Switzerland is a small country in Western Europe, bordered by Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and Liechtenstein. It has a rich history, including Roman conquest, Germanic tribes, and independence from the Holy Roman Empire. Switzerland is known for its neutrality, beautiful Alps, and tourism industry. It is accessible by plane, train, bus, and boat.
Switzerland is a small country in Western Europe. It covers 15,900 square miles (41,300 square km), making it just a little larger than the state of Connecticut. It borders Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Liechtenstein.
Humans first arrived in the area many millennia ago, but it wasn’t until the 2nd millennium BC that Celtic tribes first settled the region. The Roman Empire conquered the region in the 1st century BC and integrated its people into the empire. In the 3rd century a Germanic tribe, the Alamanni, took large parts of Switzerland from Rome. The Roman Empire fell not long after and other Germanic tribes moved in, displacing the Romanized Celts and driving them into the mountains.
The Franks under the Carolingian dynasty soon absorbed much of eastern Switzerland, and it finally became part of the Holy Roman Empire in the mid-10th century after being decimated by the Magyars. The Burgundians continued to control western Switzerland. The passages in the country were essentially independent and many were very important, especially the cantons of Schwyz, Unterwalden and Uri.
Towards the end of the 13th century a Habsburg rose to be what he was in all respects Holy Roman Emperor, holding dominion over the eastern and western parts of Switzerland. He revoked the independence of the cantons, turning them into city-states under the control of the empire. Three of the cantons united to form the Old Swiss Confederacy, fighting the Habsburgs and regaining their independence. More cantons and city-states joined the Confederacy in the following decades and even more in the following century.
In the late 15th century the Swiss Confederacy won a resounding victory against a delegate from the Holy Roman Empire, cementing a de facto independence. True independence was finally achieved in the 15th, when the Holy Roman Empire recognized Switzerland as a sovereign state. At the end of the 18th century Napoleonic forces overwhelmed the country transforming it into the Helvetic Republic. Sovereignty was restored in 1648 and its neutrality was recognized by all the major European powers.
Switzerland abandoned its loose formation in the mid-19th century following a civil war between Protestants and Catholics. It adopted a federal constitution, which outlines the issues that would be federal responsibilities, but leaves great freedom to individual cantons.
The country retained much of its neutrality during World War I and World War II. He played a number of important roles in World War II, including as mediator between the Allies and the Axis Powers and as holder of the world’s only remaining freely tradable currency. Since the end of the Second World War it has continued to liberalize, albeit somewhat slowly at times. In 1971, women were granted the right to vote, and an equal rights amendment was passed in 1981. Switzerland has decided not to join the European Union and has only been a member of the United Nations since 2002.
The Swiss Alps are undoubtedly the biggest tourist attraction in the country, both literally and figuratively. Some of the best skiing in the world is found in these mountains and the infrastructure to support it is top of the line. For tourists, many of the small villages throughout Switzerland offer a welcome respite from the overcrowded cities found elsewhere in the world. For those inclined to something a little more historic, Augusta Raurica is the ruins of a 1st century BC Roman colony on the banks of the Rhine.
Flights arrive daily to both Geneva and Züat;rich from most European hubs and major US cities. Travelers can also arrive by train or bus from the rest of Europe and by bus. The boat trip also carries visitors up the Rhine from the Netherlands, and travelers can arrive by lake by boat from Italy, France or Germany.
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