Geography of Switzerland

View of the northern face of the Eiger (3970 mAlps Bernes.

Switzerland ((in German, Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft; in French, Confederation Suisse; in Italian, Confederazione Svizzera; in Romansh, Confederaziun Svizra) is a European country, located in the center-west of said With a total area of 41,290 km², it is bordered by France to the west, Italy to the south and east, Liechtenstein and Austria to the east and and northeast with Germany.

Physical geography

Basic data

Map of Switzerland

• North-South: 220 km.
  • Place further north: Bargen (Schaffhausen Canton) (47°48’ north latitude).
  • Place more south: The old commune of Pedrinate, now absorbed by Chiasso, in the canton of the Tesino (45°49’ north latitude).
• East-west: 348 km.
  • Place more east: Piz Chavalatsch, in the canton of the Greys (10.30’ east).
  • Place more west: Chancy, in the canton of Geneva (5°57’ east).

Sunset at Piz Bernina, in a view from the Boval refuge.

Relief

It is an eminently mountainous country whose mountain ranges align in a southwest-northeast direction. It is bordered to the south by the Alps mountain range and to the west by the Jura mountain range, and has numerous peaks above 4000 m altitude. This determines that Switzerland is made up of three large natural regions: the Alpine mountain range in the southeastern half of the country, the Jura mountain range in the northwest, and the Swiss plateau or Mittelland (Middle Earth) corridor, between both. It is necessary to add the areas of Basel (located beyond the Jura in the tectonic trench of the Rhenish trench) and the district of Mendrisio, belonging to the basin of the river Po.

The Alps

The Swiss Alps occupy most of the territory, approximately 62.5%, in its central and south-eastern areas. They go from Mont Blanc to Ortles. It is a recent uplift zone that gives its name to the alpine orogeny produced during the Tertiary or Cenozoic, which gradually rises, with an average altitude of about 1700 m, but which has numerous peaks over 4000 m in height. Due to glacial action, valleys in troughs and basins have been formed in this region where lakes such as Brienz, Four Cantons, Sarnen, Thun or Zug can be found.

In the area corresponding to the central Alps, it is worth highlighting the existence of three different massifs:

• of the Bernine, the most oriental, whose highlight is the Piz Bernina, 4049 m high;
• Oberland Bernés or Alpes Berneses, whose top summit is the Finsteraarhorn, 4274 m of height; the Aletschhorn (4195 m) and the Jungfrau (4159 m), where the railway station is located at the highest altitude of all Europe, at 3454 m;
• Pennant alps, whose maximum elevation is the Dufour tip (4636 m) in the Monte Rosa massif. The deep valley of the Rhone separates and allows to distinguish the region of the Valais.

In turn, the Rhine marks the separation of the Rheintal region.

The Grosse Scheidegg, in the Bernese Alps.

The Alpine massif of Saint Gotthard occupies what can be considered the center of the Alps, separating the western Alps (cantons of Valais, Vaud and Bern) from the eastern Alps, which begin in the canton of Grisons. With the German-speaking canton of Uri and the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, it is historically and strategically an important transit point between Germany and Italy.

Ticino, the Simplon pass in Valais, and some valleys in the canton of Grisons are the only regions in Switzerland that drain their waters south into the Po River valley in Italy. Lugano is the main city in the area.

View of the Valaisan Alps.

1. 
   The Jura mountain range

A small part of the Jura mountain range is in Switzerland, forming the border with France and Germany in the northwest of the country. The Jura mountain range corresponds to an uplift of the Secondary or Mesozoic Era (the Jura gives its name to a period of the Mesozoic, the Jurassic), it is formed by calcareous rocks, and occupies approximately 10.5% of the territory of Switzerland. Its peaks, with an average height of about 1600 m, are lower than those of the Swiss Alps. The 1683 m is reached on the Tendre. The cities in the area are located in the valleys, at an average altitude of about 1000 m. Notable in the sector are the cities of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Le Locle or Sainte-Croix, some of which concentrate the traditional and famous Swiss watch industry.

The Swiss Plateau

View of Lucerne, in the Swiss plateau, from the Pilatus.

