Switzerland ( , , , officially the Helvetic Confederation) is a landlocked alpine country of roughly 7.7 million people (2009) 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 federal authorities, while the country's economic centres are its three global cities, Geneva, Basel and especially Zürich. Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world by per capita gross domestic product. Zürich and Geneva have respectively been ranked as having the first and second highest quality of life in the world after the Austrian capital, Vienna.

Switzerland is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. The country has a long history of neutrality — it has not been at war since 1815 — and hosts many international organizations, including the Red Cross, the World Trade Organization and one of the U.N.'s two European offices. However, it is not a member of the European Union but it is part of the Schengen Agreement.

Switzerland is multilingual and has four national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh. The country's formal name is lang: Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft in German, lang: Confédération suisse in French, lang: Confederazione Svizzera in Italian and lang: Confederaziun svizra in Romansh. The establishment of Switzerland is traditionally dated to 1 August 1291; the first of August is the national holiday.

History

main: History of Switzerland

Early history

main: Early history of Switzerland

The earliest known cultural tribes of the area were members of the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures. The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age from around 450 BC, possibly under some influence from the Greek and Etruscan civilizations. One of the most important tribal groups in the Swiss region was the Helvetii. In 15 BC, Tiberius I, who was destined to be the second Roman emperor, and his brother, Drusus, conquered the Alps, integrating them into the Roman Empire. The area occupied by the Helvetii – the namesakes of the later Confoederatio Helvetica – first became part of Rome's Gallia Belgica province and then of its Germania Superior province, while the eastern portion of modern Switzerland was integrated into the Roman province of Raetia.

thumb|left|Founded in 44 BC, Augusta Raurica was the first Roman settlement on the Rhine and is nowadays the most important archaeological site in Switzerland

In the Early Middle Ages, from the fourth century AD, the western extent of modern-day Switzerland was part of the territory of the Kings of the Burgundians. The Alemanni settled the Swiss plateau in the fifth century AD and the valleys of the Alps in the eighth century AD, forming Alemannia. Modern-day Switzerland was therefore then divided between the kingdoms of Alemannia and Burgundy. The entire region became part of the expanding Frankish Empire in the sixth century, following Clovis I's victory over the Alemanni at Tolbiac in 504 AD, and later Frankish domination of the Burgundians.