Jungfrau Region, Switzerland. Train below the Jungfrau massif from Kleine Scheidegg.


Switzerland, in its full name the Swiss Confederation is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western Europe,[note 4] where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2 (15,940 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8 million people is concentrated mostly on the Plateau, where the largest cities are to be found. Among them are the two global cities and economic centres of Zurich and Geneva. The Bernese Oberland (Bernese Highlands) is the higher part of the canton of Bern, Switzerland, in the southern end of the canton: The area around Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, and the valleys of the Bernese Alps (thus, the inhabitable parts from approximately the level of Lake Thun at 558 m [1,831 ft]). The flag of the Bernese Oberland consists of a black eagle in a gold field (in reference to the region's old status as reichsfrei) over two fields in the cantonal colours of red and black. The Swiss German dialects spoken in the Bernese Oberland are Highest Alemannic German, contrasting with the High Alemannic Bernese German spoken in Bern and the northern parts of the canton.


Size: 2795px × 4200px
Location: switzerland
Photo credit: © Michael DeFreitas Europe / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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