A report on Switzerland and Vaud

Founded in 44 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, Augusta Raurica (near Basel) was the first Roman settlement on the Rhine and is now among the most important archaeological sites in Switzerland.

Bailiwicks of Bern in Vaud in the 18th century

The Old Swiss Confederacy from 1291 (dark green) to the sixteenth century (light green) and its associates (blue). In the other colours shown are the subject territories.

Built by the Bishop of Lausanne during the 15th century, Château Saint-Maire has been the seat of the cantonal government since 1803

The Act of Mediation was Napoleon's attempt at a compromise between the Ancien Régime and a Republic.

The first Federal Palace in Bern (1857). One of the three cantons presiding over the Tagsatzung (former legislative and executive council), Bern was chosen as the permanent seat of federal legislative and executive institutions in 1848, in part because of its closeness to the French-speaking area.

Inauguration in 1882 of the Gotthard Rail Tunnel connecting the southern canton of Ticino, the longest in the world at the time

The room of the Grand Council of Vaud, the parliament of the canton of Vaud

General Ulrich Wille, appointed commander-in-chief of the Swiss Army for the duration of World War I

In 2003, by granting the Swiss People's Party a second seat in the governing cabinet, the Parliament altered the coalition that had dominated Swiss politics since 1959.

Lausanne, capital and largest city in Vaud

Köppen–Geiger climate classification map for Switzerland

The Swiss Federal Council in 2022 with President Ignazio Cassis (bottom) standing on an abstract, reduced railway lines map and positioned at their respective political origins

The Federal Palace, seat of the Federal Assembly and the Federal Council

The Landsgemeinde is an old form of direct democracy, still in practice in two cantons.

The colour-reversed Swiss flag became the symbol of the Red Cross Movement, founded in 1863 by Henry Dunant.

A Swiss Air Force F/A-18 Hornet at Axalp Air Show

Swiss-built Mowag Eagles of the Land Forces

A proportional representation of Switzerland exports, 2019

The city of Basel (Roche Tower) is the capital of the country's pharmaceutical industry, which accounts for around 38% of Swiss exports worldwide.

The Greater Zürich area, home to 1.5 million inhabitants and 150,000 companies, is one of the most important economic centres in the world.

The University of Basel is Switzerland's oldest university (1460).

Some Swiss scientists who played a key role in their discipline (clockwise):
Leonhard Euler (mathematics)
Louis Agassiz (glaciology)
Auguste Piccard (aeronautics)
Albert Einstein (physics)

The LHC tunnel. CERN is the world's largest laboratory and also the birthplace of the World Wide Web.

Members of the European Free Trade Association (green) participate in the European Single Market and are part of the Schengen Area.

Switzerland has the tallest dams in Europe, among which the Mauvoisin Dam, in the Alps. Hydroelectricity is the most important domestic source of energy in the country.

Entrance of the new Lötschberg Base Tunnel, the third-longest railway tunnel in the world, under the old Lötschberg railway line. It was the first completed tunnel of the greater project NRLA.

Population density in Switzerland (2019)

Percentage of foreigners in Switzerland (2019)

Urbanisation in the Rhone Valley (outskirts of Sion)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was not only a writer but also an influential philosopher of the eighteenth century.

Roger Federer has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, making him among the most successful men's tennis players ever.

Fondue is melted cheese, into which bread is dipped

National languages in Switzerland (2016):
German (62.8%)
French (22.9%)
Italian (8.2%)
Romansh (0.5%)

Vaud ((Canton de) Vaud, ; (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation.

- Vaud

Swiss wine is produced mainly in Valais, Vaud (Lavaux), Geneva and Ticino, with a small majority of white wines.

- Switzerland

21 related topics with Alpha

Canton of Geneva

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The cantons and allies of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the 18th century. Geneva is a group of small territories in the southwest.

The County of Geneva and surrounding territories in around 1200.

