Country · Europe
Switzerland
Swiss Confederation
Switzerland is a country in Western Europe. About 8.5 million people live there, in an area of 41 284 square kilometres. Its capital city is Bern.
Picture credit: Norbert Nagel (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Eissa69420 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Giles Laurent (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Andrew Bossi (CC BY-SA 2.5) · Andrew Bossi (CC BY-SA 2.5) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Switzerland?
Switzerland lies in Western Europe, on the continent of Europe.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 5 232 km from the equator.
Switzerland is landlocked: it has no coast at all, so you cannot reach the sea without crossing another country.
It shares a border with 5 countries: Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Liechtenstein.
How big is Switzerland?
Switzerland covers 41 284 square kilometres.
That is about 16 times the size of Luxembourg.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 132nd largest.
If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 206.2 people on every square kilometre.
That is busier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Switzerland?
About 8.5 million people live in Switzerland.
That is the 99th biggest population in the world.
People here speak French, Swiss German, Italian and Romansh.
They pay with the Swiss franc (Fr.).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 80 years.
The land of Switzerland
The land of Switzerland sits on average 1 350 metres above sea level — high enough that much of it counts as mountain country.
Because it is landlocked, anything that comes by ship has to cross one of its 5 neighbours to get here.
It lies between the tropics and the poles, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Switzerland different?
Dishes the country is known for: Cervelat, Fondue and Rösti.
Websites from here often end in .ch.
Switzerland and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in Switzerland.
It takes up about 0.03 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Europe the country ranks 31st of 45 by size, and 19th by population.
Switzerland and its neighbours
France, its largest neighbour, is about 13.4 times bigger.
France has more people: 67 million against 8.5 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 11 live wild in Switzerland: European badger, European hedgehog, Alpine ibex, Chamois, Alpine marmot, Eurasian lynx and more. The highest mountain in the country is Dufourspitze, at 4 634 metres. The longest river in the country is the Rhine. The largest lake in the country is Lake Geneva.
European badger
European hedgehog
Alpine ibex
Chamois
Alpine marmot
Eurasian lynx
Roe deer
Red deer
Beech marten
Roman snail
Brown trout
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is Switzerland compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 227 times as big as Switzerland: 9 372 610 km² against 41 284 km². See both on one map
- The United Kingdom is about 5.9 times as big as Switzerland: 242 900 km² against 41 284 km². See both on one map
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Switzerland?
The capital of Switzerland is Bern. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Switzerland?
About 8.5 million people live in Switzerland, which makes it the 99th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Switzerland?
Switzerland borders Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Liechtenstein — 5 neighbours in total.
How big is Switzerland?
Switzerland covers 41 284 square kilometres, making it the 132nd largest country in the world. That is about 16 times the size of Luxembourg.
What is the highest mountain in Switzerland?
The highest mountain in Switzerland is Dufourspitze, 4 634 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Switzerland?
The longest river in Switzerland is the Rhine. Of its 1 230 kilometres, about 375 run through the country.
What is the largest lake in Switzerland?
The largest lake in Switzerland is Lake Geneva. The whole lake covers about 580 km², and part of it belongs to neighbouring countries.
Which continent is Switzerland in?
Switzerland is in Europe, in the part called Western Europe.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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