Switzerland and Related Topics

Italy

Country that consists of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and several islands surrounding it, whose territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical region.

Expansion of the territory called "Italy" from ancient Greece until Diocletian

The Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries a symbol of the Kings of Italy

Marco Polo, explorer of the 13th century, recorded his 24 years-long travels in the Book of the Marvels of the World, introducing Europeans to Central Asia and China.

The Italian states before the beginning of the Italian Wars in 1494

Leonardo da Vinci, the quintessential Renaissance man, in a self-portrait (ca. 1512, Royal Library, Turin)

Christopher Columbus leads an expedition to the New World, 1492. His voyages are celebrated as the discovery of the Americas from a European perspective, and they opened a new era in the history of humankind and sustained contact between the two worlds.

Flag of the Cispadane Republic, which was the first Italian tricolour adopted by a sovereign Italian state (1797)

Holographic copy of 1847 of Il Canto degli Italiani, the Italian national anthem since 1946

Animated map of the Italian unification from 1829 to 1871

The Victor Emmanuel II Monument in Rome, a national symbol of Italy celebrating the first king of the unified country, and resting place of the Italian Unknown Soldier since the end of World War I. It was inaugurated in 1911, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy.

The fascist dictator Benito Mussolini titled himself Duce and ruled the country from 1922 to 1943.

Areas controlled by the Italian Empire at its peak

Italian partisans in Milan during the Italian Civil War, April 1945

Alcide De Gasperi, first republican Prime Minister of Italy and one of the Founding Fathers of the European Union

The signing ceremony of the Treaty of Rome on 25 March 1957, creating the European Economic Community, forerunner of the present-day European Union

Funerals of the victims of the Bologna bombing of 2 August 1980, the deadliest attack ever perpetrated in Italy during the Years of Lead

Italian government task force to face the COVID-19 emergency

Dolphins in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Aeolian Islands

Gran Paradiso, established in 1922, is the oldest Italian national park.

The Italian wolf, the national animal of Italy

Köppen-Geiger climate classification map of Italy

The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of Italy.

An Alfa Romeo 159 vehicle of the Carabinieri corps

Group photo of the G7 leaders at the 43rd G7 summit in Taormina

Heraldic coat of arms of the Italian Armed Forces

A proportional representation of Italy exports, 2019

Milan is the economic capital of Italy, and is a global financial centre and a fashion capital of the world.

The Autostrada dei Laghi ("Lakes Motorway"), the first motorway built in the world

FS' Frecciarossa 1000 high speed train, with a maximum speed of 400 km/h

Trieste, the main port of the northern Adriatic and starting point of the Transalpine Pipeline

ENI is considered one of the world's oil and gas "Supermajors".

Solar panels in Piombino. Italy is one of the world's largest producers of renewable energy.

Galileo Galilei, the father of modern science, physics and astronomy

Enrico Fermi, creator of the world's first first nuclear reactor

The Amalfi Coast is one of Italy's major tourist destinations.

Map of Italy's population density at the 2011 census

Italy is home to a large population of migrants from Eastern Europe and North Africa.

Linguistic map showing the languages spoken in Italy

Vatican City, the Holy See's sovereign territory

Bologna University, established in AD 1088, is the world's oldest academic institution.

Olive oil and vegetables are central to the Mediterranean diet.

The Last Supper (1494–1499), Leonardo da Vinci, Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan

Michelangelo's David (1501–1504), Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence

The Birth of Venus (1484–1486), Sandro Botticelli, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Dante shown holding a copy of the Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the mount of Purgatory and the city of Florence, with the spheres of Heaven above, in Michelino's fresco, 1465

Niccolò Machiavelli, founder of modern political science and ethics

Pinocchio is one of the world's most translated books and a canonical piece of children's literature.

Clockwise from top left: Thomas Aquinas, proponent of natural theology and the Father of Thomism; Giordano Bruno, one of the major scientific figures of the Western world; Cesare Beccaria, considered the Father of criminal justice and modern criminal law; and Maria Montessori, credited with the creation of the Montessori education

Statues of Pantalone and Harlequin, two stock characters from the Commedia dell'arte, in the Museo Teatrale alla Scala

Dario Fo, one of the most widely performed playwrights in modern theatre, received international acclaim for his highly improvisational style.

Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot, are among the most frequently worldwide performed in the standard repertoire

Luciano Pavarotti, considered one of the finest tenors of the 20th century and the "King of the High Cs"

Giorgio Moroder, pioneer of Italo disco and electronic dance music, is known as the "Father of disco".

The Azzurri in 2012. Football is the most popular sport in Italy.

Starting in 1909, the Giro d'Italia is the Grands Tours' second oldest.

A Ferrari SF21 by Scuderia Ferrari, the most successful Formula One team

Prada shop at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan

The traditional recipe for spaghetti with tomato and basil sauce

The Frecce Tricolori, with the smoke trails representing the national colours of Italy, during the celebrations of the Festa della Repubblica

The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world.

A unitary parliamentary republic with Rome as its capital and largest city, the country covers a total area of 301230 km2 and shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, as well as the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino.

Basel

The Roman theatre in Augusta Raurica, one of the most important Roman archaeological sites in Switzerland

Basel Minster, built between 1019 and 1500

1493 woodcut of Basel, from the Nuremberg Chronicle

Map of Basel in 1642, engraved by Matthäus Merian, oriented with SW at the top and NE at the bottom.

First World Zionist Congress in Basel, 1897 (Stadtcasino)

Basel (in the upper left corner) as seen from Bettingen (television tower St. Chrischona) facing France

The Rhine in Basel as Switzerland's gateway to the sea

Basel Bahnhof SBB, self-proclaimed "world's first international railway station."

Roche Tower, the tallest building in Switzerland

Inauguration ceremony of the University of Basel, 1460

Tinguely's Carnival Fountain (Fasnachtsbrunnen)

The Kunstmuseum Basel, oldest public museum of art in Europe

The Fondation Beyeler by Renzo Piano, located in Riehen

Top Secret Drum Corps at the 2009 Basel Tattoo

Roger Federer at the 2010 Australian Open

Global seat of the Bank for International Settlements

Basel, also known as Basle (Basel ; Bâle ; Basilea ; Sutsilvan: Basileia; other Basilea ), is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine.

Germany

Country in Central Europe.

Martin Luther (1483–1546), Protestant Reformer

Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany (1933–1945)

German-occupied Europe in 1942 during World War II

American, Soviet, British, and French occupation zones in Germany and the French-controlled Saar Protectorate, 1947. Territories east of the Oder-Neisse line were transferred to Poland and the Soviet Union under the terms of the Potsdam Conference.

The Berlin Wall during its fall in 1989, with the Brandenburg Gate in the background

German TPz Fuchs armoured personnel carrier

Frankfurt is a leading business centre in Europe and the seat of the European Central Bank.

An ICE 3 on the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line

Cologne Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Heidelberg University is Germany's oldest institution of higher learning and generally counted among its most renowned.

The Hospital of the Holy Spirit in Lübeck, established in 1286, is a precursor to modern hospitals.

A typical German Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) in Dresden

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), composer

The Brothers Grimm collected and published popular German folk tales.

Babelsberg Studio in Potsdam near Berlin, the world's first large-scale film studio

Bavarian Bratwurst with mustard, a pretzel and beer

The German national football team after winning the FIFA World Cup for the fourth time in 2014. Football is the most popular sport in Germany.

Germany borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south and France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.

Austria

Landlocked country in the southern part of Central Europe, situated at Eastern Alps.

Venus of Willendorf, 28,000 to 25,000 BC, at the Museum of Natural History Vienna

The Battle of Vienna in 1683 broke the advance of the Ottoman Empire into Europe.

The Congress of Vienna met in 1814–15. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.

Map of the German Confederation (1815–1836) with its 39 member states

An ethno-linguistic map of Austria-Hungary, 1910

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination sparked World War I, one of the most disastrous conflicts in human history

German-speaking provinces claimed by German-Austria in 1918: The border of the subsequent Second Republic of Austria is outlined in red.

Adolf Hitler speaking at Heldenplatz, Vienna, 1938

Austria in 1941 when it was known as the "Ostmark"

The liberation of Mauthausen concentration camp, 1945

The United Nations Office in Vienna is one of the four major UN office sites worldwide.

Austria joined the European Union in 1995 and signed the Lisbon Treaty in 2007.

The Austrian Parliament Building in Vienna

The Leopoldine Wing of Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna, home to the offices of the Austrian president

The Federal Chancellery on Ballhausplatz

The European Parliament: Austria is one of the 27 EU members.

