Geography of Switzerland

Switzerland
Continent:	Europe
Area:  - Total  - water	133rd place 41,285 km² (4.2%)
National border:	1935 km
Neighbore states:	Italy (782 km) → French border (585 km) → Germany border (347 km) → Austria border (180 km) → Liechtenstein border (41 km) → border
The highest point:	Dufourspitze ( 4634  m above sea level )
Deepest point:	Lake Maggiore ( 193  m above sea level )
Geographic center:	Älggi-Alp
Longest river:	Rhine (375.5 km)
Largest inland water:	Lake Neuchâtel
Climate:	moderate

The geography of Switzerland describes the physical structure of the national territory of Switzerland , a landlocked country in Central Europe , as well as its population, economy, settlement structures and selected landscapes. The country consists of 26 cantons and is surrounded by five other countries: Germany in the north, Austria and Liechtenstein in the east, Italy in the south and France in the west. The territory of Switzerland is up to 350 km long and up to 220 km wide. The northernmost point is the Black Stone near Bargen in the canton of Schaffhausen , the southernmost point Chiasso in the canton Ticino , the westernmost point Chancy in the canton Geneva and the easternmost point the Piz Chavalatsch in the canton Graubünden .

General

The relief of Switzerland is diverse and arose from tectonic processes, in particular the collision of the Eurasian plate with the African plate. This process, also known as the Alpidic orogeny , shaped the three geographic regions of the country. These are the Alps , the Central Plateau and the Jura . The highest point in the country is the Dufourspitze at 4634  m above sea level. M. , the lowest of the lake level of Lake Maggiore at 193  m above sea level. M.

Due to the topography of the Alps and the clashing influences of the Atlantic maritime climate, the continental climate and the Mediterranean climate, Switzerland is known as the “ water tower of Europe ”. The Rhine , the Rhone and important tributaries of the Po and the Danube originate in the Gotthard massif . The Aletsch Glacier , the largest and longest glacier in the Alps, is also nearby .

At the end of September 2015, Switzerland had 8,306,200 inhabitants, which corresponds to a population density of almost 200 inhabitants per square kilometer. However, this is unevenly distributed; while the Alps and the Jura are sparsely populated, the vast majority of the population is concentrated in the Central Plateau, where the country's largest cities are also located. Zurich , Geneva , Basel , Lausanne , Bern and Winterthur have more than 100,000 inhabitants .

physical geography

geology

Different geological phenomena created today's landscape in Switzerland and the nature of its soils. The geological structure of the country is essentially the result of the plate collision of the African plate and the Eurasian plate over the past millions of years ( Alpidic orogeny ).

In the Paleozoic , around 540 to 360 million years ago, a crystalline pedestal was formed . A sea between Africa and Eurasia , the Paratethys , flooded it around 205 to 96 million years ago. The sea had its greatest extent at the end of the Jurassic Age 135 million years ago. In this age the Jura unfolded on the northern edge of the sea. In the Cretaceous Age , the sea began to shrink when the continental plates met. As a result of the plate collision, the Alps unfolded. Molasse deposits on the northern edge of the Alps ultimately created the basis for the development of the Central Plateau.

Three major regions

Major regions of Switzerland:

law

Mittelland

Alps

→ Main article : List of regions in Switzerland

Switzerland consists primarily of three major geological regions: the Alps , the Jura and the Central Plateau . Only two very small regions are not included: in the north beyond the Jura, the Basel region in the rift valley of the Upper Rhine Plain and in the south the Mendrisiotto , which forms part of the Po Valley .

The Alps, which cover the southern half of Switzerland, correspond to around 60% of the country's area. The Central Plateau accounts for 30% and the Jura 10%. The uneven and rugged terrain of the Jura and the Alps means that these areas are sparsely populated, with the exception of some valleys such as the Rhone Valley in the canton of Valais . Most of the population lives in the Central Plateau.

Only two cantons have a geographical share in all three major regions: Bern and Vaud .

The Alps

→ Main article : Swiss Alps

The natural division of Switzerland

The Alps are the highest mountains in the interior of Europe. It stretches in an arc of 1,200 kilometers between Nice in France and Vienna in Austria . The Swiss part of the Alps covers the entire south of the country, which corresponds to about 60% of the area. It is common practice in Switzerland to divide the Alps into three parts along the Alpine arc, so that the country lies entirely in the Central Alps . The division into two parts of the Eastern Alps and the Western Alps is not of great importance, although the dividing line runs over the Splügen Pass . There are 48 four-thousand-meter peaks on Swiss territory . The highest point is the Dufourspitze ( 4634  m above sea level ), the highest mountain in Switzerland is the cathedral ( 4545  m above sea level ). The most famous mountains are the Matterhorn ( 4478  m above sea level ) as well as the Eiger ( 3967  m above sea level ), Mönch ( 4107  m above sea level ) and Jungfrau ( 4158  m above sea level ), which form a striking group of three . The Piz Bernina ( 4049  m above sea level ) is the easternmost four-thousand-meter peak in the Alps.

In the north, the Alps rise gradually from the Mittelland over the Pre-Alps to the main Alpine ridge , while on the south side they drop abruptly to the foothills of the Po Valley. The valleys of the Rhone and the Rhine , which separate the two main chains, run along the main Alpine ridge to the west and east . The ridges of these mountain ranges meet in the Gotthard massif . From there, the valleys of the Reuss lead to the north, the Ticino to the south and the Aare to the northwest. At the same time, the European main watershed runs through the Gotthard massif ; here is also the watershed point of the North Sea and the Mediterranean .

and display information about the image

Panorama of the Valais Alps, from Allalinhorn seen from

The Matterhorn is one of the most famous mountains in the Alps

According to the SOIUSA classification, the Swiss Alps are distinguished as follows:

• Pre-Alps with the Vaudois Pre-Alps , the Freiburg Pre-Alps , the Bernese Pre-Alps , the Central Switzerland Pre-Alps and the Appenzell Alps
• Bernese Alps in the broader sense with the Vaud Alps , the actual Bernese Alps and the Urner Alps
• Valais Alps
• Glarus Alps in the broader sense with the actual Glarus Alps and the Osturn Alps
• Western Rhaetian Alps with the Oberhalbsteiner Alps , the Albula Alps , the Bernina Group , the Livigno Alps , the Münstertal Alps , the Plessural Alps and the Rätikon
• Lepontine Alps with the Adula Alps , the Monte Leone-Sankt Gotthard Alps and the Ticino Alps
• Lugano Prealps

Only a small part of the Savoy Prealps in the Chablais and the Graian Alps on the edge of the Mont-Blanc group lie in Switzerland.

See also : List of mountains in Switzerland  and List of valleys in Switzerland

The Jura

The Creux du Van is typical of the Jura landscape.

→ Main article : Jura

The Jura, a geologically young fold mountain range made of limestone , forms an arch over 300 km long along the French and German borders from the canton of Geneva in the southwest to the canton of Schaffhausen in the northeast. Between Yverdon and Besançon it reaches a width of 70 km. The highest mountain in the Jura on Swiss soil is Mont Tendre ( 1679  m above sea level ). The average height of the mountains gradually decreases towards the northeast. The Jura usually reaches its greatest heights in the chain directly bordering the Central Plateau.

Due to the type and the erosion of the folding , two main tectonic units are distinguished, which are also evident in the landscape. The main part of the mountain range is occupied by the Jura folds . This is further subdivided into Chain Jura and Plateau Jura. The chain Jura consists of elongated, strongly folded ridges. The valleys usually follow the individual chains; however, there are individual small transverse valleys, called Kluse . The arid plateaus of the Franches-Montagnes , which belong to the Plateaujuras, connect to the chains in the northwest . In the far north-east (on the Upper Rhine ) and north-west ( Ajoie ) one can find unfolded tabular Jura , which, from a tectonical point of view, is part of the south-west German or French layered land .

The Jura has a much less dense and less branched water network than other low mountain ranges. This can be explained by the fact that the rainwater does not run off above ground everywhere, but rather seeps away directly into the porous, karst-like limestone subsoil.

