Geography of Switzerland


The geography of Switzerland encompasses the geographical features of Switzerland, a mountainous and landlocked country located in Western and Central Europe. Switzerland is world-famous for the beauty and uniqueness of its landscapes. It is surrounded by 5 countries: Austria and Liechtenstein to the east, France to the west, Italy to the south and Germany to the north. Switzerland has a maximum north–south length of and an east–west length of about.
Switzerland is well known for the Alps in the south and south east. North of the Alps, the Swiss Plateau runs along the east–west axis of the country. Most of the population of Switzerland lives on the rolling hills and plains of the plateau. The smaller Jura Mountains are located on the north west side of the plateau. Much of the northern border with Germany follows the Rhine, through the Rhine enters Switzerland near Schaffhausen. The eastern border with Germany and a portion of Austria is drawn through Lake Constance. A portion of the southwest border with France is drawn through Lake Geneva.
Switzerland is divided into 26 sovereign cantons. The cantons along the Swiss Plateau tend to be the most populous, industrial and religiously Protestant. The cantons in the Alps tend to be less populous, Catholic, and have an agrarian or tourism-based economy.
Switzerland is divided by language as well. There are four national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh. From Bern east the population generally speaks German. West of Bern, the population generally speaks French. In the southern canton of Ticino, most people speak Italian. Romansh, a group of dialects descended from Vulgar Latin, is spoken in several regions in the canton of Graubünden.

Physical description

Switzerland extends between the parallels 45°49'05 and 47°48'30 lat. and the meridians 5° 57'23 and 10°29'31 long. It forms an irregular quadrilateral, of which the greatest length from east to west is, and the greatest breadth from north to south is nearly. Switzerland is a landlocked country, the closest coastline being at the Gulf of Genoa, 160 km south of Chiasso. Its political boundaries often do not coincide with those of nature. The entire canton of Ticino is south of the Alps, as are the valleys of Simplon, Mesocco, Bregaglia, Poschiavo and Müstair ; the whole canton of Schaffhausen and part of that of Basel are north of the Rhine, while a large part of Graubünden lies to the east of the Rhine basin, and Porrentruy is far down on the western slope of the Jura. Putting these exceptional cases aside, the physical geography of Switzerland may thus be described:
of Switzerland
Putting aside the valleys of the Ticino and Inn, Switzerland may thus be described as consisting of three great river valleys with the smaller one of the Thur, which all lie to the north of the main chain of the Alps and include the region between the Alps and the Jura. If matters are examined more carefully, it can be noted that the Rhône and Rhine valleys are shut off from that of the Aare by the great northern outlier of the Alps, which consists of the Bernese and Glarus Alps. Two wide and undulating valleys and two deeply cut trenches thus lie on the northern slope of the Alps, to the north and south respectively of the great northern outlier of the Alps. The main chain of the Alps rises in Swiss territory to the height of in the loftiest summit or Dufourspitze of Monte Rosa, though the Dom, in the Mischabel range, is the highest mountain mass which is entirely within Switzerland. The great northern outlier attains a height of in the Finsteraarhorn, while the lowest level within the Confederation, is on Lake Maggiore. The highest permanently inhabited village in Switzerland is Juf at the head of the Avers valley, while the lowest is Ascona, on Lake Maggiore.

Geology

Different geological phenomena shaped the actual landscapes of Switzerland. The Alpine orogeny had the most visible effects on the landscape: this term covers entire geological movements contributing to the Alps’ formation.
A crystalline basement formed at the beginning of the Paleozoic era, between 540 and 360 million years ago. Later, between 205 and 96 million years ago, the alpine ocean or Tethys Ocean formed between Eurasia and Africa. The ocean reached its maximum width at the end of Jurassic period, 135 million years ago. The collision between the Eurasian and African plates made it progressively disappear. This plate collision began 100 million years ago. The Alps resulted from this geological movement, the two plates creating folding zones. The Central Plateau is mainly composed of molasse, a sedimentary rock that formed at the bottom of the Tethys ocean.
Switzerland is situated in a relatively tectonically inactive area, although the city of Basel was completely destroyed in 1356 by an earthquake, the largest historical seismic event in central Europe. The most seismically active regions are the Rhine Rift Valley and the Valais.

