Switzerland Country in Europe

Switzerland is a mountainous Central European country, home to numerous lakes, villages and the high apexes of the Alps. Old Towns within its cities contain medieval landmarks like capital Bern’s Zytglogge clock tower and Cathedral of Bern. The country is additionally a destination for its ski resorts and hiking trails. Banking and finance are key industries, and Swiss watches and chocolate are renowned.

Switzerland [note ] officially the Swiss Confederation (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica, hence its abbreviation CH), is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal ascendant entities, the soi-disant Bundesstadt ("federal city"). The country is situated in Western and Central Europe,[note 5] where it is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north,and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. 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). While the Alps occupy the more preponderant part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8 million people is concentrated mostly on the Plateau, where the most immensely colossal cities are to be found; among them are the two ecumenical and economic centres of Zürich and Geneva.

The establishment of the Swiss Confederation is traditionally dated to 1 August 1291, which is celebrated annually as Swiss National Day. The country has a long history of armed neutrality—it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815—and did not join the Amalgamated Nations until 2002. Nevertheless it pursues an active peregrine policy and is frequently involved in placidity-building processes around the world. In integration to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to numerous international organizations, including the second most immensely colossal UN office. On the European level, it is a founding member of the European Free Trade Sodality and is a component of the Schengen Area – albeit it is eminently not a member of the European Amalgamation, nor the European Economic Area (and thus does not utilize the Euro currency).

Straddling the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, Italian and Romansh. Therefore the Swiss, albeit predominantly German-verbalizing, do not compose a nation in the sense of a prevalent ethnicity or language; rather, Switzerland's vigorous sense of identity and community is founded on a mundane historical background, shared values such as federalism and direct democracy, and Alpine symbolism.

Switzerland ranks high in several metrics of national performance, including regime transparency, civil liberties, economic competitiveness, and human development. In April 2015, Switzerland was found to be the ‘happiest’ country in the world in the third annual World Jubilance Report. It has the highest nominal wealth per adult (financial and non-financial assets) in the world according to Credit Suisse and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product on the IMF list. Zürich and Geneva each have been ranked among the top cities with the highest quality of life in the world (the former coming second ecumenically according to Mercer).