Geography of Switzerland


The geography of Switzerland features a mountainous and landlocked country located in Western and Central Europe. Switzerland's natural landscape is marked by its numerous lakes and mountains. It is surrounded by five 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, though 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 ; except for a very small part of municipality of Stein am Rhein the whole of the canton of Schaffhausen, part of that of the canton of Basel-City, and a small part of the canton of Zürich are north of the Rhine, while the majority 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:
  • On the south runs the main chain of the Alps, which is joined by the lower ranges that rise south of Lake Geneva and continue until Piz Lad to the east.
  • To the north of this main chain there is another great range of mountains only slightly inferior in extent and height, which starts from the hills known as the Jorat range above Lausanne, reaches maximum in the great snowy summits of the Bernese Alps and the Tödi group, before trending to the north near Chur and, after rising once more in the Säntis group, dies away on the southern shore of Lake Constance.
  • The Swiss portion of the main chain of the Alps and the great northern outlier run parallel to each other from Martigny to near Chur, while for a short distance they actually unite near Pizzo Rotondo, parting again near the Oberalp Pass. Between these two great snowclad ranges flow two of the mightiest European rivers, the Rhône towards the west and the Rhine towards the east, their headwaters being only separated by the tangled mountain mass between Pizzo Rotondo and the Oberalp Pass, which sends the Reuss towards the north and the Ticino towards the south.
  • To the north of the great northern outlier rises the Jura range, a huge spur of the Alps, while between the northern outlier and the Jura extends what may be called the plains or plateau of Switzerland, consisting almost wholly of the undulating valley of the Aare with its numerous affluents. To that river valley, the valley of the Thur, that lies between the Aare basin and the Rhine basin must be added.
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 high Alpine valley Avers, 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, Zürich, Basel, Lucern, 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 high.
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.
File:Grindelwald.jpg|thumb|left|Bernese 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 of 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.