Physiographic divisions

Switzerland is divided in three main geographic regions: the Swiss Alps, the Central Plateau and the Jura, each corresponding to very different geological realities. In addition, two small regions are not part of those three. The first, north of the Rhine in the Basel area, is situated beyond the Jura. The second, on the south in the Mendrisio area, is located in the Po Valley. But these two territories are not extensive in comparison to the total area of the country.
The Swiss Alps occupy the southern part of Switzerland. They were formed by the thrust of the African plate, which also caused the formation of the Jura in the north-east and the plateau between the two massifs. In terms of area the Alps constitute about 60% of the country, the plateau 30% and the Jura 10%.
The rugged terrain of the Jura and the Alps are very sparsely populated, except for some large valleys such as the Valais. Most of the population lives on the plateau where the country's major cities such as Geneva, Zurich and Bern are located.

Central Plateau

The Swiss Plateau extends from Lake Geneva on the French border across central Switzerland to Lake Constance on the German and Austrian borders. In the north and northwest, the Swiss Plateau is sharply delimited geographically and geologically by the Jura Mountains. In the south, there is no clear border with the Alps. Usually, the rising of the terrain to altitudes above 1500 metres, which is very abrupt in certain places, is taken as a criterion for delimitation. The plateau has an average altitude of. Even though the Swiss Plateau forms a basin, it is by no means a flat territory and it is covered with rolling hills, lakes and rivers. Most of Switzerland's large lakes are located in the plateau. Both Lake Geneva and Lake Constance are located in the plateau but are shared with other countries. The largest lake totally in Switzerland, Lake Neuchâtel, is located in the Swiss Plateau.
The Swiss Plateau is crossed by three great river valleys and the smaller Thur valley. While the headwaters of these four rivers all lie in the Alps, they all cut across the plateau between the Alps and the Jura mountains. Near Schaffhausen the Rhine passes through the Rhine Falls, Europe's largest waterfall. The Rhine Falls are wide and.
The plateau occupies about one third of the land area of Switzerland, and about two thirds of the population live in this area. The population density on the plateau averages about 450 people per km2. In the regions around Lake Geneva, Lake Zurich and other cities, the population density exceeds 1000 people per km2. As well as the majority of the population, the Swiss Plateau is also home to the majority of industry, manufacturing and farming in Switzerland. The farms are generally small and very organized. Most farms include small meadows alternating with fields with a variety of crops and small wooded areas.

Alps

The Swiss Alps form part of a chain of mountains that stretch across southern Europe and isolate Northern Europe from the Mediterranean Sea. Several important passes through the Alps are located in Switzerland, and control of the passes has been important throughout Switzerland's history. The Alps have an average altitude of and cover nearly two thirds of the total surface area. Within the Alps there are 48 mountains that are or higher.
The Alps are the watershed of Western Europe. The Rhine, together with its tributaries the Aare and the Thur drain about two thirds of the water into the North Sea. The Rhône and the Ticino drain about 18% of the water into the Mediterranean Sea. The Inn which flows into the Danube outside of Switzerland drains about 4.4% of the water into the Black Sea. The Swiss Alps also contain many of Central Europe's glaciers. There are about 1,800 glaciers which cover of the total glaciated area of the Alps.
in Grindelwald
The Alps are a popular tourist destination and are one of the most recognizable symbols of Switzerland. The tallest point in Switzerland, Monte Rosa in Canton Valais, is located in the Alps as is tallest mountain wholly in Switzerland, the Dom. One of the most recognizable symbols of Switzerland, the Matterhorn, is also located in the Alps. The Matterhorn is the seventh highest peak in the Swiss Alps and is the most photographed mountain in Switzerland. The tallest mountain in the northern outlier or Bernese Alps is the Finsteraarhorn.
Switzerland encompasses a significant portion of the south side of the Alps. Most of it is constituted by the canton of Ticino, almost reaching the plains of the Po and including Switzerland's lowest point on Lake Maggiore. The canton of Graubünden is also partially located on the south side of the Alps with the four valleys of Misox, Bregaglia, Poschiavo and Müstair. Finally, the canton of Valais comprises the upper Diveria valley, located south of the Simplon Pass.

