Switzerland (German: die Schweiz, French: Suisse, Italian: Svizzera, Romansh: Svizra), officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked alpine country in Western Europe. This small multi-lingual country, of a little over 7 million people, has four national languages, German, French, Italian, and Romansh. Swiss Standard German is written and used in formal situations, while the (significantly different) dialects commonly spoken are called "Swiss German". The country is bordered by Germany, France, Italy, Austria, and Liechtenstein. It dates its independence to 1291; historically it was a confederation, and it has been a federation since 1848, with a current division into 26 cantons, six of which are sometimes referred to as "half-cantons", since they have less representation in the Council of States. Switzerland has a strong economy in finance and banking, rates highly in international economic standards despite its small size, and maintains a long and strong tradition of political and military neutrality. This background allows Switzerland to host various international organizations, such as the United Nations, which, though headquartered in New York City, has many departments in Switzerland. The safety, security, and scenic beauty of the country, for walking, hiking, and skiing, give it a strong and robust tourism sector. Confoederatio Helvetica, the country's official Latin name, means Helvetic Confederation. The use of Latin avoids having to favour one of the four national languages. The abbreviation (CH) is used for the same reason. The titles commonly used in French (Confédération suisse), Italian (Confederazione Svizzera) and Romansh (Confederaziun svizra) translate as "Swiss Confederation", while the German name of Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft translates literally as "Swiss Oath Fellowship" or "Swiss Commonwealth of the Covenant". The term for a native of Switzerland is Swiss (German Schweizer, singular male Schweizer, female Schweizerin; French Suisses, male Suisse, female either Suisse or Suisse,
Switzerland's natural beauty is breathtaking. Despite being a rather small, land-locked country in Central Europe, it is without question one of the world's prettiest. The quite remarkable thing about the scenic nature of Switzerland is that it is near-ubiquitous: almost every place in Switzerland possesses this picture-postcard landscape. Switzerland comprises three basic topographical areas: the Swiss Alps, the Swiss plateau or "middleland", and the Jura mountains along the northwest border with France. The Alps are a high mountain range running across the central-south of the country. Among the high peaks of the Swiss Alps, the highest of which is the Dufourspitze at 4,634 metres (15,203 ft), are found countless valleys, many with waterfalls and glaciers. From these the headwaters of several major European rivers such as the Rhine, Rhône, Inn, Aare, and Ticino flow finally into the largest Swiss lakes such as Lake Geneva (Lac Leman), Lake Zürich, Lake Neuchâtel, and Lake Constance. The smaller lakes near the mountains tend to be a brilliant turquoise color, especially in the summer.
Switzerland has a prosperous and stable modern market economy, with a nominal per capita GDP that is higher than those of the big western European economies, United States and Japan, though on a PPP basis, it ranks tenth. The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report currently ranks Switzerland's economy as the most competitive in the world.[16] For much of the 20th century, Switzerland was the wealthiest country in Europe by a considerable margin. However, since the early 1990s it has suffered from slow growth and, in 2005, fell to fourth among European countries with populations above one million in terms of nominal Gross Domestic Product per capita behind Ireland, Denmark and Norway and to the tenth position in terms of Gross Domestic Product per capita at purchasing power parity (also behind the European countries Austria and Iceland; (see list). Switzerland is a member of the European Free Trade Association. Banking, tourism, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals are very important industries in Switzerland. The manufacture of precision instruments for engineering is important, as is watchmaking, and the biological sciences industries as well enjoy a high place in the Swiss economy. The many international organizations in Switzerland contribute to the Swiss economy and labor market. In recent years, the Swiss have brought their economic practices largely into conformity with those of the European Union in many ways, in an effort to enhance their international competitiveness. The economy has been growing most recently at around 3% per year. Full EU membership is a long-term objective of some in the Swiss government, but there is considerable popular sentiment against this supported by the conservative SVP party. The western French-speaking areas tend to be more
pro-EU. Many mountain areas have a strong highly energetic ski town culture in winter, and a calmer hiking/wandering culture in summer. Some areas throughout the year have a recreational culture that caters to tourism, yet the quieter seasons are spring and autumn when there are fewer visitors and a higher ratio of Swiss. A traditional farmer and herder culture also predominates in many areas, and this connection to the land and agriculture is a strong glue holding all the Swiss together. Even though most no longer actually farm themselves, the small farms are omnipresent outside the cities, and as well many Swiss at least have a small garden plot or many window boxes with geraniums and other flowers. There is a very strong pro-nature sentiment in Switzerland, as typically occurs in countries with such beautiful scenery, and this is supported by such Swiss institutions as Pro-Natura. There is also a broad modern international-youth-culture throughout Switzerland that would be applicable to many countries, and the general European-Western culture has a strong influence on Switzerland as well.
