacier (near the Lauteraarhorn)
and flows for about 6 km (3.7 mi) to
the east down to the Grimselsee
near the Grimsel Pass