The Swiss plateau or Mitelland is the area that extends between the two mountain ranges just indicated. It occupies 27% of the total territory of Switzerland and brings together the flatter regions of the country. The plain has been covered by fluvial sediments and by debris accumulated in the glacial moraines. During the Würm Ice Age, between 20,000 and 10,000 years ago, with retreat of the glaciers, the area was covered with numerous lakes, most of them dammed by these moraines.

This is an area currently formed by hills rounded by glacial erosion, and with an average height of between 400 and 600 m. It extends across the entire width of the country, forming an axis that runs from Lake Geneva in the southwest to Lake Constance in the northeast.

This is the most densely populated area, hosting most of the Swiss population, due to its milder weather conditions.

Hydrography

Watersheds of Switzerland
Rio Rin Aar River (underside of the Rhine) Rio Ródano Rio Po Danube River River Adigio

Switzerland's hydrology is marked by the presence of five river basins, numerous lakes and some of the largest glaciers in Europe. The climate plays a preponderant role in hydrology by giving precipitation, rain and snow, but also with insolation defining the evaporation of surface water.

Rivers and lakes

Main lakes and rivers of the country.

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 neighbors. Switzerland has considerable groundwater reserves.

Rivers

The Aar River at its pass through Bern

Switzerland sits on the watershed of four river basins. The Rhine and Rhone river basins occupy most of the territory, although some parts of the country belong to the Danube river basin (the Eno river valley, Inn in German, in the canton of Grisons) or the Po river basin (the area of the Ticino river). In this way, the rivers and lakes of Switzerland end up draining into the North Sea (Rhine, Aar), the Mediterranean Sea (Rhône), the Black Sea (the Eno) or the Adriatic Sea (Ticino).

In the massif of the port of Saint Gotthard, the source of the Anterior Rhine and the Posterior Rhine converge, on the one hand, and, on the other, the Rhône Glacier, source of two of the most important rivers in Western Europe: the Rhine and the Rhone.

The Aare River is the longest river flowing entirely through Swiss territory, with a length of 295 km and a basin covering 43% of Swiss. It empties into the Rhine near Koblenz. Its flow, 557 m³/s, is even higher than that of the Rhine, with 439 m³/s. Its course was diverted in 1868 to prevent flooding in the marshy Seeland.

Lakes

A view of Lake Mayor, the lowest point in Switzerland

There are numerous natural lakes in Switzerland (Lake Geneva on the Rhône; Lake Constance on the Rhine; Lake Maggiore on the Ticino River) and artificial lakes (Sihlsee, Grande Dixence). Lakes and reservoirs contain 50% of the stored water, glaciers 28%, groundwater 20%, and rivers 2%. Both the Rhine and the Rhône pass through a large lake, which in both cases is border: Lake Constance, bordering Austria and Germany, for the Rhine; and Lake Geneva, on the border with France, for the Rhône.

The lakes in the flat area of the country are the largest. Among these, the two main lakes in Switzerland stand out, each located at one end of the Swiss plateau: Lake Geneva to the west, with an area of 580.03 km², shared with France, and Lake Constance, to the north., shared with Germany and Austria and with a total area of 536 km². The third lake in the country, Lake Maggiore, with an area of 212 km², is a lake shared with Italy, existing in the south of the country. For its part, Lake Neuchâtel, the largest lake whose surface is completely inside Swiss territory, with 217.9 km², also belongs to this typology.

Regarding mountain lakes, some examples are Lake Silvaplana, at 1799 m altitude, in the Engadine, which has the peculiarity of being subjected to constant strong winds from the Maloja mountain pass, which makes it suitable for windsurfing and kitesurfing. Another lake worth noting is Lake Märjelen, a lake of glacial origin very close to the Aletsch Glacier (in the canton of Valais), a glacier that has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

There are also reservoirs of artificial origin in Switzerland, generally intended for use as a hydroelectric power station for the production of electricity. These include Lake Dix, with the Grande-Dixence dam, or Lake Gruyère, in the canton of Fribourg.

Climate

The topography forces the mass of air to ascend, condensing the water vapor and giving rise to rains (brain effect); to sotavento, the already dry air descends rapidly increasing atmospheric pressure and temperature (Foehn effect). The technical denomination in climatology of the phenomenon comes from the Swiss wind of that name.