A topographic map of Austria showing cities with over 100,000 inhabitants

Köppen-Geiger climate classification map for Austria

A proportional representation of Austria exports, 2019

Austria is part of a monetary union, the eurozone (dark blue), and of the EU single market.

Children in Austria, near Au, Vorarlberg

Bilingual sign of Oberwart (in Hungarian Felsőőr) in Burgenland

The birthplaces of foreign-born naturalised residents of Austria

The Basilica of Mariazell is Austria's most popular pilgrimage site.

Stiftsgymnasium Melk is the oldest Austrian school.

The campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a well-known Austrian and American actor.

Wiener Schnitzel, a traditional Austrian dish

Innsbruck hosted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics, as well as the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, the first in history.

Ski racer Franz Klammer won a gold medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.

The country is bordered by Germany to the northwest, the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia to the northeast, Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west.

Landlocked countries: 42 landlocked (green), 2 doubly landlocked (purple)

Landlocked country

Country that does not have territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie on endorheic basins.

Bolivia's loss of its coastline in the War of the Pacific (1879–1884) remains a major political issue

Some landlocked countries in Europe are affluent, such as Andorra, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, San Marino, Switzerland, and Vatican City, all of which, excluding Luxembourg, a founding member of NATO, frequently employ neutrality in global political issues.

United Nations Office at Geneva

The Allée des Nations, with the flags of the member countries

The headquarters of the World Health Organization

World Intellectual Property Organization headquarters

Tatiana Valovaya, Russia, Director-General since 2019.

The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, Office des Nations Unies à Genève) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence.

World Trade Organization

Intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade.

The economists Harry White (left) and John Maynard Keynes at the Bretton Woods Conference.

The World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1998, in the Palace of Nations (Geneva, Switzerland).

The headquarters of the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.

The WTO is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Bank for International Settlements

International financial institution owned by central banks that "fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks".

It is based in Basel, Switzerland, with representative offices in Hong Kong and Mexico City.

France

Transcontinental country spanning Western Europe and overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.

One of the Lascaux paintings: a horse – approximately 17,000 BC. Lascaux is famous for its "exceptionally detailed depictions of humans and animals".

Vercingetorix surrenders to Caesar during the Battle of Alesia. The Gallic defeat in the Gallic Wars secured the Roman conquest of the country.

The Maison Carrée was a temple of the Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day Nîmes) and is one of the best-preserved vestiges of the Roman Empire.

With Clovis's conversion to Catholicism in 498, the Frankish monarchy, elective and secular until then, became hereditary and of divine right.

Joan of Arc led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), which paved the way for the final victory.

Metropolitan France territorial evolution from 985 to 1947

The Château de Chenonceau, nowadays part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was built in the early 16th century.

Louis XIV, the "Sun King", was the absolute monarch of France and made France the leading European power.

Ouverture des États généraux à Versailles, 5 mai 1789 by Auguste Couder

The Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 was the most emblematic event of the French Revolution.

Le Serment du Jeu de paume by Jacques-Louis David, 1791

Napoleon, Emperor of the French, built a vast empire across Europe. His conquests spread the ideals of the French Revolution across much of the continent, such as popular sovereignty, equality before the law, republicanism and administrative reorganisation while his legal reforms had a major impact worldwide. Nationalism, especially in Germany, emerged in reaction against him.

Animated map of the growth and decline of the French colonial empire

French Poilus posing with their war-torn flag in 1917, during World War I

Charles de Gaulle took an active part in many major events of the 20th century: a hero of World War I, leader of the Free French during World War II, he then became President, where he facilitated decolonisation, maintained France as a major power and overcame the revolt of May 1968.

The May 68 protests, a massive social movement, would ultimately led to many social changes, such as the right to abortion, women empowerment as well as the decriminalisation of homosexuality.

Republican marches were organised across France after the January 2015 attacks perpetrated by Islamist terrorists; they became the largest public rallies in French history.

A relief map of Metropolitan France, showing cities with over 100,000 inhabitants

Mont Blanc, the highest summit in Western Europe, marks the border with Italy.

Geological formations near Roussillon, Vaucluse

Reed bed on the Gironde estuary, the largest estuary in Western Europe

Köppen climate classification map of Metropolitan France

Marine (blue), regional (green) and national (red) parks in France (2019)

The lands making up the French Republic, shown at the same geographic scale

The National Assembly is the lower house of the French Parliament.

