Traveling Switzerland Infomation

So you wanna travel to Switzerland. There's tons of things to do, see, eat and buy but there's so little time. Fret not, this introductory post, will give you some background information on Switzerland so you can understand a little bit more about the people, culture and geography of the place.

Background info:

Switzerland is a landlocked alpine country of about 7.7 million people (2009) in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km². Switzerland is a federal republic that consists of 26 states named 'cantons'. Berne is the seat of the federal authorities, while the country's economic centres are its three global cities, Geneva, Basel and especially Zürich. Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world by per capita gross domestic product. Zürich and Geneva have respectively been ranked as enjoying the first and second highest quality of life in the whole world.

Geographical info:

With an area of 41,285 square kilometres (15,940 sq mi), Switzerland is a small country. However, the more mountainous southern half of the country is sparsely populated, while the northern half has a somewhat greater density, as it comprises more hospitable hilly terrain, partly forested and partly cleared, as well as several large lakes.

The Swiss Alps constitute an very extreme environment. The Valais area contains most of the alpine summits above 4000 metres.

Switzerland comprises three basic topo-graphical areas: the Swiss Alps, the Swiss plateau or "middleland", and the Jura mountains along the northwestern border with France. The Alps are a high mountain range running across the central-south of the country, comprising about 60% of the country's total area. Among the high peaks of the Swiss Alps, the highest of which is the Dufourspitze at 4,634 metres (15,203 ft), countless valleys are found, many with waterfalls and glaciers. A truly beautiful sight indeed.

The most famous mountain is the Matterhorn (4,478 m) in Valais and Pennine Alps bordering Italy. The highest mountain, the Dufourspitze (4,634 m) in the Monte Rosa Massif (close to the Matterhorn) is followed by the Dom and Weisshorn.