The Alps form a climatic barrier in the country: to the north, which occupies most of the surface, the climate is temperate, oceanic or continental depending on the east-west orientation of the prevailing winds, with the four seasons perfectly marked and delimited. On the contrary, in the territory located to the south of the Alps (the Valais, the Ticino and the Engadine) there is a milder, Mediterranean-type climate.

The prevailing winds in Switzerland are Foehn and Bise. The Foehn is a strong, hot and dry wind, which occurs when a wind has circulated over a mountain range to descend on the other slope, having thus lost all its moisture. The Bise is a wind from the north, cold and dry, which originates in northeastern Europe and blows across the continental plains, reaching especially the area of the Swiss plateau.

Being a country with a varied orography and endowed with strong contrasts, there is therefore a wide variety of microclimates in Switzerland.

There is also a high contrast with respect to the rains. Annual rainfall is very high in the Alps and the Ticino canton (around 2,000 mm per year) but is much lower in the Rhône Valley (about 600 mm per year).

The cantons of Valais and Ticino benefit from a high number of hours of sunshine per year (around 60%), while the Swiss plateau has around 50% in summer, falling to 20% in winter.

Climate data

The first factor that affects temperatures is, logically, altitude, which must be taken into account. A network of the Swiss Institute of Meteorology covers the entire country and, based on its measurements, the following data can be provided:

• The average temperature of the Swiss plateau in the month of January is between -1 °C and 1 °C, while in the month of July it is between 16 °C and 19 °C. The average annual temperature is in this area between 7 °C and 9 °C.
• The highest average annual temperature in Switzerland corresponds to Locarno-Monti, south of the country, with 11.5 °C.
• The lowest annual average temperature in Switzerland corresponds to the Jungfraujoch mountain port, with -7,5 °C.

For comparable altitudes, the temperature in the Basel region and in the Rhône valley is 1-2°C higher, while it is 2-3°C higher in the Magadino plain, in the canton from Ticino.

Panoramic view of the city of Lugano.

Extreme Weather

A view of the Säntis, Swiss snow altitude record in 1999.

Some extreme weather data in Switzerland:

• Higher absolute temperature arrangement: 41.5 °C in Grono (Green canton), on 11 August 2003.
• Lower absolute temperature arrangement: -41.8 °C in La Brévine (Neuchâtel canton), on January 2, 1987. La Brévine, located 1043 m At altitude, in the Jura mountain range, it is the coldest point in Switzerland due to its microclimate. The temperature can easily reach -30,0o in clear and windless nights.
• Maximum snow altitude: 816 cm in the Säntis in April 1999.
• Maximum rainfall in one day: 414 mm in Camedo (Tesino canton), on September 10, 1983.
• Maximum drought duration: Lugano (Tesino canton), with 77 days without rain since 6 December 1988.
• Maximum wind speed: 285 km/h in the Jungfraujoch on 27 February 1990.

Meteorological and morphological phenomena

View of the town of Brig, which was affected by floods in 1993, and the Glishorn.

Regarding morphological phenomena, and specifically tectonics, it must be borne in mind that the Basel region, in the Rhenish Trench, and the canton of Valais are the places in the country with the highest seismic activity. In this regard, it should be remembered that the city of Basel was destroyed by the Basel Earthquake of 1356.

Regarding meteorological phenomena, the following should be noted:

• Global warming seems to be causing the glaciers to retreat in the Alps. Permafrost is melting, rocks tend to instability and this causes more frequent avalanches. However, there is no need to rule out the growth of the population in urban areas of the alpine valleys, places where the valley breeze can carry a large amount of heat (heating, industries and services, etc.) to the course of the mountain glaciers, making the front of them inevitably go back. It is an effect of local and non-global warming although the latter is not discarded.
• At medium altitudes, the snow layer constantly tends down.
• Floods due to overflowing rivers (as in Brig on 24 September 1993) and snow floods are becoming more and more frequent in mountain areas.
• The hail and fog are phenomena that affect the Swiss plateau to a greater extent.

Environment

Switzerland's climatic and orographic conditions have a clear impact on the country's fauna and flora, which is rich and varied, as befits a country of contrasts.