Jura

The Jura is a limestone mountain range running from Lake Geneva to the Rhine river. This area makes up about 12% of Switzerland's land area. Located about above sea level, this region is characterized by a limestone highland with deep river valleys.
The limestone rock in the Jura is a Jurassic period rock with numerous fossils and dinosaur tracks. The name Jurassic actually refers to the Jura region where these fossils were studied at the end of the 18th century. The Jura is considered one of the most important sites for dinosaur footprints in the world. In one area near the village of Courtedoux, over 13,000 footprints were discovered in between 2002 and 2011.
The range is being continually built up and decreasing in width by mountain building, accommodating the compression from alpine folding as the main Alpine orogenic front moves roughly northwards. The deformation becomes less pervasive away from the younger, more active Alpine mountain building.
Structurally, the Jura consists of a sequence of folds, the formation of which is facilitated by an evaporitic decollement layer. The box folds are still relatively young, evidenced by their defining the shape of the overlying landscape. The folds comprise three major bands of building evidence dated roughly by era: the Malm, Dogger, and Lias. Each era of folding represents effects on a previously shallow marine environment as evidenced by beds with particular carbonate sequences, containing abundant bioclasts and oolitic divisions between layers.
The Jura Mountains rise in Swiss territory to a height of at Mont Tendre. Other high summits are La Dôle, the Chasseron and the Chasseral, all located in the western part of the range, in the cantons of Vaud, Neuchâtel and Bern.

Hydrology

Switzerland has 6% of all freshwater reserves in Europe. The country shares five river basins and some of the largest lakes in western Europe with its neighbours. It is the source of several major European rivers that ultimately flow into the North Sea, into the Mediterranean Sea, into the Black Sea and into the Adriatic Sea.
Most of the great Swiss rivers, being in their origin mere mountain torrents, tend to overflow their banks. Much has been done to prevent this by embanking them, regaining arable land: the Rhine, the Rhône, the Aare, the Reuss and in particular the great works on the Linth and the Zihl near the lakes of Neuchâtel and Biel, while the diversion of the Kander from its junction with the Aare to a channel by which it flows into Lake Thun was effected as early as 1714.
, one of the numerous Alpine lakes of Switzerland
Switzerland has considerable reserves of groundwater and a large number of lakes, large and small, can be found in most areas. The two most extensive, those of Geneva and of Constance, balance each other, as it were, at the south-west and north-east corners of the land. But neither of these is wholly Swiss, this distinction being claimed by the next in size, that of Neuchâtel, Lake Maggiore coming next in the list, and being followed by the wholly Swiss lakes of Lucerne and of Zurich. Then come Lake Lugano, Lake Thun, Lake Biel, Lake Zug, Lake Brienz, Lake Walenstadt and Lake Murten. These thirteen only are over in extent. Ten of them are in the Rhine basin, two in that of the Po, and one in that of the Rhône. There are no large lakes in the Swiss portion of the Inn basin, the most extensive being that of Sils. Smaller Alpine lakes such as the Oeschinensee are innumerable, and often constitute popular tourist destination. Since the twentieth century a large number of dams have been built in the Alps and elsewhere, resulting in many artificial lakes. The largest are the Sihlsee and the Lake of Gruyère both approximately in extent. Also notable is Lac des Dix, withheld by the Grande Dixence, the tallest gravity dam in the world.
In total, lakes and reservoirs contain 50% of the stored water, glaciers 28%, groundwater 20% and rivers 2%.
from the vineyards between Montreux and Lausanne