The Mittelland

View from Pilatus to the Mittelland near Lucerne

→ Main article : Mittelland

The Mittelland comprises the partly flat, but largely hilly area between the Jura and the Alps. It is on average at an altitude of 400 to 600  m above sea level. M. Geologically, the Mittelland is a basin zone that extends beyond the national borders. This begins south of Geneva near Chambéry , where the Jura and the Alps join, extends over 300 km in a north-easterly direction to Lake Constance and continues in the German and Austrian Alpine foothills . The Mittelland is by no means a flat landscape, but, depending on the region, has a sometimes very diverse natural structure through lakes and ridges. The highest elevation of the Mittelland is the Napf ( 1408  m above sea level ) in the Napfbergland .

Essentially, the Mittelland consists of molasses , a sedimentary rock formed by the erosion of the mountains in the still young Alps . The rivers from the Alps at that time - generally not congruent with today's river network - gradually built up significant alluvial fans at the foot of the mountain. The landscape of the Swiss Plateau got its current form during the impact of the Ice Age glaciers. The ice masses formed the land on the one hand through deep erosion and, on the other hand, through deposits in front of the glaciers. While there are hardly any traces of older ice ages, the course of the glaciers during the Würme Ice Age can be recognized today by the shape of the valleys, the moraines and numerous boulders . The Pierres de Niton ( 373.6  m above sea level ) in Geneva are among the best-known boulders , with the larger of the two serving as the Swiss height benchmark (starting point for height measurement).

Hydrography

→ Main article : Hydrography of Switzerland

Catchment areas in Switzerland:

Rhine

→ Aare

Rhone

Po

Danube

Etsch

The hydrography of Switzerland is characterized by five main catchment areas, numerous lakes and glaciers, which are among the largest in Europe. The country has an above-average amount of precipitation of 1,457 mm annually. The reason for this is the prevailing westerly winds and the proximity to the Atlantic , North Sea and Mediterranean , which means that a lot of moist air is supplied. This air accumulates in the Alps as a weather barrier and discharges here. Most of the precipitation falls in the central high Alps and in Ticino with around 2000 mm annually, in the foothills of the Alps and in the Jura it is around 1400 mm and in the Central Plateau 1000 mm. The driest areas with 500 to 700 mm / year are the Rhone Valley in the canton of Valais and the Engadin in the canton of Graubünden , as these valleys are shielded from the rainy weather.

Waters and catchment areas

Switzerland lies in the catchment areas of five European rivers: the Rhine and the Rhone , both of which arise in the Gotthard massif , as well as the Danube , Po and Adige . The last three mentioned do not flow through Switzerland, but are fed by tributaries that arise here.

Catchment area	Area share	Main inflows in Switzerland	Major lakes	Flows into
Rhine	68%	Aare , Reuss , Limmat , Broye , Emme , Linth , Saane , Thur	Lake Constance , Lake Zurich , Lake Neuchâtel , Lake Lucerne , Lake Biel , Lake Thun , Lake Walen , Lake Zug	North Sea
Rhone	18%	Doubs	Lake Geneva	Mediterranean Sea
Po	9.3%	Ticino	Lake Maggiore , Lake Lugano	Adriatic
Danube	4.4%	Inn	Lake Sils , Lake Silvaplana	Black Sea
Etsch	0.3%	Rambach (Rome)		Adriatic

The Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen

The Vierwaldstättersee in the middle of the central Swiss pre-Alps

Most of the territory, namely more than two thirds, lies in the catchment area of the Rhine . This also includes the catchment area of ​​the largest tributary, the Aare , which drains large parts of the Central Plateau. The confluence of the Aare, Reuss and Limmat rivers east of Brugg is known as the moated castle . At this point the water from 40% of the total area of ​​Switzerland comes together. What is remarkable about the confluence of the Aare into the Rhine is the fact that the Aare, with 590 m³ / s, is the richer river of the two (Rhine: 439 m³ / s). From a purely hydrological point of view, the Rhine would be a tributary of the Aare, not the other way around.

The catchment area of ​​the Rhone in Switzerland consists of two parts. The main river stretches from the Rhone Glacier to Lake Geneva , draining the area around this lake and almost the entire canton of Valais . A small part of the Jura Mountains is drained by the Doubs - a tributary of the Saône in France, which in turn flows into the Rhône.

In the south and south-east of the country are the catchment areas of the Po , Etsch and Danube , mainly in the cantons of Ticino and Graubünden . The main tributary of the Po in Switzerland is the Ticino , in the case of the Danube it is the Inn in the Engadin and in the case of the Etsch the Rambach (Rome) in the Val Müstair .

The various rivers in Switzerland ultimately flow into four different seas; those across the Rhine into the North Sea , those across the Rhone into the Mediterranean , those across the Po and Etsch into the Adriatic and those across the Inn into the Black Sea . At the Lunghin Pass in the canton of Graubünden there is one of the two triple main European watersheds.

Lakes

Most of the 1500 or so lakes in Switzerland are in the Alpine region, a little over 100 are in the Swiss Plateau and 14 in the Jura Mountains. 15 lakes have an area of ​​more than 10 km². Of these, Lake Geneva , Lake Constance , Lake Maggiore and Lake Lugano cross borders. The largest lake, which lies entirely in Switzerland, is the Neuchâtel lake (215.2 km²), the largest lake completely in a canton is the Thunersee (47.7 km²). Most of Switzerland's natural lakes are of glacial origin. They were created when glaciers retreated, with a flowing water filling the resulting basin.

There are also a number of artificial reservoirs for generating electrical energy using hydropower . Most of them are formed by dams in mountainous terrain, but there are also barrages on rivers in the Central Plateau. The largest storage lake in Switzerland is the Lac des Dix in the canton of Valais with a total volume of 401 million cubic meters and a maximum depth of 227 meters. The Sihlsee in the canton of Schwyz has the largest area with 10.72 km² .

See also : List of lakes in Switzerland

Panorama of Lugano and Lake Lugano

glacier

Aletsch glacier

See also : List of Swiss glaciers

At the beginning of the 21st century there were around 2000 glaciers in the Swiss Alps (the Jura is not glaciated). They are mainly located in the Valais Alps , the Bernese Alps and the Rhaetian Alps . Most are oriented to the northwest, north and northeast, as they are better protected from the sun in these locations. The south-facing glaciers are usually smaller.

Since 1850 or the end of the Little Ice Age , a striking glacier melt has been observed (around a third of the total length), which is due to global warming . The longest glacier in Switzerland and the entire Alps is the Aletsch Glacier with 23.1 km in 2005.

climate

Climate diagram Zurich ( ZH )

Climate diagram Locarno ( TI )

Climate diagram Sils Maria ( GR )

Climatic zones according to the Köppen-Geiger classification

The climate in Switzerland is influenced by the interactions between different climate zones . The country lies in a transition zone between the Atlantic maritime climate , the continental climate and the Mediterranean climate ; Polar conditions also prevail in the high mountains . The predominant influence is the mild, humid sea air that is brought in from the Atlantic by westerly winds. The Alps form a distinctive climatic divide : the Mediterranean climate predominates south of the mountains, which is particularly noticeable in the significantly milder winters.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Switzerland was 41.5 ° C on August 11, 2003 in Grono (Canton of Graubünden ). The warmest places on average with available measurement series are Locarno- Monti and Lugano with an annual mean of 12.4 ° C each (standard period 1981–2010). As at almost all measuring stations, climate change can also be seen here : In the standard period 1961–1990, the average values ​​were 11.5 ° C (Locarno / Monti) and 11.6 ° C (Lugano) and thus around 0.9 and 0.8 ° C lower than in the last averaged standard period. The coldest place on average is the Jungfraujoch at −7.2 ° C (normal period 1981-2010). Here, too, the average temperature has increased by 0.7 ° C since the standard period 1961–1990. The absolute lowest value of −41.8 ° C was measured on January 12, 1987 in La Brévine (Canton Neuchâtel ).

The driest place in Switzerland is Stalden -Ackersand in the canton of Valais with an average annual precipitation of 545 mm while the wettest place in the Säntis (2502 m above sea level) is with an average annual precipitation of 2837 mm (standard period 1981-2010).