Wildlife

Two specimens of alpine goat in the Alps

With regard to the fauna in Switzerland, it is necessary to take into account the intense anthropogenic pressure on the territory, which has forced the wild fauna to leave the lowest areas of the country to take refuge in the mountain areas.

Among the emblematic animals of the Swiss fauna, we must highlight the chamois, which occupies all the mountainous areas of the country.

In the area of the canton of Grisons there are brown bears, wolves, deer, alpine goats (an endemism of the Alps), roe deer, marmots, sandgrouses (another endemism) or grouse, without forgetting the most common, such as various types of eagles, falcons, vultures, badgers, foxes, martens, weasels or otters.

As regards lakes and rivers, along with common species such as carp (a modernly introduced species), perch or trout, there are several others that are endemic, sometimes exclusive to each of the lakes in which they are found.

Flora

Swiss forest planted as protection against avalanche

Both the lowlands of the valleys and the sunny slopes of the Swiss plateau, at not very high altitudes, are perfectly suitable for growing cereals, with wheat, rye and barley (and potatoes) being grown up to heights of about 1300 m, which can reach 2000 m in areas especially favored by their particular microclimates.

Vines and various fruit trees are also cultivated in the warmer areas of the Ticino canton.

However, due to the difficulties experienced by agriculture due to the difficult orography of the land and the competition from imported agricultural products, a large part of the territory is dedicated to pasture for cattle, which have replaced a large part of the land. land formerly dedicated to the forest.

The forest, due to this human pressure, has today been reduced in Switzerland to the occupation of the shady slopes of the mountains. At low elevations, up to 1250m, deciduous trees such as beeches or oaks are found, but chestnuts, limes, elms, and conifers can also be seen. Up to 1500−1600m (and even occasionally to elevations higher than 2000m) there are large forest masses, formed especially by conifers. On the upper floor there is already an area of alpine scrub, and in the higher areas, covered in winter by snow, grasslands appear in summer.

Ecoregions

According to the WWF, the territory of Switzerland comprises two biomes and three ecoregions:

• Tempered hardwood
  • Forest of hardwoods in Western Europe, North and East
  • Mixed forest of the Po Valley, around Lake Mayor, in the Canton of Tesino
• Coniferous temperate forest
  • Forest of the Alps, in the rest of the country.

Protected areas

Switzerland has a single national park, the Schweizerischer Nationalpark, which protects 16,887 hectares.

It has two biosphere reserves: Parc Suisse and Entlebuch. 8,676 hectares are protected as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, a total of 11 Ramsar sites, among which Lake Leman stands out.

In their natural heritage, three World Heritage Sites declared by Unesco stand out, all of them classified as "natural assets":

• the Jungfrau-Aletsch Swiss Alps (2001, expanded in 2007);

• Mount San Giorgio (2003);

• and the Swiss tectonic flaw of Sardona (2008).

Human Geography

Switzerland is no more, to say in any way, than a city-state divided into thirteen neighborhoods of which some are in the valley, others on the shores, others in the mountains. [...] There are more or less populated neighborhoods, but all of them are well enough to prove that they are always in the city.

1763, Jean-Jacques Rousseau

According to the country's population census data as of January 1, 2007, Switzerland has 7,508,739 inhabitants, with a population density of 181.85 inhab./km².

The main Swiss cities, in terms of human population, are Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern and Lausanne. Capital cities of the canton, in addition to the above, are: Altdorf, Schwyz, Sarnen, Stans, Glarus, Zug, Freiburg im Üechtland, Solothurn, Liestal, Schaffhausen, Herisau, Appenzell, Sankt Gallen, Chur, Aarau, Frauenfeld, Bellinzona, Sion and Neuchatel. Other prominent cities, not canton capitals, are: Winterthur, Biel-Bienne, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Thun or Lugano.

List of population movements in Switzerland in recent years:

Notes:

Total population as of 31-12 include various statistical adjustments and corrections.

Differences between population data at the end of the year and beginning of the year in 1990/1991 and 2000/2001 are due to adaptations of the balance sheet related to the 1990 and 2000 census regulations.

Languages

The different official languages of Switzerland: German, French, Italian, Romansh.

Four different languages are spoken in Switzerland: German, French, Italian and Romansh.

German is the most widely spoken language in the country, being spoken in various dialects in the north, center and east of the country.