Climate

In Switzerland, where the elevation above sea-level ranges from, many climates are naturally found, from the regions of olives, vines, oaks and beeches, pines and firs, to those of the high mountain pastures, rhododendrons, and of eternal snow.
In most inhabited regions of Switzerland, at lower altitudes, the weather is generally moderate. On the plateau, freezing temperatures generally occur during December-early March with an average temperature of for elevations between. On the Plateau the average precipitation is with a range of about. The higher elevations of the Jura and the Alps naturally cause lower temperatures and in the high Alps glaciers exist. The Jura and foothills typically have more precipitation, with an average of, while the high Alps may have over. Ticino, on the south side of the Alps, has sub-tropical vegetation, is usually warmer, and os wetter than the Swiss Plateau.
In the Köppen climate classification, the Swiss Plateau is classed as Maritime Temperate or Oceanic climate and the Alps are considered Tundra climates or. A maritime temperate area will have changeable, often overcast weather. Summers are cool due to cloud cover and winters are milder than expected due to latitude. The Jura will be slightly cooler due to higher altitude. Within the Alps, temperatures and snow fall correlate to altitude.

PlaceAltitude of meteorological station Average rainfall Average sunshine in August Average sunshine in December Average maximum temperature in July Average minimum temperature in January
La Chaux-de-Fonds 101814104040+19.6-6.4
Bern 56510405020+23.5-3.9
Sion 4826006050+25.7-4.8
Säntis 249029005530+7.5-10.3
Locarno-Monti 36618506060+25.9+0.1

Political divisions and greater regions

As a federal state, Switzerland is composed of 26 cantons, which are further divided into districts and municipalities. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848. There are considerable differences between the individual cantons, most particularly in terms of population and geographical area; hence seven larger and more homogeneous regions have been defined. They do not, however, constitute administrative units and are mostly used for statistical and economic purposes.

Land use

The Swiss territory is divided into four major types of land use., 36.9% of the land in Switzerland was used for farming. 30.8% of the country is covered with forests and woodlands, with an additional 6.8% covered with houses or buildings. About one-fourth of the country is either mountains, lakes or rivers and is categorised as unproductive.

Surfaces of housing and infrastructure

The habitat is mainly developed in the Swiss Plateau and the northern slopes of the Alps, near lakes and along major rivers. It occupies 14.6% of the Plateau, the Jura, the southern and the northern Alps, and finally the western central Alps and Eastern Alps.
Habitat areas and infrastructure grow around the urban areas but also in the countryside, at the expense of agricultural land. This growth is particularly pronounced along the main transport routes such as motorways and railways. New roads lead to a significant increase in construction activity in the affected regions. Many people who work in the city prefer to live in the countryside to take advantage of cheaper land and better quality of life. This is also reflected in the construction statistics: single-family homes arise mainly in rural areas, multi-family homes in the cities. Household structures are also evolving and tend to become smaller. In twelve years, the area devoted to housing increased by 25% while the increase of the population was only 9%.

Farmland

Although it is declining, agriculture represents the most important use of the territory in Switzerland. Farmlands dominates the Plateau, occupying just over half of the area. The situation is similar in the Jura, on the northern slopes of the Alps and in the eastern Central Alps. In the mountainous regions of the western Central Alps and in the south, the agricultural areas are proportionately lower.
In 1993 it was estimated that of the entire country was irrigated meaning that most Swiss farms receive enough rainfall to grow.
The protection of forested areas led to numerous conflicts of interests around the farmland, especially on the Plateau and near urban areas where the habitat area development and infrastructure tend to reduce the amount of arable land. Conversely, the number of farms in the mountains tend to decrease, many areas are left for the benefit of woodlands to the detriment of landscape diversity. This decline is particularly marked in Valais and Ticino.

