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Switzerland is a country in the centre of Europe.

Switzerland is a landlocked country and has no coastline.

The land is mountainous with the Alps in the south and the Jura mountains in the north. In central Switzerland there are hills and plains and large lakes.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of Switzerland, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 47 00N
Longitude - 8 00E

The capital of Switzerland is Bern.

Switzerland is a federal republic but is unusual in having a collective head of state, the seven-member Federal Council, which also acts as the country's cabinet. The council was set up by the constitution of 1848, which is still in force today. Members are elected for four-year terms by a joint session of both houses of parliament. Each year, by tradition, a different member of the council fills the largely ceremonial post of federal president on a rotating basis. The president is not called the head of state, which is held jointly by all the councillors.

Switzerland is also unique in that a referendum of all eligible voters is held over many different matters from joining the United Nations, rejected in 1945 and 1986 but approved, narrowly, in 2002, to more national matters. To give you an idea of how often people are asked to vote, there have been 140 referendums in Switzerland since 2000.

In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.

The currency in Switzerland is the Swiss Franc. Switzerland is not a member of the European Union.

German, French and Italian are the official languages.

Check the weather in Bern now.

This is the time in Bern now

The Swiss flag is red with a white cross.




Hear the National Anthem



These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the Swiss National Anthem called Swiss Psalm. It was first used in 1961 and adopted in 1981. This is a translation of the words.

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When the morning skies grow red 
And o’er their radiance shed, Thou, O Lord, appeareth in their light.
  When the Alps glow bright with splendour, Pray to God, to Him surrender, 
For you feel and understand, For you feel and understand, 
That he dwelleth in this land. That he dwelleth in this land. 

 In the sunset Thou art nigh And beyond the starry sky, 
Thou, O loving Father, ever near When to Heaven we are departing, Joy and bliss Thou’lt be imparting, 
For we feel and understand, For we feel and understand 
That Thou dwellest in this land. That Thou dwellest in this land. 

When dark clouds enshroud the hills And gray mist the valley fills, 
Yet Thou art not hidden from Thy sons. Pierce the gloom in which we cower With Thy sunshine’s cleansing power 
Then we’ll feel and understand, Then we’ll feel and understand 
That God dwelleth in this land. That God dwelleth in this land. 

Towards us in the wild storm coming, You yourself give us resistance and stronghold,
You, almighty ruling, rescuing! During horror and nights of thunderstorms Let us childlike trust Him!
Yes, we feel and understand; Yes, we feel and understand
That God dwelleth in this land. That God dwelleth in this land.

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Where is Switzerland?
About Switzerland
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

The total land area of Switzerland is 39,997 sq kms which is the 29th largest in Europe.

Switzerland has lakes, rivers and canals which total 1,280 sq kms.

Switzerland has boundaries with 5 countries

• Italy 698 kms
• France 525 kms
• Germany 348 kms
• Austria 158 kms
• Leichtenstein 41 kms

Switzerland has no coastline.

The highest point in Switzerland is Dufourspitze at 4,634 metres.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

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The total population of Switzerland is 8.18 million people, making it the 12th largest country in Europe by population.

Of this number 4.19 million are females and 3.99 million are males.

A person from Switzerland is called a Swiss.

To be a citizen of Switzerland, one of your parents must be a citizen of Switzerland. It is not sufficient to be born in Switzerland. You have to live in Switzerland for 12 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.

The largest five cities in Switzerland, by population are:-

• Zurich 341,730 people
• Geneva 183,981
• Basel 164,488
• Bern 121,631
• Lausanne 116,751

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



73.9% of the people live in cities or towns.

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The birth rate in Switzerland is 10.5 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in Switzerland is 8.2 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

There are 3.3 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 4.0 deaths of boys.

The median age for females is 43.2 and for males is 41.3. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 30.4.

The elderly dependency ratio is 26.8. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 3.7. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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Switzerland spends 11.7% of its total income on health care.

There are 4.05 doctors per 1,000 people.

There are 5.0 hospital beds per 1,000 people.

19.5% of the population are estimated as obese.

100% of Swiss have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

99.9% of the urban population and 99.8% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

Switzerland releases 45.0 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 20th highest in Europe.

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Switzerland spends 5.1% of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 4 in Switzerland. Primary education is for eight years until age 12 and secondary education must continue for 3 years but can go on to 18/19. This may be followed by further education at a university or college.

Generally the school year consists of 4 terms and starts at the end of August and finishes at the end of June. There is usually a 2 week break at Christmas, February, Easter and October.

We have no figures for the number of people who are able to read and write by the age of 15.

8.1% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 8.0% are unemployed while with males 8.1% can't find work.

The total number of people available for work in Switzerland is 5.17 million.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

3.4% of the workforce are unemployed.

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There are 40 paved airports in Switzerland, which is the 15th highest number in Europe.


There are 5,651 kilometres of railways in Switzerland, which is the 13th longest in Europe.


There are 71,464 kilometres of roads in Switzerland, which means Switzerland is in 21st place for the most kilometres of roads in Europe.

There are 5 major national newspapers in Switzerland.

There are 11.70 million mobile phone users.

51% of the people have a fixed landline.



7.10 million people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

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