Switzerland

federal republic (formally a confederation)

<p>The Swiss Confederation was founded in 1291 as a defensive alliance among three cantons. In succeeding years, other localities joined the original three. The Swiss Confederation secured its independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1499.

Profile

CapitalBern

Population8.9M

GDP$741.0B

Area41,277 km²

LanguageGerman (or Swiss German) (official) 62.1%, French (official) 22.8%, Italian (official) 8%, English 5.7%, Portuguese 3.5%, Albanian 3.3%, Serbo-Croatian 2.3%, Spanish 2.3%, Romansh (official) 0.5%, other 7.9% (2019 est.)

CurrencySwiss francs (CHF) per US dollar -