Forests

Forests cover less than a third of the territory, but the area is increasing year by year. The reforestation is essentially natural, mainly in the Alps where the forest areas reoccupy those abandoned by farmers. Afforestation contributes 13% to reforestation, and is conducted for compensation following a clearance or to provide protection against natural hazards in the mountainous areas. Forests are more predominant in the Jura and in the southern Alps, occupying respectively 47.7% and 47.2% of the soil in these regions. On the northern slopes of the Alps, Alpine forest occupy 33.2% and on the Plateau 24.6%. It is in the Central Alps that forest areas occupy less floor with about 22% coverage.
Switzerland is home to mixed maple-ash forests of fertile and deep earth that collects at the base of slopes. They replace the moist oak-hornbeam forests in areas with higher rainfall. This type of forest has been called "one of the most productive in Switzerland" and the tree growth has been described as "aggressive". It takes one third of the time for trees to reach the same height as it would in a mull-beech forest and within 100 years trees in maple-ash forests can reach a height of 35m, though the quality of wood will not be as high. The rich undergrowth of these forests is dominated by the allium ursinum common throughout Western Europe.

Unproductive areas

The unproductive areas correspond to all areas occupied by rocks, boulders, ice, snow fields and unproductive vegetation beyond the limits of forests. Lakes, rivers and wetlands are also unproductive areas. Occupying 25.5% of Swiss soil, these surfaces are in very slight decline. They are predominant in the Central Alps, on the contrary they only cover 10% of the surface of the plateau and 1% of the Swiss Jura. The uncultivated mountain areas are exploited by the tourism and the production of hydroelectricity. Climatic conditions strongly affect the landscape of these areas: water seepage, landslides, avalanches, torrents in spate. Man intervenes on 0.2% of this surface area to create infrastructure protecting against floods or avalanches. The channels of communication, with many works of art occupy a portion of these surfaces.
In the plains, lakes and streams near areas of habitat are used for recreation and relaxation. Habitats, damp or dry, and nature reserves are managed and these areas contribute to maintain biodiversity.

Population

The population of Switzerland is heavily urbanised. In 2009, 74% of the 7,785,800 inhabitants lived in urban areas. The distribution of population is shaped by the topography of the country, the plateau being the most populous area and including the major cities of Switzerland. With a population density of 450 inhabitants per km2, it is one of the most densely populated region in Europe. There are large disparities of population densities between the cantons lying in the plateau and those lying in the Alps. Thus, the population densities of the cantons of Lucerne, Solothurn and Zurich are respectively 261.0, 319.7 and 813.6 inhabitants per km2. On the other hand, the cantons of Uri and Graubünden have very low population densities, respectively 33.4 and 27.0 inhabitants per km2. In the southern Alps, the canton of Ticino also has a population density less than the national average, with 122.5 inhabitants per km2.

Environment

With the delicate alpine and glacial environments making up a significant portion of the country and providing a major industry, Switzerland has been concerned with environmental issues. Some of the main issues are listed below.

Air

The main environmental issues in Switzerland's air is air pollution from vehicle emissions and open-air burning as well as acid rain. In 2004, the average amount of carbon dioxide emissions per resident was and in 2005 was. With these numbers, Switzerland is 31st to 33rd among the 45 nations listed by United Nations Millennium Development Goals Indicators as developed nations and 69th worldwide. In 2009 Switzerland announced that they expected by 2010 to reduce their total greenhouse gas emissions by 8% to 10% over emissions in 1990.
The population uses 3.76 tonnes of oil equivalent per person per year, of which 43.7% comes from petroleum and 19% from nuclear power.

