Geography of Switzerland

Geography of Switzerland

Continent	Europe
Region	Western/Central Europe
Coordinates	47° N 8° E
Area	Ranked 134
• Total	41,293.2 km2 (15,943.4 sq mi)
• Land	95.8%
• Water	4.2%
Coastline	0 km (0 mi)
Borders	Total land borders: 1,852 km (1,151 mi) Italy: 734.2 km (456.2 mi) France: 571.8 km (355.3 mi) Germany: 345.7 km (214.8 mi) Austria: 165.1 km (102.6 mi) Liechtenstein: 41.1 km (25.5 mi)
Highest point	Dufourspitze: 4,634 m
Lowest point	Lake Maggiore: 193 m
Longest river	Rhine: 375.5 km (longest entirely in Switzerland: Aare)
Largest lake	Lake Geneva (largest entirely in Switzerland: Lake Neuchâtel)

The geography of Switzerland features a mountainous and landlocked country located in Western and Central Europe. Switzerland's natural landscape is marked by its numerous lakes and mountains. It is surrounded by five countries: Austria and Liechtenstein to the east, France to the west, Italy to the south and Germany to the north. Switzerland has a maximum north–south length of 220 kilometres (140 mi) and an east–west length of about 350 kilometres (220 mi).^[1]

Switzerland is well known for the Alps in the south and south east. North of the Alps, the Swiss Plateau runs along the east–west axis of the country. Most of the population of Switzerland lives on the rolling hills and plains of the plateau. The smaller Jura Mountains are located on the north west side of the plateau. Much of the northern border with Germany follows the Rhine, though the Rhine enters Switzerland near Schaffhausen. The eastern border with Germany and a portion of Austria is drawn through Lake Constance (German: Bodensee). A portion of the southwest border with France is drawn through Lake Geneva.

Switzerland is divided into 26 sovereign cantons. The cantons along the Swiss Plateau tend to be the most populous,^[2] industrial and religiously Protestant.^[3] The cantons in the Alps tend to be less populous, Catholic, and have an agrarian or tourism-based economy.^[3]

Switzerland is divided by language as well. There are four national languages: German (spoken by 63.7% of population), French (by 20.4% of population), Italian (by 6.5%) and Romansh (0.5%).^[4] From Bern east (except canton of Ticino) the population generally speaks German. West of Bern, the population generally speaks French. In the southern canton of Ticino, most people speak Italian. Romansh, a group of dialects descended from Vulgar Latin, is spoken in several regions in the canton of Graubünden.