Switzerland occupies 41,285 square kilometers in Central Europe, a landlocked position bordered by Germany to the north, Austria and Liechtenstein to the east, Italy to the south, and France to the west. The country's maximum north-south distance measures 220 kilometers, while the east-west span reaches 348 kilometers. This compact territory contains three distinct topographic regions: the Swiss Alps covering approximately 60 percent of the land area in the south and southeast, the Jura Mountains comprising roughly 10 percent in the northwest, and the Swiss Plateau (Mittelland) occupying the remaining 30 percent between these mountain ranges. The Swiss Plateau, despite being the smallest region by area, holds the majority of the population and extends from Lake Geneva in the southwest to Lake Constance in the northeast at elevations between 400 and 600 meters above sea level.
The Swiss Alps form the dominant geographic feature, rising from the edges of the Swiss Plateau to peaks exceeding 4,000 meters. The Dufourspitze on Monte Rosa stands at 4,634 meters as Switzerland's highest point, located on the Italian border in Valais canton. The Matterhorn reaches 4,478 meters near Zermatt, its pyramidal form created by glacial erosion on four faces. The Eiger rises to 3,967 meters above Grindelwald, its north face presenting a 1,800-meter vertical wall that claimed numerous climbers before the first successful ascent in 1938. The Jungfrau attains 4,158 meters, connected to the Aletsch Glacier system on its southern flank. Piz Bernina marks the highest peak in the Eastern Alps at 4,049 meters in Graubünden canton, the only summit over 4,000 meters in the Eastern Alps and Switzerland's most easterly four-thousander. The Alps created natural barriers that historically divided Swiss linguistic and cultural regions, though major passes facilitated north-south trade routes for centuries.
The Gotthard Pass crosses the Alps at 2,106 meters elevation, connecting Uri canton in the north to Ticino canton in the south. This route served as a primary commercial corridor from the 13th century when the Schöllenen Gorge route opened, shortening travel time between northern Europe and Italy. The Simplon Pass reaches 2,005 meters on the route from Valais to Italy, engineered by Napoleon between 1801 and 1805 as a carriage road. The Great St. Bernard Pass sits at 2,469 meters, one of the highest road passes and continuously used since Roman times when it was known as Mons Jovis. The hospice at Great St. Bernard, established around 1050 by Bernard of Menthon, bred the St. Bernard rescue dogs that saved travelers in avalanches and snowstorms from the 17th century onward. Modern infrastructure reduced the strategic importance of these passes: the Gotthard Base Tunnel opened in 2016 as the world's longest railway tunnel at 57.1 kilometers, boring through the mountain at depths exceeding 2,300 meters below the surface.
The Jura Mountains extend in a crescent along Switzerland's northwestern border with France, characterized by limestone formations with elevations typically between 700 and 1,600 meters. Mont Tendre reaches 1,679 meters as the highest point in the Swiss Jura, located in Vaud canton. These mountains gave their name to the Jurassic geological period, the term coined by Alexandre Brongniart in 1829 after studying limestone formations in the region. The parallel ridges and valleys oriented southwest to northeast influenced settlement patterns and the development of the watchmaking industry in the Jura valleys during the 18th and 19th centuries. The towns of La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle developed in Jura valleys specifically planned for watch manufacturing, their urban layouts designated UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2009 for demonstrating single-industry town planning.
Switzerland contains 1,484 lakes larger than one hectare. Lake Geneva spans 580 square kilometers with 345 square kilometers in Swiss territory and 235 square kilometers in France, making it Western Europe's largest lake by surface area. The lake reaches maximum depths of 310 meters, its crescent shape formed by the Rhône Glacier during the last ice age. Geneva city occupies the southwestern tip where the Rhône River exits the lake, while Lausanne and Montreux line the northern shore. Lake Constance covers 536 square kilometers total, shared between Switzerland, Germany, and Austria, with the Swiss portion including 172 square kilometers. The lake reaches 254 meters depth and sits at 395 meters elevation where the Rhine River flows through it. Lake Neuchâtel holds the title of largest lake entirely within Switzerland at 218 square kilometers, situated on the Swiss Plateau at 429 meters elevation with maximum depths of 152 meters.
Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstättersee) covers 114 square kilometers in central Switzerland, its complex shape with four arms created by glacial erosion following pre-existing river valleys. The lake reaches 214 meters depth and sits at 434 meters elevation, surrounded by peaks including Pilatus at 2,128 meters and Rigi at 1,798 meters. The Rütli meadow on the western shore marks the legendary founding site of the Swiss Confederation in 1291, though modern scholarship questions whether the oath actually occurred at this specific location. Lake Maggiore extends 212 square kilometers total with 80 percent in Italy and 20 percent in Switzerland's Ticino canton, its northern end including Locarno and Ascona. At 193 meters elevation, Maggiore ranks as Switzerland's lowest point, the lake reaching maximum depths of 372 meters. The climate around Maggiore supports palm trees and Mediterranean vegetation due to the low elevation and sheltering mountains.
The Rhine River originates in Graubünden canton where the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine merge at Reichenau, flowing 375 kilometers through or along Swiss borders before continuing 1,233 kilometers to the North Sea. The Rhine Falls (Rheinfall) near Schaffhausen measures 150 meters wide and 23 meters high, with water flows reaching 600 cubic meters per second during summer snowmelt. While not exceptional by global waterfall standards, the Rhine Falls represents Europe's largest plain waterfall by water volume. The Rhône River begins at the Rhône Glacier in Valais canton at 1,753 meters elevation, flowing southwest through Lake Geneva and into France. The Aare River, Switzerland's longest river entirely within national borders, extends 295 kilometers from the Bernese Alps through the Swiss Plateau to join the Rhine. The Aare drains 17,779 square kilometers, including the waters of the Reuss, Limmat, and Saane tributaries, making it the Rhine's largest tributary by discharge volume.
The Aletsch Glacier stretches 23 kilometers from the Jungfrau region southward, the longest glacier in the Alps and centerpiece of the Jungfrau-Aletsch UNESCO World Heritage site designated in 2001. The glacier covers 81 square kilometers with ice depths reaching 900 meters at its thickest point. Measurements beginning in 1880 documented the glacier's retreat: the tongue withdrew approximately 3 kilometers since those first records, with acceleration after 1980. The rate of retreat reached 30 to 40 meters annually in the early 21st century. All Swiss glaciers combined covered approximately 1,063 square kilometers in 2016, down from about 1,735 square kilometers in 1850. Glaciological studies at ETH Zurich project that under current warming scenarios, Swiss glaciers could lose 90 percent of their remaining volume by 2100.
Switzerland experiences a temperate climate modified substantially by elevation and topographic position. The Swiss Plateau receives moderate precipitation distributed relatively evenly across seasons, with Bern recording average annual precipitation of 1,054 millimeters based on 1981-2010 climate normals. Zurich averages 1,136 millimeters annually with slightly more precipitation in summer months. The Jura Mountains receive higher precipitation due to orographic lifting, while the inner Alpine valleys remain drier: Sion in the Rhône Valley records only 600 millimeters annually due to rain shadow effects from surrounding peaks. The southern slopes of the Alps facing Italy receive the heaviest precipitation in Switzerland, with stations near Lake Maggiore measuring over 2,000 millimeters annually. Säntis peak at 2,502 meters in northeastern Switzerland averages 2,837 millimeters annually, making it one of Europe's wettest locations.