Switzerland Flag

Switzerland is officially a landlocked country of roughly 7.5 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km². Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called cantons . Berne is the seat of the federation and de facto capital, while the country's economic centres are its two global cities , Geneva and especially Zürich . Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world.

Switzerland is bordered by Germany , France , Italy , Austria and Liechtenstein . Switzerland is multilingual and has four national languages: German , French , Italian and Romansh . Switzerland has a long history of neutrality – it has not been at war since 1815 – and hosts many international organizations, including the Red Cross , the WTO and one of the U.N.'s two European offices .