Switzerland is a country in Europe, with about 9.09 million people (2025) and an area of 41,291 square kilometres. Its capital is Bern, and it shares land borders with 5 countries.
By Team Geography·Last reviewed
Flag of SwitzerlandSwitzerland in solid, land neighbours outlined, capital marked.
The app teaches each country through short hand written lenses: PLACE for physical geography, STORY for history and identity, NOW for the news, and THREAD for the ties between countries. Here is one of Switzerland's 17, in full.
PLACELens 1 of 17
The rooftop of Europe
Switzerland occupies 41,285 square kilometers in the heart of Western Europe, with the Alps covering roughly 60 percent of it. The Swiss Plateau, a densely populated corridor between the Alps and the Jura, holds most of the cities and farmland. Four major European rivers rise here: the Rhine and the Rhone from the Gotthard massif, the Inn feeding the Danube, and the Ticino feeding the Po. That hydrological position gives a landlocked country of 8.8 million outsized influence over its neighbors' water.
More on Swiss Plateau
The plateau stretches roughly 300 kilometers from Lake Geneva in the southwest to Lake Constance in the northeast, averaging 400 to 600 meters in elevation. It covers about 30 percent of Switzerland's area but houses two-thirds of the population, including Zurich, Bern, and Basel.
16 more lenses on Switzerland in the app
STORY A confederation held together by difference
NOW Neutrality under pressure
THREAD The tunnels that hold Europe together
STORY Wealth, precision, and discretion
PLACE Football in the high Alps
STORY Four languages, one team
NOW The summer the Swiss went further
THREAD The double-headed eagle
PLACE The capital of world football
STORY Neutrality and the open door
NOW What consistency buys a small country
THREAD A team of many homelands
PLACE A border redrawn because the ice moved
NOW One bank now larger than the national economy
THREAD A landlocked country that trades the world's cargoes
PLACE A country engineered to break itself apart
Titles only. The app brings each lens back on a spaced repetition schedule set by how well you knew it: New, Hazy or Clear.
Compare Switzerland with another country
Opens the country comparison tool with population, area, income and more side by side, every figure dated.
Common questions
What is the capital of Switzerland?
The capital of Switzerland is Bern. Bern lies at about 46.9 degrees north and 7.5 degrees east. Switzerland is in Europe. It is home to about 9.09 million people. The world capitals quiz on this site tests every capital, and the printable capitals sheets cover each continent.
What is the population of Switzerland?
About 9.09 million people live in Switzerland, according to the World Bank figures for 2025. That makes it the 98th most populous of the 195 countries. With an area of 41,291 square kilometres, that is about 220 people per square kilometre.
What countries border Switzerland?
Switzerland shares land borders with 5 countries: Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Liechtenstein. The map on this page outlines each of them around Switzerland. The count includes only borders on land, not neighbours across a sea or a lake. Borders here follow Natural Earth at the 1:50 million scale, with Crimea shown as part of Ukraine and Western Sahara as a separate territory.
How big is Switzerland?
Switzerland covers 41,291 square kilometres, or about 15,942 square miles. That makes it the 132nd largest of the 195 countries. The figure is total surface area, which includes inland water such as lakes and rivers. Its population of about 9.09 million gives a density of 220 people per square kilometre.
Switzerland is a country in Europe, with about 9.09 million people (2025) and an area of 41,291 square kilometres. Its capital is Bern, and it shares land borders with 5 countries.
Capital
Bern
Continent
Europe
Population
9,092,436 2025, World Bank. 98th of 195.
Area
41,291 km² (15,942 sq mi) World Bank, surface area. 132nd largest of 195.
Population density
220 people per km²
Land neighbours
5: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein
Official name
Swiss Confederation
UN status
Member state
PLACE · from the Geography app
The rooftop of Europe
Switzerland occupies 41,285 square kilometers in the heart of Western Europe, with the Alps covering roughly 60 percent of it. The Swiss Plateau, a densely populated corridor between the Alps and the Jura, holds most of the cities and farmland. Four major European rivers rise here: the Rhine and the Rhone from the Gotthard massif, the Inn feeding the Danube, and the Ticino feeding the Po. That hydrological position gives a landlocked country of 8.8 million outsized influence over its neighbors' water.
Keep going on your iPhone. Scan for Geography: the world, one country at a time, about five minutes a day. No quizzes and no streaks. playgeography.app/countries/switzerland/ · Map data: Natural Earth. Figures: World Bank and national sources, as listed on the page.
Geography · Country report
Switzerland
NameDate
Draw the flag
Colour Switzerland on the map, then fill in what you find.
Capital
Continent
Population
Area
Languages
Currency
Neighbours
Landmarks
Rivers or mountains
Three things I learned
1
2
3
One question I still have
?
Keep going on your iPhone. Scan for Geography: the world, one country at a time, about five minutes a day. No quizzes and no streaks. playgeography.app/countries/switzerland/ · Map data: Natural Earth. Figures: World Bank and national sources, as listed on the page.