French is the second most widely spoken language, and its area of location is the western part of Switzerland. It has few differences with the French spoken in France.

Italian is spoken in the south of the country, in the canton of Ticino and some parts of the canton of Grisons. It is spoken in the tesina dialectal variant, very similar to the own speech of Italian Lombardy.

Romansh, Rhaetian or Roman Rehash is only spoken by a minority scattered throughout the canton of Grisons, the largest and least populated in the country.

Among the immigrant population in the 20th century, the use of their own languages persisted, used by almost 10% of the population.

Demographics

View from the mountains of the city of Interlaken.

Between 1850 and 1880, the Swiss population grew moderately, essentially due to a strong negative migratory balance. This emigration occurred especially in the agricultural regions, in the north of the country and in the cantons of Vaud and Lucerne. The fundamental reason was the importation of cereals, which reduced the possibilities of small farmers in the country. As regards the valleys of the canton of Ticino and the canton of Grisons, they lost up to half of their population, mainly destined for America. The regions of the Jura (due to the watchmaking industry) and eastern Switzerland (due to the textile industry) did, however, see their population increase in this period.

Between 1880 and 1910, a strong economic development took place in Switzerland, accompanied by important social transformations. Immigration from neighboring countries, a high birth rate and a reduction in the death rate led to a sharp increase in the population. Thus, the large cities increased their number of inhabitants strongly: Zurich (+150%), Lucerne, Saint Gall, Lausanne and Basel (+120%), Bern and Biel-Bienne (+100%), as well as the areas industrial sites along the banks of the Aare between Biel-Bienne and Aarau. On the other hand, during this period the foundations of the development of tourism were laid in various places (Montreux, Montana, Zermatt, Interlaken, the lake region in the canton of Ticino, in the Upper Engadine, or in Davos and Arosa.

View of the mountains surrounding Lake Leman from the same lake.

Between 1910 and 1941 there was a reversal of the situation. There is a process of economic stagnation and a withdrawal of the country towards itself, towards its own national values. The foreign population rate goes from 16% to only 5%, the birth rate falls rapidly, the family model of a small family is imposed and regional disparities increase. The Jura watch industry is in economic crisis, while the textile industry is declining in eastern Switzerland, and tourism is in crisis. The depopulation process continues in the valleys south of the Alps and in the rural areas of the canton of Fribourg and the canton of Vaud, and the phenomenon appears in the canton of Valais, central Switzerland and the canton of Grisons. The population of urban centers stagnates or even recedes. Conversely, the population around the cities grows, giving rise to a phenomenon of conurbation.

Between 1941 and 1971 (remember the Swiss neutrality during World War II) strong economic and demographic growth took place in urban, suburban, industrial or tourist regions. Growth on the Swiss plateau is widespread between Lake Constance and Neuchâtel or Friborg im Üechtland. The Lake Geneva basin and the urban agglomerations of the canton of Ticino constitute new poles of growth. On the contrary, all the non-tourist mountain regions of the country are entering a phase of decline. The rural areas of the Swiss plateau, far from the main roads, are also losing their population to the peripheries of the large urban centers and even smaller cities.

The city of Geneva, in a general view with the lake.

Between 1971 and the present, we must first highlight the economic crisis of 1973-1974, which led to a three-year demographic recession, so that until 1981 the levels of 1974 were not recovered. The birth rate recovered from the 1980s and, especially, from the 1990s, due to the strong growth of immigration. During this period, in general, the entire Swiss plateau grows, with the exception of a few isolated rural areas. With the exception of Geneva, all the big cities lose inhabitants in favor of their residential periphery. The Rhône Valley in the canton of Valais, central Switzerland, the canton of Friborg and the canton of Ticino also increased their population at rates above the national average. However, the small agricultural and livestock towns far from the communication axes, especially in the central and eastern Alps, experience population losses, sometimes very severe.

Population distribution

Switzerland is currently a heavily urbanized country, with three quarters of its inhabitants residing in cities and one quarter in the mountains. In addition, the demographic growth rate is higher in urban areas (0.7%) than in rural areas (0.5%). Half of the country's urban population (some 2,718,000 people) live in the conurbations of the country's five largest cities: Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern and Lausanne. The main urban agglomerations of the country have some differences among themselves, and some of them are even cross-border.

