Cantons of SwitzerlandMember states of the Swiss ConfederationThe 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the Waldstätte. Two important periods in the development of the Old Swiss Confederacy are summarized by the terms Acht Orte ('Eight Cantons'; from 1353 to 1481) and Dreizehn Orte ('Thirteen Cantons', from 1513 to 1798).
Growth of the Old Swiss ConfederacyThe Old Swiss Confederacy began as a late medievalalliance between the communities of the valleys in the Central Alps, at the time part of the Holy Roman Empire, to facilitate the management of common interests such as free trade and to ensure the peace along the important trade routes through the mountains. The Hohenstaufen emperors had granted these valleys reichsfrei status in the early 13th century.
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity comprising and controlling much of Central Europe and Western Europe, headed by the Holy Roman Emperor and characterized by a decentralized political structure. It developed in the Early Middle Ages (beginning in either 800 or 962), and lasted for a millennium until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
ConfederationUnion of sovereign states linked by treaty Part of the Politics seriesBasic forms of government List of forms · List of countries Source of power Democracy (rule by many) Demarchy Direct Economic Guided Liberal Representative Social Socialist Others Oligarchy (rule by few) Anocracy Aristocracy Broligarchy Corporatocracy Gerontocracy Imagocracy Kleptocracy Kritarchy Matriarchy Meritocracy Particracy Patriarchy Plutocracy Stratocracy Technocracy Theocracy Autocracy (rule by one) Autocratic legalism Despotism Dictatorship military Tyranny Anarchy (rule by none) Anarchism Free association Stateless Power ideology MonarchyRepublic (socio-political ideologies) Absolute Communist Constitutional Directorial Legalist Presidential Parliamentary Semi-parliamentary Semi-presidential AuthoritarianLibertarian (socio-economic ideologies) Anarchism Colonialism Communism Despotism Distributism Fascism Feudalism Islamism Socialism Totalitarianism inverted Tribalism ReligiousSecular State religion Secular state Separation of church and state State atheism GlobalLocal (geo-cultural ideologies) City-state Intergovernmental organisation National government World government Nationalism Internationalism Globalism Power structure Unitarism Unitary state Empire Principality Branches Unified state power Fusion of powers Separation of powers Client state Associated state Dependent territory Dominion Protectorate Puppet state Puppet monarch Satellite state Self-governing colony Tributary state Buffer state Vassal state Viceroyalty Federalism Confederation Devolution Federation Superstate Supranational union International relations Small power Middle power Regional power Emerging power Great power Superpower Related Administrative division Centralized government Democratic backsliding Democracy indices Democratic transition Democratisation Politics portalvte A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states or chiefdoms united for purposes of common action.
Burgundian WarsThe Burgundian Wars (1474–1477) were a conflict between the Burgundian State and the Old Swiss Confederacy and its allies. Open war broke out in 1474, and the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was defeated three times on the battlefield in the following years and was killed at the Battle of Nancy in 1477.
BernBern (Swiss Standard German:), or Berne (French:), is the de factocapital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city". With a population of about 146,000 (as of 2024), Bern is the fifth-most populous city in Switzerland, behind Zurich, Geneva, Basel and Lausanne. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 36 municipalities, had a population of 406,900 in 2014. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000.
SwitzerlandCountry in Central Europe Swiss Confederation Name in official languages and Latin German:Schweizerische EidgenossenschaftFrench:Confédération suisseItalian:Confederazione SvizzeraRomansh:Confederaziun svizraLatin:Confoederatio helvetica Flag Coat of arms Motto: (unofficial)"Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno""One for all, all for one"Anthem: "Swiss Psalm"Show globeShow map of EuropeLocation of Switzerland (green)in Europe (green and dark grey)CapitalNone (de jure); Bern (de facto)Federal cityBernLargest cityZurichOfficial languagesGerman (62%), French (23%), Italian (8%), Romansh (0.5%)Nationality (2024)72.6% Swiss27.4% foreign nationalsReligion (2024) 54.7% Christianity 30% Catholicism 18.7% Protestantism 6% other Christian 36.8% no religion 6% Islam 1.5% other religions 0.9% unanswered DemonymsEnglish: SwissGerman: Schweizer/SchweizerinFrench: Suisse/SuissesseItalian: svizzero/svizzera or elvetico/elveticaRomansh: Svizzer/SvizraGovernmentFederal assembly-independent directorial republic• Federal Councillors Guy Parmelin (President)Ignazio Cassis (Vice president)Karin Keller-SutterAlbert RöstiÉlisabeth Baume-SchneiderBeat JansMartin Pfister• Federal Chancellor Viktor Rossi LegislatureFederal Assembly• Upper houseCouncil of States• Lower houseNational CouncilHistory• Founded 1 August 1291• Sovereignty recognised (Peace of Westphalia) 24 October 1648• Federal Treaty 7 August 1815• Federal state 12 September 1848 Area • Total41,291 km2 (15,943 sq mi) (132nd)• Water (%)4Population• 2026 estimate 9,154,242 (99th)• 2015 census 8,327,126• Density207/km2 (536.1/sq mi) (67th)GDP (PPP)2026 estimate• Total $960.599 billion (37th)• Per capita $105,680 (6th)GDP (nominal)2026 estimate• Total $1.147 trillion (20th)• Per capita $126,177 (3rd)Gini (2023) 31.5medium inequalityHDI (2023) 0.970very high (2nd)CurrencySwiss franc (CHF)Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)• Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)Date formatdd.mm.yyyy (AD)Calling code+41ISO 3166 codeCHInternet TLD.ch, .swiss Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located at the intersection of Central, Western, and Southern Europe.
Medieval communeMedieval communes in the EuropeanMiddle Ages had sworn allegiances of mutual defense (both physical defense and of traditional freedoms) among the citizens of a town or city. These took many forms and varied widely in organization and makeup. Communes are first recorded in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, thereafter becoming a widespread phenomenon. They had greater development in central-northern Italy, where they became city-states based on partial democracy.
Imperial immediacyIn the Holy Roman Empire, imperial immediacy (German: Reichsunmittelbarkeit or Reichsfreiheit) was the status of an individual or a territory which was defined as 'immediate' (unmittelbar) to Emperor and Empire (Kaiser und Reich) and not to any other intermediate authorities, while one that did not possess that status was defined as 'mediate' (mittelbar).
Central SwitzerlandCentral Switzerland is a subdivision of Switzerland as defined by the Federal Statistical Office for statistical purposes. It is classified as a NUTS-2 statistical region of Switzerland, and encompasses the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Lucerne and Zug. It incorporates the highlands in the central portion of the country.
ZurichZurich (German: Zürich; Alemannic German: Züri; see below) is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. As of the end of 2025, the municipality had a population of 440,935, while the urban area was home to 1.45 million people (2020), and the Zurich metropolitan area had a total population of 2.1 million (2020). Zurich is a hub for railways, roads, and air traffic.
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