The highest snow depth was also measured on the Säntis in April 1999 at 816 cm.

biodiversity

The country is characterized by a great variety of soils, altitudes and landscapes. This results in numerous different types of natural habitats, which favors the biodiversity of the fauna and flora . There are around 49,000 species of animals, fungi and plants in Switzerland. In 1994 Switzerland ratified the Biodiversity Convention , which came into force in 1995. In this context, the Federal Office for the Environment launched a monitoring program called Biodiversity Monitoring Switzerland , which records the biodiversity in the field. In 2007, more than 500 species occurring in Switzerland were considered acutely threatened with extinction.

fauna and Flora

Ibex in the Lötschental

The Federal Office for the Environment estimates the number of animal species living in Switzerland at around 30,000. These include 83 mammals , 386 birds , 15 reptiles , 20 amphibians , 51 bony fish , 2  jawless ones , 25,000 arthropods (22,330 of which are insects ), 270 molluscs and 3,200 worms . There are 49 endemics in the animal kingdom in Switzerland . According to the monitoring program, biological diversity is stable, which means that species that have disappeared are compensated for by new species that are spreading. From a regional perspective, there are some differences. While biodiversity is declining in the Jura and the Central Plateau, an increase is recorded in the Alps. Around 40% of all animal species are considered endangered. This applies to an above-average extent to reptiles and breeding birds.

According to estimates by the Federal Office for the Environment, there are around 19,000 species of plants and fungi in Switzerland. These include 3000 vascular plants and ferns , 1030 mosses , 1660 lichens , 9000 mushrooms and 4000 algae . There are only two endemic plant species, the Engadine rock flower (Draba ladina) and the ciliate sandwort (Arenaria ciliata) . According to the World Conservation Union , at least 60 plant species occurring in Switzerland are threatened with extinction worldwide. The tulip species Tulipa aximensis , already classified as extinct , reappeared in the canton of Valais in 1998 . The Lake Constance forget-me-not (Myosotis rehsteineri) is one of the world's rarest plants . The Lake Constance saxifrage (Saxifraga amphibia) , which was last observed in 1956, is so far the only known species that became extinct worldwide when it disappeared in Switzerland.

Woods

The forest of Tamangur in Val S-charl at 2300  m above sea level. M. is the highest pine forest in Europe

In 2007, Swiss forests covered an area of ​​1.3 million hectares or 31% of the country's area, although the regional distribution varies greatly. While the southern side of the Alps ( Ticino ) is heavily forested, the densely populated central plateau has comparatively little forest. Between the period 1993/95 and the period 2004/06 the forest area in the entire country increased by 4.9%, whereby the regional differences are also very large: no increase in the Central Plateau, 0.9% in the Jura, 2.2 % in the Pre-Alps, 9.1% in the Alps and 9.8% on the southern side of the Alps. The total volume of wood is 420 million cubic meters.

Forests play an important role in biodiversity: around 20,000 species depend on forests, which corresponds to around 40% of all species living in Switzerland. In Switzerland, wood is used as a raw material in construction and as a source of energy. In 2009, lumber extraction was 6.4 million cubic meters, which is only about two-thirds of the increase in usable wood (9.5 million cubic meters).

Natural hazards

Avalanche cone above Engi

Natural hazards are always present in Switzerland and can be hydrological or geological in nature. The presence of numerous mountains increases the number of floods, which in turn leads to flooding in flat regions such as the Zealand or the Linth Plain . Avalanches and glaciers can also occur in the mountains . Around two earthquakes are registered in Switzerland every day , of which around ten per year are strong enough to be felt by the population (around magnitude 2.5 and above). The strongest earthquake in Switzerland with catastrophic consequences, the Basel earthquake in 1356 , was more than 650 years ago. On average, an earthquake with a magnitude of around 6 can be expected in Switzerland every 60 to 100 years. The last earthquake of this magnitude occurred in 1946 near Sierre in Valais. Such a quake can occur anywhere and anytime in Switzerland. The greatest earthquake hazard, however, is in Valais, Basel, the St. Gallen Rhine Valley, Central Grisons, the Engadine and Central Switzerland.

Meteorite impacts

So far a total of eight unique meteorites have been recovered in Switzerland , of which material is still available today. The fall was observed in four meteorite impacts.

See also : List of meteorites in Switzerland

National border

Switzerland borders five countries and has a border length of 1935 kilometers. The longest national border is 782 kilometers with Italy in the south (→  border between Italy and Switzerland ). In the west, Switzerland borders on France for 585 kilometers (→  border between France and Switzerland ); in the north to Germany over 347 kilometers, most of which runs along the Rhine (→  border between Germany and Switzerland ). In the east, Switzerland borders Austria (→ border between Austria and Switzerland ) at 180 kilometers  and the Principality of Liechtenstein at 41 kilometers (→  border between Liechtenstein and Switzerland ).

Borderline

Due to the topography of Switzerland, the national border is very different depending on the region. Part of the border runs through cities ( Geneva , Basel , Konstanz , Chiasso ), on firm ground (717 km), in lakes, rivers and streams (472 km) and in the mountains and in the high mountains (746 km).

7,132 boundary signs, mostly boundary stones, mark the boundary sections on solid ground. The artificially established boundary runs in a straight line from boundary stone to boundary stone. The natural boundary without any special marking in the area is formed by lakes, rivers and mountains. In lakes and rivers, the border mostly runs in the middle, with the exception of the Doubs in the canton of Jura. Here the border follows the bank line on the Swiss side. There is still no precise definition of the boundary in Lake Constance. In the mountains, the natural boundary is defined by the "watershed line" (the respective mountain ridge). The border shifts on glaciers and firn, depending on their position. The melting of the glacier at the Furggsattel above Zermatt has shifted the border by 100 to 150 meters in favor of Switzerland over the past 70 years.

Changes in the national border

The Swiss national border goes back mainly to the resolutions of the Congress of Vienna of 1815, but reflects older border conditions that go far back into the time of the Old Confederation . In the Treaty of Varese, dated 1752, individual sections of today's southern border were precisely defined. In connection with the settlement of border conflicts, with road construction, with water corrections, the use of water power or to simplify the complicated borderline, various border adjustments were agreed with the neighboring states in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The most important changes after 1815 concerned the Dappental (border between Vaud and France, approx. 7.5 km²), in 1952 the Valle di Lei (border between Graubünden and Italy, 0.45 km²), and in 1955 the Ellhorn , which forms Switzerland strategic reasons demanded from the Principality of Liechtenstein (border between Graubünden and Liechtenstein). In 1967 several border corrections and the like took place in the canton of Schaffhausen . a. at the Verenahof .

In 1861 a border adjustment was agreed between the Kingdom of Italy and the Swiss Confederation at Campione. Previously, the territory of Campione had also included the opposite coast of San Martino with the part of the Poststrasse between Lugano and Melide. Since then, the border runs in the middle of the lake.

In addition, customs-related deviations from the customs border came into force: Samnaun was declared a duty-free area in 1892, the Principality of Liechtenstein in 1923 and the German exclave Büsingen in 1967 were included in the Swiss customs area. Since there is no international treaty between Switzerland and Italy for the enclave of Campione d'Italia , this de facto but not de jure belongs to the Swiss customs territory.

Human geography

“The whole of Switzerland is like a big city, which is divided into thirteen quarters, some of which are in the valleys, the others on the slopes and still others on the mountains [...] There are quarters with different densities, but they are always densely populated enough to feel like you're in town. Instead of being arranged in a line, the houses are distributed without symmetry or order […] »

- Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1763)

Administrative structure

Cantons of Switzerland

The administrative structure of Switzerland is historical. The country emerged from the merger of sovereign states into a federal state. Since 1848, the cantons have exercised all rights that are not transferred to the Confederation under the Federal Constitution . There have been 26 cantons since 1979, when the canton of Jura split off from the canton of Bern.

17 cantons are further subdivided into districts . These serve as decentralized intermediate instances of state enforcement between the cantonal government and the municipalities. With a few exceptions, they are purely administrative and judicial units and constituencies without autonomy. There are no districts in the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Basel-Stadt, Geneva, Glarus, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schaffhausen, Uri and Zug. The previously widespread subdivision of the districts into districts only exists in the cantons of Graubünden and Ticino. All cantons are also divided into political communes ; they perform all communal tasks that are not declared to be the sphere of activity of another type of commune (e.g. civil parish , parishes , school parishes ) by superordinate law . On January 1, 2010, there were 2,596 political communities in Switzerland; their number is steadily decreasing due to church mergers.

Since 1999, Switzerland has been divided into seven major regions for statistical purposes , which can comprise several cantons. They correspond to the NUTS 2 regions of Eurostat , the statistical office of the European Union .