Territories acquired by Berne from Geneva, 1339-1798

L'Escalade, the last attempt by Savoy to take Geneva by force, 1602

Charles Pictet de Rochemont, the Geneva envoy to the Congress of Vienna who negotiated the canton’s borders

Borders after the Congress of Vienna: in yellow, the previous lands of Geneva; in blue, towns ceded by France; in pink, towns ceded by Savoy.

View from Reculet mountain towards Geneva. The canton occupies most of the Geneva basin, the valley between the Reculet (France) and Mount Salève (France). The Alps are visible in the background, covered by clouds

The headquarters of the local cantonal bank, the BCGE

Geneva has the densest vineyards of Switzerland. Here, the largest wine-making municipality of Switzerland, Satigny.

Map of the French département of Léman established in 1798

Map of the canton of Geneva after the first peace of Paris May 1814

Map of the canton of Geneva after the treaty of Paris 1815

Map of the canton of Geneva after the treaty of Turin 1816

The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva (République et canton de Genève; Rèpublica et canton de Geneva; Republik und Kanton Genf; Repubblica e Cantone di Ginevra; Republica e chantun Genevra), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation.

Within the country, the canton shares borders with Vaud to the east, the only adjacent canton.

The "Thirteen-Canton Confederation" of the Old Swiss Confederacy (1513–1798)

Cantons of Switzerland

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The 22 cantonal coats of arms (all but Jura, with the half-cantons represented jointly) in stained glass set in the dome of the Federal Palace of Switzerland (c. 1900)

Caricature of the division of Basel, 1833

The 26 cantons of Switzerland (Kanton; canton ; cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: cantun; Vallader and Puter: Chantun; Sutsilvan: cantùn; Rumantsch Grischun: chantun) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation.

Geneva (formally République et canton de Genève, 'Republic and canton of Geneva'), Jura, Neuchâtel, Valais, Vaud and Ticino.

Canton of Fribourg

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Fribourg Prealps: Dent de Brenleire (2358 m, to the right) and Vanil Noir (2389 m, in the background)

Transports publics Fribourgeois bus station in Fribourg

The canton of Fribourg, also canton of Freiburg (canton de Fribourg ; Kanton Freiburg ; Canton de Fribôrg ) is located in western Switzerland.

The canton is bounded to the west by Lake Neuchâtel, to the west and the south by the canton of Vaud, and to the east by the canton of Bern.

Valais

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Valère Basilica dominating the Rhône Valley. By the 12th century, the bishops of Sion began building churches and castles in Sion to represent their power and administer their estates.

The Rhône Valley near Pfynwald. Note the vineyards, pines, and steppic vegetation that are typical of dry Central Valais

The Aletsch Glacier, largest in the Alps

The Weisshorn, one of the highest peaks of Valais

Predominantly Catholic, the canton includes numerous churches and Alpine chapels (here Maria zum Schnee in Bettmeralp)

The Grande Dixence is one of the world's largest dams

St. Gingolph is one of the only two ports on Lake Geneva, and the terminus of the Tonkin Railway

BLS train descending the summit line of the Lötschberg Railway

A postbus waiting on the summit of the Simplon Pass

People gathering at the national cow fighting final

A Brisolée served with local products and wine

Valais (in French) (, , ; Valês), or Wallis (in German) (Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation.

It borders the cantons of Vaud and Bern to the north, the cantons of Uri and Ticino to the east, as well as Italy to the south and France to the west.

Lake Geneva

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View of Lake Geneva about between Vevey in front, Lausanne in the back behind Mont Pèlerin (CH) on the right and Évian-les-Bains (F) on the left, shot from a place between Caux and Glion above Montreux

View of the lake and the Chablais Alps from Caux

CGN paddle steamer in 1926 near Vevey with the Dents du Midi in background

Lake Geneva (le Léman or lac Léman, rarely lac de Genève ; Lago Lemano; Genfersee ; Lai da Genevra) is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France.

Sixty per cent (345.31 km2) of the lake belongs to Switzerland (the cantons of Vaud, Geneva and Valais) and forty per cent (234.71 km2) to France (the department of Haute-Savoie).