Photograph of the industrial sector of Zurich in 1898, taken by Eduard Spelterini (1852-1931), pioneer of aviation and aerostatic in Switzerland.

• Zurich is the main conurbation of the country, with approximately 1,100,000 inhabitants, being the centre of a regional transport network serving the cities of Aarau, Zug, Schaffhausen or Winterthur.
• The Franco-valdo-ginebrine basin is a cross-border agglomeration with a nucleus in Geneva, which has about 800,000 inhabitants in part located also in France and Switzerland. It includes the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud, as well as parts of the French departments of Ain and Alta Saboya.
• The Lemonic Arc is an urban area that covers the surroundings of Lake Leman, whose main attraction poles are Geneva and Lausanne, 30 km away.
• The Trinational Eurodistrict of Basel consists of the agglomeration of the city, which includes approximately 660,000 inhabitants in Switzerland, France and Germany. With Basel as a centre, it includes the cores of Saint-Louis and Huningue in Alsace and Weil-am-Rhein and Lörrach in Baden-Wurtemberg.
• Berne.
• Lugano and Mendrisio, together with Como and Varese in Italy form a multipolar agglomeration system that is part of the peri-urban area of the metropolis of Milan. The Insúbrica Region is a cross-border working community between the canton of the Tesino and the Italian border regions.

The capital is Bern. Other important cities are: Basel, Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich. Switzerland is a federal state, made up of 26 sovereign cantons, although since 1999 some regions were established, for purely statistical purposes, which can group several cantons.

Typology of the territory

Old Town of Lucerne by Lake Four Cantons

Depending on the intensity of human use of the territory (the so-called anthropic pressure), five different types of use of the Swiss territory can be established: metropolitan regions, city networks, rural areas (agricultural and livestock), alpine tourism areas and snowy heights.

There are three metropolitan areas in Switzerland, corresponding to the large conurbations of Zurich, Geneva-Lausanne and Basel.

City networks correspond to cities close to each other and also linked by a common denominator. Among these, we will highlight:

• Nucleus of the surroundings of Lake Constance, both in Switzerland and in Austria and Germany, formed by the cities of Kreuzlingen, Constance, Friedrichshafen, Bregenz, Lustenau, Dornbirn, Arbon, Romanshorn and Sankt Gallen.
• Nucleus of central Switzerland, in the vicinity of Lake Four Cantons, which is part of the cities of Lucerne, Zug, Schwyz, Brunnen, Altdorf, Buochs, Stans and Sarnen.
• Nucleus del Tesino, formed by the cities of Bellinzona, Locarno and Lugano, as well as by Como and Varese in Italy.

Bucolic landscape in the valley of the Emme, where Emmental cheese is made.

• Nucleus del Valais, along the river Ródano, formed by the cities of Brig, Sierre, Sion, Martigny and Monthey.
• Nucleus of the surroundings of Bern, in a French-German bilingual region, of which are part of the cores of Thoune, Fribourg im Üechtland, Neuchâtel, Biel-Bienne, Soleura, Burgdorf and Bern.
• Nucleus along the Aar River, composed of the cities of Biel-Bienne, Grenchen, Soleura, Langenthal, Olten and Aarau.

The most rustic areas of Switzerland, possessing a habitat with less anthropic pressure and with land use mainly for agricultural and livestock purposes, are essentially the canton of Jura, the rural areas of Gros-de-Vaud and the Gruyères area to the west, Entlebuch and the Emme valley in the center, and Appenzell and Thurgau to the northeast of the country.

View of the town of Interlaken.

With regard to the areas of the Alps with the greatest vocation linked to tourism, these are cities that experience strong fluctuations in their number of inhabitants, linked to tourist seasonality. Among these types of cities, we can cite Davos, Saint Moritz, Interlaken and its region, Gstaad, Montana, Zermatt or Verbier. These are towns devoted to skiing and other winter sports.

Finally, there are the alpine areas, with a lower rate of human occupation, which are almost permanently covered in snow and are little used, but which have great development potential, especially tourism. These are the areas of the Saint Gotthard pass massif, the alpine valleys of the canton of Ticino and the canton of Grisons, as well as some specific areas of the canton of Valais or the Bernese Oberland.