Abbr.	Canton	main place	Population (2008)	Area (km²)	Inhabitants per km²	Official language (s)
ZH	Zurich	Zurich	1,332,727	1,729	771	German
BE	Bern	Bern	969,299	5,959	163	German French
LU	Lucerne	Lucerne	368,742	1,493	247	German
UR	Uri	Altdorf	35'162	1,077	33	German
SZ	Schwyz	Schwyz	143'719	908	158	German
OW	Obwalden	Sarnen	34,429	491	70	German
NW	Nidwalden	Stans	40,737	276	148	German
GL	Glarus	Glarus	38,370	685	56	German
ZG	train	train	110,384	239	462	German
FR	Freiburg	Freiburg	268,537	1,671	161	French German
SO	Solothurn	Solothurn	251,830	791	318	German
BS	Basel city	Basel	186,672	37	5,045	German
BL	Basel-Country	Liestal	271,214	547	524	German
SH	Schaffhausen	Schaffhausen	75,303	298	253	German
AR	Appenzell Ausserrhoden	Herisau , Trogen	53,054	243	218	German
AI	Appenzell Innerrhoden	Appenzell	15,549	173	90	German
SG	St. Gallen	St. Gallen	471,152	2,026	233	German
GR	Grisons	Chur	190,459	7'105	27	German, Romansh , Italian
AG	Aargau	Aarau	591,632	1,404	421	German
TG	Thurgau	Frauenfeld	241,811	991	244	German
TI	Ticino	Bellinzona	332,736	2,812	118	Italian
VD	Vaud	Lausanne	688,245	3,212	214	French
VS	Valais	Manners	303,241	5'224	58	French German
NE	Neuchâtel	Neuchâtel	170,924	803	213	French
GE	Geneva	Geneva	446,106	282	1'581	French
JU	law	Delémont	69,822	838	83	French
CH	Swiss Confederation	Bern ( federal city )	7,701,856	41,285	187	German (63.7%), French (20.4%), Italian (6.5%), Romansh (0.5%)

¹ Herisau is the seat of the government and parliament of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden , the seat of the cantonal courts is Trogen . The former rural community was held alternately in Trogen and Hundwil . Appenzell Ausserrhoden therefore does not have a clearly defined main town.

Landscape change and land use

Agricultural company near Stans land use Source: FSO (2004–2009)
Main areas	Area (in%)	Land use	Area (in ha )
Settlement areas	07.5	Building area	152'009
		Industrial and commercial areas	23,975
		Special settlement areas	17'030
		Recreational and green areas	19,644
		Traffic areas	95'239
Agricultural areas	35.9	Fruit growing, viticulture, horticulture	50,973
		Farmland	407,069
		Natural meadows, home pastures	509,767
		Usable areas for alpine farming	513,860
Wooded areas	31.3	Forest	1,134,482
		Bush forest	66,899
		Woods	91,681
Unproductive areas	25.3	Standing waters	142,681
		Rivers	34,193
		Unproductive vegetation	288,318
		Areas without vegetation	466,416
		Glacier, firn	144'262

The landscape in Switzerland has been changing ever faster since the 19th century . The population growth led to a growth of the settlements and an expansion of the transport and energy infrastructure. A series of large water corrections turned the former swampland into an agricultural area, which was further optimized in the course of the 20th century through overall improvements. This change can be qualitatively determined by comparing old and new maps or pictures. Land use statistics, which divide Switzerland's territory into four main areas of land use, have been used to quantify landscape change since the 1970s: settlement and infrastructure areas, agricultural areas, forested areas and unproductive areas.

Settlement areas

Settlement areas developed mainly in the Central Plateau and on the southern side of the Alps, near lakes and along important rivers. They cover 16.0% of the Central Plateau, 8.2% of the Jura, 4.7% of the southern side of the Alps, 4.4% of the northern Prealps, 3.3% of the western central Alps and 1.7% of the eastern central Alps.

Settlement and infrastructure areas are growing around the agglomerations, but also in rural areas, at the expense of agricultural areas. This growth is particularly pronounced along the main transport axes such as motorways and railways. The connection to new traffic routes leads to a significant increase in construction activity in the affected regions. Rural areas are affected by suburbanization : Many people who work in the city move to the countryside in order to benefit from cheaper building land and a higher quality of life. This is also reflected in the construction statistics: Single-family houses are mainly built in the countryside, multi-family houses in cities.

In addition, land consumption per capita is also increasing. On the one hand, the average size of households is constantly decreasing; on the other hand, almost two thirds of residential construction activity is in single and two-family houses. A population increase of 9% in the years 1990 to 2001 contrasts with an increase in living space of 25%.

Agricultural land

Despite constant decline, agriculture continues to be the main type of land use in Switzerland. It dominates in the Swiss Plateau, with slightly more than half of the area (49.5%). Slightly lower values ​​are achieved in the Jura (43.4%), in the northern Prealps (37.5%) and in the eastern Central Alps (30.3%). The proportion of agricultural land is significantly lower in the western central Alps (18.4%) and on the southern side of the Alps (12.7%).

Diverse usage interests compete for the scarce space in the well-developed areas. Since the forest is protected by law, the growth of settlements in the Central Plateau and around the large cities is exclusively at the expense of the agricultural area. The situation in the Alpine region is different. Here, abandoned areas are usually not re-used, but left to their own devices, so that new forests and trees gradually emerge. The decline is particularly noticeable in the cantons of Valais and Ticino . The loss of cultivated land is offset by an increase in biodiversity.

Wooded areas

The forested areas together cover almost a third of the country, although the proportion varies greatly depending on the region. In the Jura it is 47.4%, on the southern side of the Alps 49.1%. The proportion in the northern foothills of the Alps is 33.9%, just above the average. However, it is significantly lower in the Central Plateau with 24.3%, in the eastern Central Alps with 23.4% and in the western Central Alps with 23%.

A continuous increase in the forest area has been observed in the last few decades. The growth has mostly natural causes; In the Alps in particular, the forest spreads across fields and pastures that farmers have given up after having been in use for centuries. Afforestation accounts for 13% of the forest growth. On the one hand, this involves the expansion and renewal of protective forests and , on the other hand, replacement areas for construction-related clearing.

Unproductive areas

The unproductive areas are dominated by rock, scree, snow, glaciers and unusable vegetation above the tree line . But also lakes, rivers and wetlands are included. The proportion of unproductive areas is very high, especially in mountain regions. In the western central Alps it is 55.3%, in the eastern central Alps 44.6%, on the southern side of the Alps 33.5% and in the northern pre-Alps 24.2%. The share in the Swiss Plateau is significantly lower at 10.2% (with stagnant waters predominating here), in the Jura it is only 1.1%.

The uncultivated areas in the mountains are not left unused, they are used by tourism and for the generation of electrical energy through hydropower. Water ingress, landslides, avalanches and floods can drastically change the alpine landscape. The population uses 0.2% of this area to build protective structures against natural hazards. An even smaller proportion is accounted for by traffic routes with numerous engineering structures. In the Central Plateau, lakes and rivers near residential areas are used for leisure activities and as recreational areas. Wetlands and nature reserves help maintain biodiversity.

Resident population

→ Main article : Demography in Switzerland

Population growth in Switzerland from 1861 to 2014 (in thousands)

In March 2014, Switzerland had 8,160,900 inhabitants (end of 2008: 7,701,856 inhabitants). This puts the country in 96th place worldwide. The development of the Swiss population has been systematically recorded since 1798, when the government of the Helvetic Republic ordered the first census. Since 1850 these have been carried out by the federal government every ten years.

urbanization

The population of Switzerland is strongly urban. In 2007, 73.6% of all residents lived in an urban settlement . Statistically speaking, a city is any municipality with more than 10,000 inhabitants. In its dynamic spatial concept published in 2007, the Federal Statistical Office differentiates between 50 agglomerations (based on the 2000 census). These consist of a core city and neighboring communities with a total of at least 20,000 inhabitants, whereby the neighboring communities must be structurally and economically strongly oriented towards the core communities. Ten agglomerations extend beyond national borders. There are also five "isolated cities" without outlying communities ( Davos , Einsiedeln , Langenthal , Lyss , Martigny ).