Water

The major water issue in Switzerland is water pollution from the increased use of agricultural fertilizers as well as hydrocarbon pollution from transport and industry. While improvements have been made, there are still issues with eutrophication in many lakes in the Swiss Plateau.
The total renewable water resources of Switzerland,, totals, of which the total freshwater withdrawal is per year. This breaks down to a per capita freshwater withdrawal of per year. Of that water, 24% is used in households, 74% in industry and only 2% is used for agriculture.

Biodiversity

Switzerland is facing a loss of biodiversity. While the country is quite small, the wide range of climates allow a variety of organisms to flourish. There are about 50,000 animal and plant species living in Switzerland. While most species that live on north and south foothills of the Alps are generally doing well, the Swiss Plateau is seeing a decrease in many species. The pressure from city and agricultural growth is reducing or eliminating the habitat of many species that once flourished along the plateau. There are about 60 species that are considered endangered that live in Switzerland. To help offset this, 28.6% of the country is set aside as a protected natural area. In 2001, the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN launched a nationwide programme to systematically monitor biodiversity.

International agreements

Party to:
Signed, but not ratified:
The borders of Switzerland were established by the original formation of the Helvetic Republic in 1798, the accession thereto of Valais and Grisons, and the incorporation of various remaining feudal territories such as the County of Neuchâtel, Prince-Bishopric of Basel, Abbey of St. Gall, etc. The cantons largely had their current borders since 1815, except for the notable change from secession of Jura from Berne in 1979.
The total length of the border is 1,899 km,
enclosing an area of .
BorderkmmiCantonsLowest pointHighest point
with Italy734.2460Valais
Ticino
Graubünden		Lake Maggiore Grenzgipfel
with France571.8356Basel-Stadt
Basel-Landschaft
Solothurn
Jura
Neuchâtel
Vaud
Geneva
Valais		Rhine at Basel Aiguille d'Argentière
with Germany345.7208Basel-Stadt
Basel-Landschaft
Aargau
Zurich
Schaffhausen
Thurgau
St. Gallen		Rhine at Basel Randen mountains near Beggingen
with Austria165.1102St. Gallen
Graubünden		Lake Constance Fluchthorn
with Liechtenstein41.125St. Gallen
Graubünden		Rhine near Sennwald Grauspitz
Total18521,151the ones mentioned aboveLake Maggiore Grenzgipfel

The border of Switzerland has six tripoints, of which two are located in rivers, one undefined location in the Lake of Constance, and the three other in high mountains.
Elevation extremes:
lowest point:
Lake Maggiore:
highest point:
Monte Rosa:
deepest point:
In Lake Maggiore:
See also: Extreme points of Switzerland

Western or Central Europe?

No subdivision of Europe is universally accepted, therefore naming the different European regions and defining the borders between them is subject to debates. Depending on the definition chosen, Switzerland can be either part of Western or Central Europe: both concepts depend heavily on context and carry cultural, economic and political connotations.
The term "Western Europe" commonly indicates the region west of the Baltic and Adriatic Sea. Countries described as Western European are invariably high-income developed countries, characterized by stable democratic political systems, mixed economies combining the free market with aspects of the welfare state. On the other hand, the term "Central Europe" refers to the region between Western and Eastern Europe. Central European countries show high disparities with regard to income but possibly share similar cultural characteristics. The concept came back into use by the end of the Cold War, which had divided Europe politically into the Western World and the East Bloc, splitting Central Europe in half. Before World War I, the German-speaking world used the somewhat-related term Mitteleuropa for an area larger than most conceptions of Central Europe, notably encompassing Switzerland among the other German-speaking countries.
Physically, Switzerland is situated approximately in the middle of the portion of Europe west of the Carpathian Mountains. Defining the Ural Mountains as the eastern limit of the continent, Switzerland is located within the western third of Europe, approximately 15 degrees of longitude away from the extreme west and 50 degrees away from extreme east. Phytogeographically, the part of Switzerland that lies north of the Alps belongs to Central Europe, while the part south of the Alps belongs to Southern Europe.

Natural World Heritage Sites

Topography