• Area: 41,288 square kilometers
• An alpine country with no seacoast, divided into cantons and grouped into three language regions.
   

Cantons

French-speaking Switzerland
Berne (BE)
Fribourg (FR)
Geneva (GE)
Jura (JU)
Neuchâtel (NE)
Vaud (VD) – Lausanne
Valais (VS)

Italian-speaking Switzerland
Grisons (GR)
Tessin (TI)

German-speaking Switzerland
Argovie (AG)
Appenzell Outer Rhodes (AR)
Appenzell Inner Rhodes (AI)
Basel (BS/BL)
Berne (BE)
Fribourg (FR)
Glaris (GL)
Grisons (GR) – Saint Moritz
Lucerne (LU)
Nidwald (NW)
Obwald (OW)
Schaffhausen (SH)
Schwyz (SZ)
Soleure (SO)
Saint Gall (SG)
Thurgovia (TG)
Uri (UR)
Valais (VS)
Central Switzerland (LU, NW, OW, SZ, UR)
Zoug (ZG)
Zurich (AH)

State: Helvetic Confederation
Government: Republic; federal state; pluralist democracy; parliamentary system made up of a president of the confederation; a federal council composed of 7 members elected for 4 years by the federal assembly; and the federal assembly made up of two houses: the national council (200 members elected for 4 year terms by direct universal suffrage) and the States Council (46 members elected by the cantons.) 

Important dates
1848: creation of the federal state
September 22, 1978: creation of a new canton (Jura)

Capital: Berne
Currency: Swiss franc
Languages spoken: 4 official languages: German (64%); French (19%); Italian (8%) and Romansch (0.6%) spoken only in the Grisons

Principal industries: important chemical-pharmacy sectors; machine tools; watch making.

Agriculture: wheat, barley, potatoes