Economic geography

The country has an extensive communication network, by road or rail, as well as several airports, a communication network that manages to overcome the difficulties imposed by the orography of Switzerland.

Urban Policy

Having verified that urban areas are becoming increasingly important in the economic and social life of the country and in communication networks, while the population leaves the historic centers of these urban areas to live in the residential areas of neighboring or nearby communes, the Swiss Government decided in 2001 to provide aid to the nuclei of the fifty large urban areas that the country has, but also to collaborate in the establishment of efficient transport networks that make it possible the appearance of new interurban networks.

Transport infrastructure

Image of a Swiss motorway in the canton of the Valais.

Switzerland's difficult orography has required a strong investment effort, sustained over time, in order to maintain the country's competitiveness. For this reason, there is a dense and well-served communications network in Switzerland, be it by road, motorway or rail, to which the construction of airports or canals has been added to take advantage of the possibilities of river transport.

On the other hand, the presence of the country in a central point in Europe, basic in a north-south communications axis between Germany and Italy has made it very important to establish routes that would allow crossing the geographical barrier that they represent the Alps. Thus, as early as 1882 a tunnel was inaugurated to cross the San Gotardo pass and, in 1906, the Simplon tunnel was inaugurated.

This Swiss central point in the European communications network has frequently been the subject of negotiations between the country and the European Union. Thus, on May 21, 2000, the Swiss electorate accepted in a referendum a series of seven transport agreements with the European Union, aimed at harmonizing transport conditions between the two, accepting the passage through Swiss territory of more heavy trucks exchange for the payment of a fee and to intensify rail traffic through the country.

However, the issue is the subject of debate and controversy in Switzerland, due to the fact that environmental groups and neighborhood associations affected by the growing traffic seek to reduce road traffic and prevent the construction of new major works such as motorways, that generate new increases in traffic and the consequent pollution.

Mountain passes and tunnels

Nunufen mountain port, second highest in Switzerland, to 2478 m height.

The port of San Gotardo, by J.M.W. Turner(1775-1851), painting of about 1802.

Main road tunnels, by length:

• San Gotardo reel, between the canton of Uri and the canton of the Tesino, with a length of 16.6 km.
• Seelisberg reel, between the canton of Nidwalden and the canton of Uri, with a length of 9.3 km.
• San Bernardino Road Tunnel, in the Grisones Canton, 6.6 km.
• Gran San Bernardo reel, between the canton of Valais and Italy, of 5.8 km long.

Main mountain passes:

Bridges

Road and railway bridge in the port of San Gotardo.

Salginatobel Bridge, considered as a world monument by the American Society of Civil Engineers

The complicated Swiss orography, together with the need to expand the rail and road network as an alternative to the poor navigability of its rivers, has made necessary from the outset a technical display of engineering when it comes to building bridges with daring technical solutions.

Some notable bridges in Switzerland are:

• Devil Bridge, started with a walkway in the centuryXIII and finished in 1977, with the fifth bridge for a motorway. The last three bridges built are visible.
• Spreuerbrücke, a wooden covered bridge designed for the passage of people in the city of Lucerne, which was built in 1408.
• Kapellbrücke is a medieval bridge, also located in Lucerne, for the passage of people.
• Viaducto del Day, dedicated to railway transport, 119 m built between 1867 and 1870.
• Landwasser Viaduct, dedicated to rail transport, with a length of 136 m and a height of 65 mbuilt between 1901 and 1903, which received a tribute by means of a Swiss postmark of 1949.
• Salginatobel Bridge, a technical alarde in reinforced concrete built in 1930. In 1991, American Society of Civil Engineers declared world monument, together with a total of thirty monuments of the world, at the same level as other more known as the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty.
• Gueuroz Bridge, Metal Structure, 187 m height, which was furious 29 years, since its construction between 1931 and 1934 the highest bridge in Europe.
• Chillon Viaduct, for road transport, built between 1966 and 1969. It has as peculiarity that each of the senses of the highway that passes through it is not located in parallel, but one on another. It offers a splendid view of Lake Leman and the surrounding area (the so-called Lemonic bow).