The metropolitan areas of Zurich , Basel and Geneva-Lausanne are defined as metropolitan areas by the Federal Statistical Office . These include functionally closely related and spatially connected agglomeration systems. According to the 2007 spatial concept, the conurbations of Bern and Ticino were downgraded due to their small size compared to other European countries. Bern now forms the center of a multipolar agglomeration system, while southern Ticino belongs to the catchment area of ​​the Italian metropolis of Milan .

Ten cities had more than 50,000 inhabitants in 2008: Zurich (380,777), Geneva (189,033), Basel (165,566), Lausanne (130,421), Bern (127,515), Winterthur ( 104,468), Lucerne (79,478), St. Gallen (74,111), Lugano (61,837) and Biel / Bienne (52,351).

Spatial distribution

Population density (2015)

The topography of the country has a major influence on the spatial distribution; so the population is mainly concentrated on the relatively flat central plateau. With a population density of around 450 inhabitants / km², it is one of the most densely populated regions in Europe.

There are major differences in population density between the cantons in the Swiss Plateau and those in the Alps. As the most densely populated canton, Zurich also has the highest density with 771 inh. / Km² (the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Geneva are not comparable due to their predominantly urban structure). This is followed by Basel-Landschaft with 524 inhabitants / km², Zug with 462 inhabitants / km² and Aargau with 421 inhabitants / km². In contrast, the Alpine cantons of Graubünden (27 inh. / Km²) and Uri (33 inh. / Km²) have a very low density. In the Alps, the population is concentrated in the valleys, with the Rhone Valley in Wallis and the Rhine Valley in Graubünden deserving special mention.

languages

→ Main article : Languages ​​in Switzerland

Language areas of Switzerland - majority ratio according to the 2000 census ; Map with a parish population as of January 1, 2019.

According to the federal constitution, Switzerland knows four national languages: German , French , Italian and Romansh . In the 2000 census, 63.7% stated German as their main language, 20.4% French, 6.5% Italian, 0.5% Romansh and 8.9% a non-national language.

The German Switzerland includes areas in northwestern Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland and Central Switzerland and in large parts of the Swiss Alps, which are mostly German. 17 of the 26 cantons are monolingual German. Although standard Swiss German is the official language , the local population predominantly uses a Swiss-German dialect of Alemannic when speaking ; Samnaun is an exception with a southern Bavarian dialect. In the French-speaking west of the country French predominates. The Swiss French differs only slightly from the languages spoken in France high-level language. French dialects ( patois ) are spoken by a very small number of people. Most of them belong to the Franco-Provençal , in the canton of Jura to the Franc-Comtois . The cantons of Geneva , Jura , Neuchâtel and Vaud are monolingual in French . Three cantons are officially French and German-speaking: Bern with a German majority, Freiburg and Wallis each with a French majority. The language border between German-speaking Switzerland and French-speaking Switzerland is known as the " Röstigraben ".

The canton of Ticino and the valleys of Bergell , Calanca , Misox and Puschlav in the canton of Graubünden belong to Italian-speaking Switzerland . There are also a large number of Italian immigrants in the rest of the country. The Swiss Italian is different from the spoken language in Italy by German and French influences on the vocabulary. The use of Lombard dialects is falling sharply. Romansh has the lowest number of speakers, one of three official languages ​​in the canton of Graubünden, along with German and Italian. Rhaeto-Romanic has been steadily losing ground to German since the 19th century. There are three areas in which the language is still predominant; the Surselva , the Oberhalbstein and the Lower Engadine (including Val Müstair ). In contrast, Schams and the Upper Engadine recorded a sharp decline (see traditionally Romansh-speaking area of ​​Graubünden ).

Non-national languages ​​are spoken almost exclusively by immigrants as their main language. The most common in 2000 were Serbian / Croatian (1.4%), Albanian (1.3%), Portuguese (1.2%), Spanish (1.1%), English (1.0%) and Turkish ( 0.6%). Serbian and Croatian have their focus in German-speaking Switzerland, as do Albanian and Turkish. Portuguese is particularly well represented in French-speaking Switzerland, while Spanish is evenly distributed. English focuses on the regions around Basel, Geneva and Zurich as well as on tourist areas in western Switzerland.

Religions

→ Main article : Religions in Switzerland

Distribution of denominations (January 1, 2017)

According to the 2000 census, the largest religious communities in Switzerland are by far the Roman Catholic Church (41.82%) and the Evangelical Reformed Church (33.04%). It is followed by Islam (4.26%), the Christian Orthodox Churches (1.81%) and other Protestant communities (1.44%). 11.11% were without religious affiliation.

The cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Neuchâtel, Schaffhausen, Thurgau, Vaud and Zurich are traditionally predominantly Protestant. The cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Freiburg, Jura, Lucerne, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schwyz, Solothurn, Ticino, Uri, Wallis and Zug are traditionally predominantly Catholic. The cantons of Aargau, Geneva, Glarus, Graubünden and St. Gallen are mixed denominationally. In general, there is a strong blurring of the denominations, which were geographically strictly separated from one another in earlier centuries, especially in the vicinity of the large cities. The smallest regional church, the Christian Catholic Church , is concentrated in north-western Switzerland, while smaller Protestant groups are in western Switzerland. Muslims live predominantly in medium-sized and large cities, almost half of all Jews in the cities of Zurich and Geneva. The proportion of people with no religious affiliation tends to be higher in Protestant areas than in Catholic areas.

Spatial planning

→ Main article : Spatial planning in Switzerland

The 2013 revised spatial planning law regulates spatial development in Switzerland. The overall objective is the economical use of the non-reproducible soil.

Economy and Transport

→ Main articles : Swiss economy  and transport in Switzerland

In 2009 Switzerland had 4,529,000 people in employment, 3.6% of them in the primary sector , 23.0% in the secondary sector and 73.4% in the tertiary sector . The proportion of men is 54.6%, that of women 45.4%. Most of the workplaces are concentrated in five economic centers. These are the Lake Geneva arc (arc lémanique) , the regions of Zurich, Bern and Basel and southern Ticino. In the period from 1995 to 2005, the concentration increased in Zurich, on Lake Geneva and in Bern, at the expense of Basel and southern Ticino. From 2001 to 2005, the Lake Geneva Arc was the only region to experience strong employment growth. During the same period, Basel, Bern and Zurich suffered losses.

South portal of the Gotthard road tunnel

The foundation of the Swiss Confederation was also born out of the desire to control the mountain passes over the Alps, which enable north-south transit traffic. The history of Switzerland is shaped by the conquering and defense of the mountains; These include, for example, the control of the Gotthard Pass through the forest site , the transport of goods by pack animals , the expansion of the Simplon Pass ordered by Napoleon Bonaparte , the construction of transalpine railway lines and motorways as well as the Reduit fortresses during the Second World War . The population is concentrated on the Central Plateau, which in turn leads to a concentration of traffic routes between the urban agglomerations of this region. The transport network is geared on the one hand to east-west connections in the Central Plateau and on the other hand to north-south traffic across the Alps. Due to the need to pass mountain ranges, the transport networks have numerous passes and tunnels .

Protected areas

Parks of national importance

National protected areas in Switzerland are grouped under the generic name parks of national importance and divided into the categories of national parks, regional nature parks and nature adventure parks. The Federal Office for the Environment provides global financial aid for the establishment and operation of a protected area. It controls certain criteria and issues seals of approval for a period of ten years, which can be renewed. However, the Federal Office does not act of its own accord; the initiative for establishing a park area must come from the cantons and local interest groups.

Landscape in the national park

The Swiss National Park in the canton of Graubünden is the only national park in the country. It is located in the Engadin and Val Müstair , borders Italy and was created in 1914. After various extensions in 2009 it has an area of ​​170.3 km². According to the criteria of the World Conservation Union , the national park is classified as a category Ia reserve and thus enjoys the highest possible protection.

Under the leadership of the nature conservation organization Pro Natura , efforts are being made to create a second national park in Switzerland. Efforts are furthest advanced in the Adula area. The planned Parc Adula on the border of the cantons of Ticino and Graubünden is to include areas in the Surselva , around the Rheinwaldhorn , in the Misox and in the Calanca valley . At the end of November 2016, however, 8 out of 17 municipalities voted against the park in a referendum, so the project will not continue for the time being.

