Ruth With InterVarsity Link: Switzerland: A Country Profile

Let me guess, what you know of Switzerland is probably summed up in several stereotypes Swiss banks, Swiss cheese, the Swiss Alps, Swiss chocolate, Swiss bank accounts, and above all: Switzerland is always neutral! I have been doing a little research and thought I would try to give you a little bit more information about Switzerland.

Location
Switzerland is a land-locked nation in western Europe. It shares borders with France, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, and Italy. The capital is Bern, but the largest city in Switzerland is Zurich. Switzerland is full of lakes and mountains, most notably the Alps which border Italy on the south.

Language
Contrary to popular belief, there is no such language as Swiss! Switzerland has four official languages: German (65.7%), French (20.4%), Italian (6.5%), and Romansh (0.5%). Lausanne, in the canton of Vaud, is French-speaking.

Name:
Officially Switzerland is called the Swiss Confederation from the Latin Confoederatio Helvetica, which is how the abbreviation CH comes about. In French, Switzerland is called La Suisse.

Currency:
Switzerland is not a part of the European Union and does not use Euros. Their currency is Swiss francs (CHF). One Swiss franc equals about one dollar and 8 cents.

Lausanne:
The city of Lausanne is located on Lake Geneva in western Switzerland right across the border from France. It is home to the International Olympic Committee and is the fourth largest city in Switzerland.