Switzerland is a mountainous Central European country, home to numerous lakes, villages and the high

Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a country situated in western, central, and southern Europe.[9][note 4]It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bernas the seat of the federal authorities.[1][2][note 1]The sovereign state is a federal republicbordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning a total area of 41,285 km2(15,940 sq mi) (land area 39,997 km2(15,443 sq mi)). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8.5 million people is concentrated mostly on the plateau, where the largest cities are to be found: among them are the two global cities and economic centres Zürich and Geneva