The project of a national park in the side valleys of the Valle Maggia north of Locarno also suffered setbacks after the municipal parliament of Cevio refused to provide further support in 2009. In a referendum on June 10, 2018 in eight affected municipalities in the region, six municipalities rejected the project, only the peripheral municipalities Ascona and Bosco Gurin agreed. The hunters in particular feared unwanted restrictions on their activities.

There are 15 regional nature parks and one nature adventure park (Wilderness Park Zurich ( Sihlwald and Wildlife Park Langenberg )). In addition, the National Park since 1979, is a biosphere reserve of UNESCO . The Entlebuch has had this status since 2001 and the Val Müstair since 2017. Cantonal protected areas, floodplain areas of national importance as well as objects in the federal inventory of landscapes and natural monuments of national importance are also under protection .

UNESCO World Heritage in Switzerland

→ Main article : World Heritage in Switzerland

Twelve objects in Switzerland are currently recognized as World Heritage by UNESCO . Of these, three belong to the world natural heritage category and seven to the world cultural heritage category.

World natural heritage

" Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch " is an 823.9 km² high alpine area in the cantons of Bern and Valais . It includes the Aletsch Glacier and the three well-known mountains Eiger , Mönch and Jungfrau . The world heritage was established in 2001; it was initially called Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn and was 538.9 km² in size. In 2007 there was an expansion of 285 km², which was associated with a renaming. The world heritage is considered an outstanding example of the formation of the Alps and the underlying geological mechanisms. Due to the marked difference in altitude (from 800 to 4207  m above sea level ) and the different climatic conditions, the world heritage offers a great variety of animals and plants. Due to global warming , the glaciers are retreating and new plants are settling in the areas that are being freed up.

Glarus thrust with the Martinsloch

The Monte San Giorgio is a mountain in the southern Ticino, between the two southern arms of Lake Lugano. In 2003 UNESCO declared an area of ​​13.89 km² on this mountain to be a World Heritage Site, as it was the best witness of marine life in the Triassic period (245 to 230 million years ago) due to the enormous amount of fossils . At that time there was a tropical lagoon at this point, which left a great variety of fossilized plants and animals.

The Glarus Thrust (officially called Tectonic Arena Sardona ) has been Switzerland's third World Heritage Site since 2008. This 328.5 km² area is located around Piz Sardona on the border between the cantons of Glarus , Graubünden and St. Gallen . Here, tectonic processes can be clearly observed in the terrain. Older rock layers overlay significantly younger ones, which led to the knowledge of ore formation through thrusting of mountain tops. In addition, the largest post-glacial rockfall area in the central Alps can be found here.

World Heritage

Bern old town

The oldest part of the federal city of Bern is the old town of Bern , located in a bend in the river , which was included in the world cultural heritage in 1983. Most of the buildings date from the 18th century, with some dating back to the 15th century.

The St. Johann Benedictine Monastery in Müstair (World Heritage Site since 1983) dates back to a foundation by Charlemagne around the year 800. Carolingian frescoes in the monastery church testify to the almost no longer existing early medieval sacred images.

The prince abbey of St. Gallen (World Heritage Site since 1983) was one of the most important monasteries in Europe from its foundation in the 8th century until its dissolution in 1805. The abbey library in particular is of great cultural value .

The three castles of Bellinzona (world cultural heritage since 2000) are located in Bellinzona , the capital of Ticino . These are Castelgrande , Castello di Montebello and Castello di Sasso Corbaro . Together with walls and ramparts, they are an outstanding example of a late medieval fortification.

Circular viaduct of Brusio on the Bernina Railway

The Lavaux region's wine-growing terraces stretch between Lausanne and Montreux along the northern shore of Lake Geneva . The terraces supported by stone walls are an outstanding example of a cultural landscape that has been cultivated for centuries. An area of ​​8.98 km² has been classified as a World Heritage Site since 2007.

The Albula Railway and the Bernina Railway have been a World Heritage Site since 2008 . These Rhaetian Railway routes connect Chur with St. Moritz and Tirano . They have dozens of viaducts and tunnels of great historical and architectural value.

The cities of La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle (World Heritage Site since 2009) represent a symbiosis between urbanism and industry. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the urban structure was completely subordinate to the needs of the watchmaking industry that dominated there .

Geographical research in Switzerland

From pioneers to university research

Aegidus Tschudi

Konrad Türst , Johannes Stumpf and Aegidius Tschudi are considered pioneers of descriptive geography and cultural studies in Switzerland . They were the first to draw rough general maps of the country. They were followed by Josias Simler , who published the first topographical description devoted exclusively to the Alps in 1574. Also important are Johann Jakob Scheuchzer and Albrecht von Haller ; the former for his surveys in the Alps, the latter for his exact descriptions, which established his reputation as an extraordinary cartographer of the 18th century. Horace-Bénédict de Saussure explored the Alps and made measuring instruments for his explorations. Alexander von Humboldt , among others, used these instruments on his expeditions.

In the 19th century, geography developed into a discipline in the natural sciences . Various researchers investigated the origins of the Alps and glaciers , above all Bernhard Studer in Bern, Louis Agassiz in Neuchâtel, Ludwig Rütimeyer in Basel and Albert Heim in Zurich. These scientists also taught geology or biology because there was no actual geography department at that time.

University chairs for geography were founded in Bern in 1886 , in Zurich in 1895 , in Friborg in 1896 and in Basel in 1912 , the one at ETH Zurich followed in 1915. During this period, the chairs were linked to various scientific faculties, in line with the existing scientific system of the 19th century . In the era between 1886 and 1915, geomorphology was the predominant subject of study, while in the era up to 1945 ethnology gradually gained in importance. Zurich introduced agricultural geography , Geneva political geography and Friborg geopolitics .

After 1945, physical geography experienced a high degree of specialization, with the introduction of sub-areas such as hydrology and climatology , while economic geography issues came to the fore in the area of ​​human geography . From the 1980s, global environmental research and studies in developing countries became increasingly important.

The growing interest in distant lands resulted in the establishment of several learned societies. Geographical and ethnographic societies were formed in Geneva in 1858, in Bern in 1872, in St. Gallen in 1878, in Neuchâtel in 1885, in Zurich in 1899, in Basel in 1923 and in Canton Ticino in 1995. In 1970, the foundation of the carried Swiss Geographical Society , which in its place in 1989 Association of Geography Switzerland joined.

cartography

Map of the Three Leagues (1618)

Central part of Lake Zurich on the map of the Canton of Zurich by Hans Conrad Gyger, completed in 1667

Bern in the Atlas Suisse

Aletsch Glacier on the Siegfried Map

The first known map showing today's territory of Switzerland is the Tabula Peutingeriana , a late Roman map from the second half of the 4th century with the most important streets and cities of the Roman Empire . In the 15th and 16th centuries, several maps of the Confederation were made . In 1496 and 1497 Konrad Türst created two maps on parchment that depict mountains, towns and forests in a stylized way from the perspective of a gentleman. Sebastian Münster published a map drawn by Aegidius Tschudi in 1538 ; this independent, newly recorded primary map is considered to be an outstanding cartographic achievement. The first maps of individual cantons date from 1566 (Zurich, Jos Murer ), 1578 (Bern, Thomas Schöpf ) and around 1600 (Lucerne, Renward Cysat and Hans Heinrich Wägmann). Around 1600 Jean Duvillard and Jacques Goulart drew maps of the area around Lake Geneva . Also worth mentioning are the maps of the Three Leagues from 1618 ( Fortunat Sprecher and Philipp Clüver ) and of Lake Lucerne from 1645 ( Johann Baptist Cysat ).

Around the middle of the 17th century, Hans Conrad Gyger created extremely precise maps. His relief map of the Canton of Zurich, completed in 1667, is considered a masterpiece of three-dimensional terrain representation. He was the first to depict a landscape in this way. Because the map was subject to military secrecy, this pioneering achievement had no direct influence on other cartographers for several decades. Gyger also drew up border and tithing plans that enabled the authorities to more easily resolve border conflicts and clarify ownership and tithing relationships.

