Switzerland (Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera, Svizra), officially the Swiss Confederation (Confoederatio Helvetica in Latin, hence its ISO country code CHE), is a landlocked country of roughly 7.5 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km².
Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called cantons. Berne is the seat of the federation and de facto capital, while the country's economic centres are its two global cities, Geneva and especially Zürich. Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world.
Switzerland is bordered by Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. Switzerland is multilingual and has four national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh. Switzerland has a long history of neutrality – it has not been at war since 1815 – and hosts many international organizations, including the Red Cross, the WTO and one of the U.N.'s two European offices.
The Latin formal name of Switzerland, Confoederatio Helvetica is derived from the Helvetii, an ancient Celtic people in the Alpine region. It is rendered in German as de|Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, in French as fr|Confédération suisse, in Italian as it|Confederazione Svizzera and in Romansh as rm|Confederaziun svizra. The independence of Switzerland is traditionally dated to August 1 1291; the first of August is the national holiday.
