In the Pennine Alps at the border with Italy rises the world famous Mount Matterhorn (4,477 m), resembling in shape a huge, almost regular pyramid. In the Bern Alps is located the Aletsch glacier with area of 196 sq.km and length of 27 km. Its front descends to the valley of the Rhone until 1,360 m above sea level and moves at a speed of 1 m a day.

Switzerland is a highly developed industrial country, and also a significant world financial centre.

Despite the small area of its arable lands (only 6%), Switzerland has a developed agriculture. On the world market Switzerland is famous for the high quality beef and meat delicatessen, diverse dairy products, chocolate products, etc. The country is renowned for the most precise watches. Switzerland is a leading tourist country with highly developed facilities for winter sports and tourism. Switzerland also has the longest cabin lift, in the region of Jungfrau from Grindelwald - Grund to Maenlichen and the highest location of a cabin lift station (3,820 m above sea level) in Klein Matterhorn.

The city of Lucerne – the centre of the German speaking region, is picturesquely located around the Reuss. Over the river there are 7 bridges, 2 of which covered, built in 1333.

100 km from Lausanne is located the narrow U-shaped, glacier-carved valley of Lauterbrunnen, strewn with a multitude of waterfalls. The eponymous town is famous for two magnificent waterfalls – the powerful Truemelbach waterfall and the cascading Staubbach falls.

In Switzerland the official languages are four – German, French, Italian and Romansh. Switzerland retained neutrality during the wars for more than two centuries, which makes it a symbol of security. It hosts the seats of many international organisations – the International Red Cross, the World Health Organisation, etc. In Geneva is also the UN European Office.

Despite it has no outlet on the sea, Switzerland disposes of a national navy and over 170 ships, and uses foreign ports.