In contrast to the 17th century, when war engineers shaped cartography, in the 18th century mostly civil surveyors and fief commissioners were busy creating maps. Mostly on a private assignment, they created ornate plans of lordships and districts that appeared in small numbers and did not have to meet military requirements. This development resulted in a certain stagnation of cartography in Switzerland. The Atlas Suisse by Johann Rudolf Meyer and Johann Heinrich Weiss , published between 1796 and 1802, comprises 16 maps on a scale of 1: 120,000. It was the first standardized overall representation of Switzerland since Tschudi in 1538.

In the 19th century, the army's strategic needs and the scientific community's desire for terrain knowledge required a precise and homogeneous map of the country. In 1805, Niklaus Rudolf von Wattenwyl demanded that the daily statute accelerate the surveying work. Hans Conrad Finsler carried out the first official surveys on behalf of the Federal Military Commission from 1809 to 1829.

From 1832, Guillaume-Henri Dufour was responsible for surveying and creating the topographic map of Switzerland . In order to be able to coordinate the work better, he decided in 1837 to found the Federal Topographical Bureau , which began its work in Carouge the following year . Between 1845 and 1865 it published the Typographische Karte (also called Dufourkarte). This first official map series in Switzerland comprises 25 black and white sheets on a scale of 1: 100,000; the terrain is represented by shaded hatching, which makes it particularly three-dimensional.

From 1866 to 1879 Hermann Siegfried headed the Topographical Bureau . This office, which was relocated to Bern in 1865 , developed into the Federal Office of Topography , which is now known as Swisstopo . In the period from 1870 to 1926, the Topographical Atlas of Switzerland , commonly known as the Siegfried Map, was published. The three-colored map series is divided into 604 sheets; the scale is 1: 25,000 for the Central Plateau and the Jura and 1: 50,000 for the Alps.

Significantly influenced by Eduard Imhof , the founder of the Institute for Cartography at ETH Zurich, the first multi-colored sheets of the national map of Switzerland appeared in 1938 . The map series was completed in 1964 on a scale of 1: 50,000, a year later on a scale of 1: 100,000. The last sheet on a scale of 1: 25,000 was published in 1979. Since then, the sheets have been updated every six years. They are supplemented by numerous thematic maps for various leisure activities. The private publishers Hallwag , Kümmerly & Frey and Orell Füssli have made significant contributions in the areas of school, tourist and road maps. The Swiss Society for Cartography is dedicated to promoting theoretical and practical cartography.

Photo flights of US bombers 1946

In the summer of 1946, disarmed US bombers flew over Switzerland with the approval of the Federal Council in a total of 64 flights at an altitude of 6000 to 8000 meters and created thousands of unique aerial photographs of Switzerland. The Americans and British set out to create an aerial map of all of post-war Europe. The American photography technique was much more modern than that of the Swiss national topography. Switzerland received a copy of all recordings, which had been completely restored and digitally processed by 2015. The photos show Switzerland that was still heavily influenced by agriculture shortly after the Second World War. The images can be accessed on the federal geoportal.

Literature and Sources

Geography

• Rita Schneider-Sliwa: Switzerland - geography, history, economy, politics . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2011, ISBN 978-3-534-22439-5 ( wbg-wissenverbindet.de ).
• Oskar Bär: Geography of Switzerland . Teaching material publisher of the Canton of Zurich, Zurich 1973.

physical geography

• Toni Labhart, Danielle Decrouez: Géologie de la Suisse . Delachaux et Niestlé, Lausanne 1997, ISBN 2-603-01050-6 .
• Changing land use: Swiss land use statistics. (PDF, 2265 kB) Federal Statistical Office, 2001, accessed on June 3, 2010 . 
• Land use in Switzerland: results of the land use statistics. (PDF, 2955 kB) Federal Statistical Office, 2013, accessed on January 9, 2014 . 
• The biogeographical regions of Switzerland. (PDF, 966 kB) Federal Office for the Environment, 2001, accessed on June 4, 2010 . 
• Environment Switzerland 2009. (PDF, 2157 kB) Federal Office for the Environment, Federal Office for Statistics, 2009, accessed on June 4, 2010 . 
• State of biodiversity in Switzerland. (PDF, 5837 kB) Federal Office for the Environment, 2009, accessed on June 4, 2010 . 

Human geography

• Georges Lüdi, Iwar Werlen: 2000 Population Census: Language Landscape in Switzerland. (PDF, 2742 kB) Federal Statistical Office, 2005, accessed on June 3, 2010 . 
• Claude Bovay, Raphaël Broquet: Federal Population Census 2000: Religious Landscape in Switzerland. (PDF, 625 kB) Federal Statistical Office, 2004, accessed on June 3, 2010 . 
• Population development of the municipalities 1850–2000. (PDF, 3148 kB) Federal Statistical Office, 2005, accessed on June 4, 2010 . 
• Demographic portrait of Switzerland. (PDF, 470 kB) Federal Statistical Office, 2007, accessed on June 4, 2010 . 

