Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a country situated in the confluence of Western, Central, and Southern Europe. Switzerland is a landlocked country bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. It is geographically divided among the Swiss Plateau, the Alps, and the Jura, spanning a total area of 41,285km2 , and land area of 39,997km2 .While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8.5 million is concentrated mostly on the plateau, where the largest cities and economic centres are located, among them Zrich, Geneva and Basel, where multiple international organisations are domiciled and where the main international airports of Switzerland are.
The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the late medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria and Burgundy.
Nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. Switzerland is the birthplace of the Red Cross, one of the world’s oldest and best known humanitarian organisations, and is home to numerous international organisations, including the United Nations Office at Geneva, which is its second-largest in the world.It is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association, but notably not part of the European Union, the European Economic Area or the Eurozone.
Switzerland occupies the crossroads of Germanic and Romance Europe, as reflected in its four main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, Italian and Romansh. Although the majority of the population are German-speaking, Swiss national identity is rooted in a common historical background, shared values such as federalism and direct democracy, ;Suisse [sis] ; Svizzera ; and Svizra . On coins and stamps, the Latin name, Confoederatio Helvetica frequently shortened to “Helvetia” is used instead of the four national languages.
The sovereign state is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult It ranks at or near the top in several international metrics, including economic competitiveness and human development.