The basic principles that the French Republic must respect are found in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

88 states and governments are part of La Francophonie, which promotes values of democracy, multilingualism and cultural diversity. France has been a key member of this global organisation since its inception in 1970.

The European Parliament in Strasbourg, near the border with (Germany). France is a founding member of all EU institutions.

Examples of France's military. Clockwise from top left: nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle; a Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft; French Chasseurs Alpins patrolling the valleys of Kapisa province in Afghanistan; a Leclerc tank

La Défense (as seen from the Eiffel Tower) was in 2017 ranked by Ernst & Young as the leading Central business district in continental Europe, and the fourth in the world.

Composition of the French economy (GDP) in 2016 by expenditure type

Champagne is from the Champagne region in Northeast France.

The Eiffel Tower is the world's most-visited paid monument, an icon of both Paris and France.

The Château de Marqueyssac, featuring a French formal garden, is one of the Remarkable Gardens of France.

Belleville Nuclear Power Plant. France derives most of its electricity from nuclear power, the highest percentage in the world.

A TGV Duplex crossing the Cize–Bolozon viaduct. The train can reach a maximum speed of 360 km/h.

Air France is one of the biggest airlines in the world.

France is in 2020 the biggest national financial contributor to the European Space Agency, which conceived the Ariane rocket family, launched from French Guiana (Ariane 5 pictured).

The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble

Population density in France by arrondissement. The main urban areas are visible, notably the Paris (centre-north), Lille (north), Marseille (southeast) and Lyon (centre-southeast) urban areas.

Notre-Dame de Reims is the Roman Catholic cathedral where the Kings of France were crowned until 1825.

The Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, a teaching hospital in Paris, is one of Europe's largest hospitals.

The École normale supérieure (ENS) in Paris, established in the end of the 18th century, produces more Nobel Prize laureates per capita than any other institution in the world.

Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People (1830) portrays the July Revolution using the stylistic views of Romanticism. Since Liberty is part of the motto "Liberté, égalité, fraternité", as the French put it, this painting has become the primary symbol of the French Republic.

The Louvre Museum, widely recognised as one of the finest art museums in the world, was in 2019 both the largest and the most-visited museum in the world.

Claude Monet, founder of the Impressionist movement

Le Penseur by Auguste Rodin (1902), Musée Rodin, Paris

Saint Louis's Sainte-Chapelle represents the French impact on religious architecture.

Place de la Bourse in Bordeaux, an example of French baroque architecture

The Capitole de Toulouse hosts Toulouse City Hall.

French literary figures. Clockwise from top left: Molière is the most played author in the Comédie-Française; Victor Hugo is one of the most important French novelist and poet; 19th-century poet, writer and translator Charles Baudelaire; 20th-century philosopher and novelist Jean-Paul Sartre

René Descartes, founder of modern Western philosophy

Serge Gainsbourg, one of the world's most influential popular musicians

Daft Punk, pioneers of the French house movement

A Palme d'Or from the Cannes Film Festival, one of the "Big Three" film festivals alongside the Venice Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival

Louis de Funès, often called "France's favourite actor", has played over 130 roles in film and over 100 on stage.

Chanel's headquarters on Place Vendôme, Paris

The Parisian headquarters of Agence France-Presse, one of the world's oldest and leading news agencies

Le Figaro was founded in 1826; many of France's most prominent authors have written in its columns over the decades, and it is still considered a newspaper of record.

Admittance of Germaine Tillion, Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz, Pierre Brossolette and Jean Zay at the Pantheon, a mausoleum for distinguished French people, in 2015

Sculpture of Marianne, a common national personification of the French Republic

French wines are usually made to accompany French cuisine.

Starting in 1903, the Tour de France is the oldest and most prestigious of Grands Tours, and the world's most famous cycling race.

Pierre de Coubertin, father of the modern Olympic Games

Zidane was named the best European footballer of the past 50 years in a 2004 UEFA poll.

France borders Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Andorra, and Spain in Europe, as well as the Netherlands, Suriname, and Brazil in the Americas via its overseas territories in French Guiana and Saint Martin.

Topographical map (relief map) of Switzerland showing the Jura range proper (Faltenjura) in the northwest and west, and the Alps in the south and east

Jura Mountains

The Jura Mountains (, , , ; Massif du Jura; Juragebirge; Massiccio del Giura, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border.

The Jura range proper lies in France and Switzerland.