Switzerland (German: Schweiz[note 3] [vats]; French: Suisse [sis]; Italian: Svizzera [zvittsera]; Romansh: Svizra [vitsr] or[vits]), officially

the Swiss Confederation (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica, hence its abbreviation !), is a fe"eral#arliamentary re#$blic consistin% of &' cantons, (ith )ern as the seat of the fe"eral a$thorities* +he co$ntry is sit$ate" in,estern an" entral -$ro#e,[note .] (here it is bor"ere" by Germany to the north, France to the (est, Italy to the so$th, an"/$stria an" Liechtenstein to the east* 0(itzerlan" is a lan"loc1e" co$ntry %eo%ra#hically "ivi"e" bet(een the /l#s, the 0(iss 2latea$ an" the 3$ra, s#annin% an area of .4,&56 1m& (46,7.8 s9 mi)* ,hile the /l#s occ$#y the %reater #art of the territory, the 0(iss #o#$lation of a##ro:imately 5 million #eo#le is concentrate" mostly on the 2latea$, (here the lar%est cities are to be fo$n"* /mon% them are the t(o %lobal cities an" economic centres of ;<rich an" Geneva* +he establishment of the 0(iss onfe"eration is tra"itionally "ate" to 4 /$%$st 4&74, (hich is celebrate" ann$ally as 0(iss =ational >ay* It has a lon% history of arme" ne$trality?it has not been in a state of (ar internationally since 4546?an" "i" not @oin the Anite" =ations $ntil &88&* It #$rs$es, ho(ever, an active forei%n #olicy an" is fre9$ently involve" in #eaceBb$il"in% #rocesses aro$n" the (orl"* [5] 0(itzerlan" is also the birth#lace of the Re" ross an" home to a lar%e n$mber of international or%anizations, incl$"in% the secon" lar%est A= office* Cn the -$ro#ean level, it is a fo$n"in% member of the -$ro#ean Free +ra"e /ssociation an" is #art of the 0chen%en /rea D altho$%h it is notably not a member of the -$ro#ean Anion, nor the -$ro#ean -conomic /rea* 0(itzerlan" com#rises fo$r main lin%$istic an" c$lt$ral re%ions: German, French, Italian an" the RomanshBs#ea1in% valleys* +herefore the 0(iss, altho$%h #re"ominantly GermanBs#ea1in%, "o not form a nation in the sense of a common ethnic or lin%$istic i"entity; rather, the stron% sense of i"entity an" comm$nity is fo$n"e" on a common historical bac1%ro$n", share" val$es s$ch as fe"eralism an" "irect "emocracy,[7] an" /l#ine symbolism*[48] 0(itzerlan" has the hi%hest (ealth #er a"$lt (financial an" nonBfinancial assets) in the (orl" accor"in% to re"it 0$isse an"ei%hthBhi%hest #er ca#ita %ross "omestic #ro"$ct on the IEF list*[44][4&] 0(iss citizens have the secon"Bhi%hest life e:#ectancy in the (orl" on A= an" ,!C lists* 0(itzerlan" has the to# ran1 in )ribe 2ayers In"e: in"icatin% very lo( levels of b$siness corr$#tion* Eoreover for the last five years the co$ntry has en@oye" hi%hest economic an" to$rist com#etitiveness accor"in% toGlobal om#etitiveness Re#ort an" +ravel an" +o$rism om#etitiveness Re#ort res#ectively, both "evelo#e" by the ,orl" -conomic For$m* ;<rich an" Geneva have been ran1e" amon% cities (ith hi%hest 9$ality of life in the (orl" (ith the former comin% secon" %lobally accor"in% to Eercer*[43]