Road network

As well as an extensive road network, Switzerland also has an extensive motorway network, which began in 1955 with a short dual carriageway out of Lucerne. In 1960, the Swiss Federal Assembly made the decision to start the construction of a motorway network, an agreement that was embodied in 1963 through the commissioning of the first long section of motorway in the country, between the cities of Lausanne and Geneva..

Railway network

Landwasser's Viaduct, in the Grisones' canton.

The railway is one of the factors that has contributed to shaping the current Switzerland, which has a wide and served railway network, which began in the year 1850. It has international, national or regional lines, and there are also numerous companies that have developed secondary networks with narrow-gauge railways, more adapted to mountainous environments such as the one that prevails in much of Switzerland. On the other hand, starting in the 1990s, a series of commuter or suburban railway networks began, which began the integration of rail passenger transport into the urban transport of large conurbations.

As a sign of the times and of Switzerland's integration into international rail transport networks, as well as an indication of the increasingly close ties of cross-border communities, the city of Basel is unusual in that it has three stations each belonging to three different national railway networks: Swiss (Basel SBB station), French (Basel SNCF station) and German (Basel Badischer Bahnhof).

The main national rail transport lines in Switzerland are oriented in a southwest-northeast direction, running through the Swiss plateau, and are:

• Main line: (property of France) Geneva – Lausanne – Fribourg – Bern – Olten (an old railway knot) – Zurich – San Galo - St. Margrethen (Germany or Austria).
• Line on foot of the Jura mountain range: Geneva – Yverdon – Neuchâtel – Biel-Bienne - Olten – Delémont – Basel (Germany and France) or: Olten – Zurich – San Galo.

The main international lines existing in Switzerland cross the Alps and the Jura mountain range, linking France and Germany with the Italian plain, and are:

• Paris – Mont d'Or tunnel (1915) - Lausanne – Simplon tunnel (1906) – Milan (see Orient Express).
• (from the Balkans and Italy) Milan – Simplon tunnel – Lötschberg tunnel (1913) – Bern – Olten – Hauenstein tunnel (1916) – Basel (Germany and France).
• Milan – Chiasso - San Gotardo tunnel (1882) – Lucerna – Olten – Basel.
• Milan – Chiasso - San Gotardo tunnel (1882) – Zurich (Germany and Austria).

Ports and airports

The river port of Basel.

View of the Geneva International Airport, in the homonymous city.

Most of the Swiss rivers, being in the upper part of their course, are not navigable. However, the Rhine, Rhone or Aar rivers are, at least in some of their parts. And so are the lakes that dot the Swiss geography, which is why there are several small river or lake ports.

The most important of its ports is the port of Basel, on the banks of the Rhine, being the port located further up its course. Due to its location and the international status of the Rhine waterway, it constitutes one of the most important routes for the export or import of the country. Every day, half a thousand boats leave the port.

More important, however, are the six Swiss international airports, which make the country an important hub for European air traffic. These airports are located in the cities of Zurich, Basel, Geneva, Bern and Lugano.

Zurich International Airport is located in the commune of Kloten, 13 km north of Zurich, a city to whose center it is linked by a railway. In 2006 it welcomed 19.2 million passengers, and is considered one of the top 10 in the world. It is the most important in Switzerland, and is linked by regular lines to other important airports on a European or world scale.

Airport Basel-Mulhouse is actually a truly cross-border airport, serving three cities in three different countries: Basel in Switzerland, Mulhouse in France and Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany. For this reason, it is known as EuroAirport or European Airport. It was inaugurated in 1946, on land contributed by France, while the construction was carried out by Switzerland. Its Board of Directors is made up of representatives of both nations, with a minority of Germans as observers. It is located in the French commune of Saint-Louis, in the Upper Rhine, and in 2006 served 4 million passengers.

Geneva International Airport is located in the commune of Cointrin, just 5 km from the center of Geneva. It has a sector reserved for use by France, which is accessed from the French town of Ferney-Voltaire. The year 2006 saw 9.3 million passengers pass through its facilities, basically coming from or going to European flights.

Bern-Belp International Airport is located in the commune of Belp, south of Bern. In 2006 it welcomed 116,000 passengers.

Sion International Airport is located in this town.

The Lugano International Airport is in the commune of Agno, west of Lugano, and in 2006 more than 300,000 passengers passed through its facilities.