Fun Facts
The official name is Confoederatio Helvetica in Latin which means Swiss Confederation. The Swiss people consume the most chocolate per capita. Known for half the worlds production of luxury watches. Houses the worlds largest particle physics laboratory. Has a population of eight million. Is located in Western Europe and is landlocked by Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy and France. Swiss German is the main language and many speak French, Italian, and Romansh. Favorite sports include skiing, snowboarding and a wrestling which is known as Schwingen. Switzerland is typically ranked in the top ten for most livable countries. The capitol is Bern however the largest city is Zürich. The currency is the Swiss franc not the Euro. The flag is one of the worlds three square flags. Today the cross signifies innovation, precision, reliability and in my opinion craftsmanship. The term “Swissness” is coined for cultural diversity, sophisticated service, value. It is a globally recognize symbol.

Geography
Switzerland is small in size but boasts some of the worlds greatest mountain ranges, namely The Swiss Alps. It is a mountainous country with 208 mountains over 9000 ft tall and 24 over 13000 ft high. The highest is Dufour Spitze at 15,203 ft, however the most famous is Matterhorn and it stands at 14,692 ft. To give you an insight, Mt Elbert located in The Rocky Mountains of Colorado is 14,433 ft in elevation. In total, Colorado has 54 peaks over 14000 ft. Almost close in quantity, Switzerland has over 1500 lakes and Colorado has around 2000 lakes. Glaciers are also common to Colorado and Switzerland. According to the website Alpine Wild on a page titled, Facts about the Swiss Alps, “Glaciers cover an area of 765 square miles (3% of the Swiss territory), representing 44% of the total glaciated area in the Alps” (Stephens). For comparison, Denver city limits are 153 square miles.

Climate
Varies from glacier depending on the a...