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The geography of Switzerland encompasses the geographical features of Switzerland, a mountainous and landlocked country located in Western and Central Europe. It is surrounded by 5 countries: Austria and Liechtenstein to the east, France to the west, Italy to the south and Germany to the north. Switzerland has a maximum north-south length of and an east-west length of about .〔 〕 Switzerland is well known for the Alps in the south and south east. North of the Alps, the Swiss Plateau runs along the east-west axis of the country. Most of the population of Switzerland lives on the rolling hills and plains of the plateau. The smaller Jura Mountains are located on the north west side of the plateau. Much of the northern border with Germany follows the Rhine River, though the Rhine enters Switzerland near Schaffhausen. The eastern border with Germany and a portion of Austria is drawn through Lake Constance ((ドイツ語:Bodensee)). A portion of the southwest border with France is drawn through Lake Geneva. Switzerland is divided into 26 sovereign cantons. The cantons along the Swiss Plateau tend to be the most populous,〔(Switzerland: Statistical information )〕 industrial and religiously Protestant.〔(Swiss Federal Statistics Office, in German )〕 The cantons in the Alps tend to be less populous, Catholic, and have an agrarian or tourism-based economy.〔 Switzerland is also divided by language. There are four official languages; German 63.7% of population, French 20.4% of population, Italian 6.5% of population and Romansh 0.5% of population.〔(CIA - The World Factbook - Switzerland )〕 From Bern east (except Ticino) the population generally speaks German. West of Bern, the population generally speaks French. In the southern Canton of Ticino, most people speak Italian. Romansh, a group of dialects descended from Vulgar Latin, is spoken in several regions in the canton of Graubünden. ==Physical description== Switzerland extends between the parallels 45°49'05 and 47°48'30 lat. and the meridians 5° 57'23 and 10°29'31 long. It forms an irregular quadrilateral, of which the greatest length from east to west is , and the greatest breadth from north to south is nearly . Switzerland is a landlocked country, the closest coastline being at the Gulf of Genoa, 160 km south of Chiasso. Its political boundaries often do not coincide with those of nature. The entire canton of Ticino is south of the Alps, as are the valleys of Simplon (Valais), Mesocco, Bregaglia, Poschiavo and Müstair (all in Graubünden); the whole canton of Schaffhausen and part of that of Basel are north of the Rhine, while a large part of Graubünden lies to the east of the Rhine basin, and Porrentruy is far down on the western slope of the Jura. Putting these exceptional cases aside, the physical geography of Switzerland may thus be described: *On the south runs the main chain of the Alps which is joined, at Mont Dolent near Martigny, by the lower ranges that rise south of Lake Geneva, and which continues partly Swiss till close to Piz Lad on the east. *To the north of this main chain there is another great range of mountains (wholly Swiss) only slightly inferior in extent and height, which starts from the hills known as the Jorat range above Lausanne, and culminates in the great snowy summits of the Bernese Alps and of the Tödi group, before trending to the north near Chur, and, after rising once more in the Säntis group, dies away on the southern shore of Lake Constance. *The Swiss portion of the main chain of the Alps and the great northern outlier run parallel to each other from Martigny to near Chur, while for a short distance they actually unite near Pizzo Rotondo (west of the St Gotthard Pass), parting again near the Oberalp Pass (east of the St Gotthard). Between these two great snowclad ranges flow two of the mightiest European rivers, the Rhône towards the west and the Rhine towards the east, their headwaters being only separated by the tangled mountain mass between Pizzo Rotondo and the Oberalp Pass, which sends the Reuss towards the north and the Ticino towards the south. *To the north of the great northern outlier rises the Jura range, a huge spur of the Alps (with which it is connected by the Jorat range), while between the northern outlier and the Jura extends what may be called the plains or plateau of Switzerland, consisting all but wholly of the undulating valley of the Aar (below Thun) with its numerous affluents. To that river valley, the valley of the Thur (a direct affluent of the Rhine), that lies between the Aar basin and the Rhine basin (Lake Constance) must be added. Putting aside the valleys of the Ticino and Inn, Switzerland may thus be described as consisting of three great river valleys (Rhône, Rhine and Aar) with the smaller one of the Thur, which all lie to the north of the main chain of the Alps and include the region between the Alps and the Jura. If matters are examined more carefully, it can be noted that the Rhône and Rhine valleys are shut off from that of the Aar (and of the Thur) by the great northern outlier of the Alps, which consists of the Bernese and Glarus Alps. Two wide and undulating valleys (Aar and Thur) and two deeply cut trenches (Rhône and Rhine) thus lie on the northern slope of the Alps, to the north and south respectively of the great northern outlier of the Alps. The main chain of the Alps rises in Swiss territory to the height of in the loftiest summit or Dufourspitze (wholly Swiss) of Monte Rosa, though the Dom (), in the Mischabel range, is the highest mountain mass which is entirely within Switzerland. The great northern outlier attains a height of in the Finsteraarhorn, while the lowest level () within the Confederation, is on Lake Maggiore (on the course of the Ticino). The highest permanently inhabited village in Switzerland is Juf () at the head of the Avers valley (a tributary of the Rhine), while the lowest is Ascona (), on Lake Maggiore.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Geography of Switzerland」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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