Switzerland (German: die Schweiz, French: Suisse, Italian: Svizzera, Romansh: Svizra), officially the Swiss Confederation (Confderatio Helvetica in Latin, hence its ISO country code CH), is a landlocked nation of 7.5 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km². Switzerland is divided administratively into 26 cantons, six of which are sometimes referred to as "half-cantons," since they stemmed from the split of three cantons and have as a consequence only a single representative in the Council of States. Its capital is Berne, while the largest city in Switzerland is Zürich (which was named the city with the best quality of life in the world in 2006 and 2007.)
Switzerland is bordered by Germany, France, Italy, Austria and the tiny principality of Liechtenstein. Switzerland is multilingual, with four official languages: German, French, Italian and the lesser-known Romansh also called Rhaeto-Romanic, Romansch, Romancio or Rumantsch Grischun. Switzerland has had a long history of being neutral during war and peace-time (it has not been in a foreign war since 1815) and as such hosts various international organisations, such as the United Nations, which, though headquartered in New York City, has many departments in Switzerland.
The culture of Switzerland is influenced by its neighbours and its international sentiment, but over the years a distinctive culture with some regional differences and an independent streak has developed. In particular, French-speaking regions have tended to orient themselves slightly more on French culture and tend to be more pro EU. In general, the Swiss are known for their long standing humanitarian tradition as Switzerland is the birth place of the Red Cross Movement and hosts the United Nations Human Rights Council. Swiss German speaking areas may perhaps be seen more oriented on German culture and can be more traditionalist and neutralist, and Italian-speaking areas can have more of an Italian culture. A region may be in some ways strongly culturally connected to the neighbouring country that shares its language. The linguistically isolated Rhaeto-Romanic culture in the eastern mountains of Switzerland is also robust and strives to maintain its very rare linguistic tradition. Switzerland's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest of 1989 was in Romansh.
Many mountain areas have a strong highly energetic ski town culture in winter, and a hiking/wandering culture in summer. Some areas throughout the year have a recreational culture that caters to tourism, yet the quieter seasons are spring and autumn when there are fewer visitors and a higher ratio of Swiss. A traditional farmer and herder culture also predominates in many areas, and this connection to the land and agriculture is a strong glue holding all the Swiss together. Even though most no longer actually farm themselves, the small farms are omnipresent outside the cities, and as well many Swiss at least have a small garden plot or many window boxes with geraniums and other flowers.
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