Web links

Commons : Atlas of Switzerland  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Geography of Switzerland on swissworld.org
• Federal Office for Spatial Development
• Switzerland in the CIA World Factbook
• Biodiversity Monitoring Switzerland
• Hans-Rudolf Egli: Geography. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Information on the national borders on the website of the Federal Office of Topography , accessed on March 21, 2017
2. ↑ Oskar Bär, Geography of Switzerland, p. 6.
3. ↑ Daniel Viviroli, Rolf Weingartner: Hydrological Significance of the European Alps. In: Hydrological Atlas of Switzerland . Federal Office for the Environment, 2004, accessed on February 15, 2016 ( ISBN 978-3-9520262-0-5 ). 
4. ↑ Labhart, Decrouez: Géologie de la Suisse, pp. 147–154.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Oskar Bär, Geographie der Schweiz, p. 6.
6. ^ Sergio Marazzi: Atlante Orografico delle Alpi. SOIUSA . Priuli & Verlucca editori, Pavone Canavese 2005, ISBN 978-88-8068-273-8 .
7. ^ Oskar Bär, Geography of Switzerland, p. 27.
8. ↑ Oskar Bär, Geographie der Schweiz, p. 23.
9. ^ Oskar Bär, Geography of Switzerland, p. 10.
10. ↑ Starting point for height measurements. Swisstopo , February 20, 2009, archived from the original on June 18, 2009 ; Retrieved May 24, 2010 . 
11. ↑ Diminishing water reserves in the Alps. Federal Office for the Environment , June 2006, accessed on May 24, 2010 . 
12. ↑ ^{a b c} The climate in Switzerland - a brief overview. (No longer available online.) Federal Office for Meteorology and Climatology , December 8, 2008, archived from the original on May 29, 2010 ; Retrieved June 8, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
13. ^ Oskar Bär, Geographie der Schweiz, p. 33
14. ↑ Hans Stadler: Lakes. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . March 15, 2013 , accessed June 25, 2019 .
15. ↑ Characteristic parameters of the glaciers and their changes 1850–2000. In: Hydrological Atlas of Switzerland, Table 3.10. Geographical Institute of the University of Bern, 2004, accessed on February 15, 2016 . 
16. ^ Oskar Bär, Geographie der Schweiz, p. 40.
17. ↑ ^{a b} Records and extremes - MeteoSwiss. Retrieved December 9, 2018 . 
18. ↑ Federal Office for Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss): Standard values ​​1981-2010: air temperature 2m. Retrieved December 9, 2018 . 
19. ↑ Federal Office for Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss): Standard values ​​1961-1990: air temperature 2m. Retrieved December 9, 2018 . 
20. ^ Biodiversity in Switzerland. Swissworld, accessed on May 31, 2010 . 
21. ↑ International: Biodiversity. (No longer available online.) Federal Office for the Environment , January 8, 2010, archived from the original on November 12, 2012 ; Retrieved September 29, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
22. ↑ Biodiversity Monitoring Switzerland BDM. (PDF, 2028 kB) Federal Office for the Environment, May 28, 2014, accessed on February 15, 2016 . 
23. ↑ 506 CR types - highest alert level! Species conservation Switzerland, 2007, accessed on February 15, 2016 . 
24. ↑ ^{a b} Monitoring biodiversity. (PDF, 6839 kB) In: “Environment” magazine, issue 3/2006. Federal Office for the Environment, March 2006, p. 12 , accessed on February 15, 2016 . 
25. ↑ ^{a b} Endangered Species in Switzerland. (PDF, 5673 kB) Federal Office for the Environment, accessed on February 15, 2016 . 
26. ^ State of biodiversity in Switzerland, pp. 84–85.
27. ^ State of biodiversity in Switzerland, p. 86.
28. ↑ God da Tamangur. myswitzerland.com, accessed on May 24, 2010 (French). 
29. ↑ Forest area, stocks and hardwood are increasing - large regional differences. (No longer available online.) Federal Research Institute for Forests, Snow and Landscape , November 9, 2007, formerly in the original ; Retrieved May 24, 2010 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
30. ^ Environment Switzerland 2009. (PDF, 2157 kB) Federal Office for the Environment, June 17, 2009, p. 47 , accessed on May 24, 2010 . 
31. ↑ Earthquake in Switzerland. (No longer available online.) Swiss Seismological Service, February 2014, archived from the original on April 6, 2014 ; accessed on February 4, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
32. ↑ Sensational meteorite find on Lake Biel: The cosmic wanderer from Twannberg In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of August 18, 2016
33. ↑ Information on the national borders on the website of the Federal Office of Topography swisstopo , accessed on March 21, 2017
34. ^ Walter Leimgruber (Villars-sur-Glâne): Limits. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
35. ↑ Different types of borders Auf: Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, accessed on October 7, 2017
36. ↑ Our borders move up : Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, accessed on October 7, 2017
37. ^ Marino Viganò: Varese. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
38. ↑ Systematic legal collection of the federal government (SR) - section 0.132 (area)
39. ↑ Lucienne Rey: The whole of Switzerland is like a big city. (PDF, 11318 kB) In: Environment magazine. Federal Office for the Environment, 2007, pp. 8-10 , accessed on February 15, 2016 . 
40. ^ Andreas Kley: Cantons - 4 in the federal state (since 1848). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . October 9, 2008 , accessed May 31, 2010 .
41. ^ Anne-Marie Dubler: District (Office). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . March 9, 2011 , accessed June 25, 2019 .
42. Jump up ↑ The Missing Churches. Berner Zeitung , December 18, 2009, accessed on May 31, 2010 . 
43. ↑ The population of Switzerland 2008. (PDF, 1.23 MB) (No longer available online.) Federal Statistical Office , 2009, archived from the original on July 14, 2014 ; Retrieved May 24, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
44. ↑ Land use and land cover - Land use statistics 1979/85, 1992/97 and 2004/09. (No longer available online.) Federal Statistical Office, 2014, archived from the original on January 9, 2014 ; accessed on January 9, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
45. ↑ Swiss Land Use Statistics, p. 3
46. ↑ Swiss Land Use Statistics, p. 10
47. ↑ ^{a b} Land use in Switzerland 2013, p. 9.
48. ↑ Swiss Land Use Statistics, p. 14
49. ↑ ^{a b} Land use in Switzerland 2013, p. 14
50. ↑ ^{a b} Land use in Switzerland 2013, p. 18
51. ↑ ^{a b} Land use in Switzerland 2013, p. 21
52. ↑ States by population. In: The World Factbook . CIA , 2010, accessed June 3, 2010 . 
53. ↑ What are public statistics? - About history. (No longer available online.) Federal Statistical Office, 2010, archived from the original on May 16, 2009 ; Retrieved June 3, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
54. ↑ Spatial distribution: agglomerations, city and country. (No longer available online.) Federal Statistical Office, 2010, archived from the original on May 4, 2009 ; Retrieved June 3, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
55. ↑ ^{a b} Revision of the agglomeration definition. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Federal Statistical Office, June 29, 2007, pp. 7–10 , archived from the original on March 26, 2010 ; Retrieved June 3, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
56. ↑ Statistical Cities 2012. (No longer available online.) Federal Statistical Office, January 1, 2014, archived from the original on February 15, 2016 ; accessed on February 15, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
57. ↑ Central Plateau. Swissworld, accessed on June 3, 2010 . 
58. ↑ Lüdi, Werlen: Sprachlandschaft in der Schweiz, p. 7.
59. ↑ Lüdi, Werlen: Sprachlandschaft in der Schweiz, p. 36.
60. ↑ Lüdi, Werlen: Sprachlandschaft in der Schweiz, pp. 39–40.
61. ↑ Lüdi, Werlen: Sprachlandschaft in der Schweiz, p. 40.
62. ^ Ricarda Liver: Romansh. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . June 3, 2010 , accessed June 19, 2012 .
63. ↑ Lüdi, Werlen: Sprachlandschaft in der Schweiz, p. 11.
64. ↑ Lüdi, Werlen: Sprachlandschaft in der Schweiz, pp. 18–22.
65. ↑ Bovay, Broquet: Religious landscape in Switzerland, p. 12.
66. ^ Bovay, Broquet: Religionslandschaft in der Schweiz, pp. 17-23.
67. ↑ Important labor market indicators, development. (No longer available online.) In: Statistisches Lexikon. Federal Statistical Office, 2009, archived from the original on November 16, 2010 ; Retrieved May 27, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
68. ^ Disparités régionales en Suisse. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Federal Statistical Office, 2008, p. 8 , archived from the original on July 14, 2014 ; Retrieved May 27, 2010 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
69. ^ Directory of Swiss parks. (No longer available online.) Federal Office for the Environment, June 24, 2009, archived from the original on June 28, 2012 ; Retrieved September 29, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
70. ↑ Special features. Swiss National Park , accessed on February 15, 2016 . 
71. ^ Parc Adula. Parc Adula National Park Project, 2010, accessed May 28, 2010 . 
72. ↑ Switzerland will probably not get a second national park. Tages-Anzeiger , May 6, 2009, accessed May 28, 2010 . 
73. ↑ Parco Nazionale Locarnese - No new national park around the Onsernone Valley , SRF Zurich, June 11, 2018
74. ↑ List of World Heritage Sites in Switzerland. UNESCO , 2010, accessed May 29, 2010 (French). 
75. ↑ Alpes suisses Jungfrau-Aletsch. UNESCO, accessed May 29, 2010 (French). 
76. ^ Monte San Giorgio. UNESCO, accessed May 29, 2010 (French). 
77. ↑ Haut lieu tectonique suisse Sardona. UNESCO, accessed May 29, 2010 (French). 
78. ↑ Vieille ville de Berne. UNESCO, accessed May 29, 2010 (French). 
79. ^ Couvent bénédictin Saint-Jean-des-Sœurs à Müstair. UNESCO, accessed May 29, 2010 (French). 
80. ^ Couvent de Saint-Gall. UNESCO, accessed May 29, 2010 (French). 
81. ↑ Trois châteaux, muraille et remparts du bourg de Bellinzone. UNESCO, accessed May 29, 2010 (French). 
82. ^ Lavaux, vignoble en terrasses. UNESCO, accessed May 29, 2010 (French). 
83. ↑ Chemin de fer rhétique dans les paysages de l'Albula et de la Bernina. UNESCO, accessed May 29, 2010 (French). 
84. ↑ La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle, urbanisme horloger. UNESCO, accessed May 29, 2010 (French). 
85. ↑ ^{a b} Hans-Rudolf Egli: Geography - 1 Geography as a description of the earth and an earth drawing. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . November 29, 2007 , accessed May 24, 2010 .
86. ↑ Hans-Rudolf Egli: Geography - 2.1 From the establishment of the chairs until 1945. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz . November 29, 2007 , accessed May 24, 2010 .
87. ^ Hans-Rudolf Egli: Geography - 2.2 After the 2nd World War. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . November 29, 2007 , accessed May 24, 2010 .
88. ^ Hans-Rudolf Egli: Geography - 3 Geographical Societies. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . November 29, 2007 , accessed May 24, 2010 .
89. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Hans-Rudolf Egli: Cartography. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . November 26, 2014 , accessed June 25, 2019 .
90. ↑ Samuel Wyder: Border and tithe plans by Hans Conrad Gyger. In: Cartographica Helvetica. 2007, accessed May 24, 2010 . 
91. ^ Markus Bürgi: Hans Conrad Finsler. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . November 9, 2014 , accessed June 25, 2019 .
92. ↑ Guillaume-Henri Dufour: "Le portrait topographique de la Suisse". In: Catalog of the exhibition in the Musée de Carouge, 1987. p. 161.
93. ↑ Photo flights by US bombers: Switzerland from the air - then and now On: Swiss radio and television from May 21, 2019
94. ^ Federal geoportal