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

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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.

In Switzerland, the Jura Mountains extend over an area covering (from northeast to southwest) the cantons of Zurich, Aargau, Basel-Landschaft, Solothurn, Jura, Bern (i.e., Bernese Jura), Neuchâtel, Vaud, and Geneva.

Swiss Plateau

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View from the Pilatus on the Swiss Plateau near Luzern

The Napf region in the higher Swiss Plateau

View from the Rigi on the sea of fog covering the Swiss Plateau

Much of the eastern part of the plateau has become part of the "Greater Zurich Area".

The densely populated Swiss Plateau: view of Zurich from Waidberg

The Swiss Plateau or Central Plateau (Schweizer Mittelland; plateau suisse; altopiano svizzero) is one of the three major landscapes in Switzerland, lying between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Alps.

Entirely situated within the Swiss Plateau are the cantons of Zurich, Thurgau and Geneva; mostly situated within the Swiss Plateau are the cantons of Lucerne, Aargau, Solothurn, Bern, Fribourg and Vaud; small portions of the Swiss Plateau are situated in the cantons of Neuchâtel, Zug, Schwyz, St. Gallen and Schaffhausen.

Geneva

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L'Escalade is what Genevans call the failed surprise attack of 12 December 1602 by troops sent by Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, to take Geneva. This imaginative image was drawn by Matthias Quad, or the workshop of Frans Hogenberg, around 1603. Invaders are pictured crossing the moat in the center left while reinforcements are entering Plainpalais at the bottom. A column of defenders is in the center, headed toward the Savoyards. Lake Léman is at center top.

Satellite view of Geneva; Cointrin Airport is centre left.

The Geneva area seen from the Salève in France. The Jura mountains are on the horizon.

Average temperature and precipitation 1961–1990

Coat of arms of Geneva as part of the pavement in front of the Reformation Wall, 2013

The Flowered Clock at the Quai du Général-Guisan (English Garden), during the 2012 Geneva Festival

Apartment buildings in the Quartier des Grottes

Geneva, with Lake Geneva in the background

Reformation Wall in Geneva; from left to right: William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

The World Intellectual Property Organization.

The assembly hall of the Palace of Nations.

International Committee of the Red Cross (CICR)

Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the City of Geneva

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Mallet House and Museum international de la Réforme

Geneva (Genève ; Genèva ) is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland.

2019 estimate) over 246 km2, and together with the suburbs and exurbs located in the canton of Vaud and in the French departments of Ain and Haute-Savoie the cross-border Geneva metropolitan area as officially defined by Eurostat, which extends over 2292 km2, had a population of 1,032,750 in Jan. 2019 (Swiss estimates and French census).

Satellite image of Switzerland in October 2002. On the north side of the Alps, the regions located above 2000m are covered by snow. The canton of Ticino (on the south side) is almost snow-free in early autumn.

Swiss Alps

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Swiss Alps seen from the Swiss Jura in December 2010

Lauterbrunnen Valley in the Bernese Alps, a deep U-shaped valley that resulted from erosion by glaciers

Liskamm (4,527 m), above the Gorner Glacier

Highest ski area in Europe above Zermatt

Due to strong political will by the citizenry, Zermatt remains car-free and retains much of its original character

The Glacier Express on the Landwasser Viaduct, Albula Range

The Alps are featured on the Swiss fifty-franc banknote since 2016.

The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (Schweizer Alpen, Alpes suisses, Alpi svizzere, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main physiographic regions.

The Alpine cantons (from highest to lowest) are Valais, Bern, Graubünden, Uri, Glarus, Ticino, St. Gallen, Vaud, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Schwyz, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Fribourg, Lucerne and Zug.

Helvetic Republic

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Sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars.

The Helvetic Republic, with borders according to the first Helvetic constitution of 12 April 1798

Alois von Reding led Central Swiss troops against the French.

William Tell fights the revolution (1798), by Dunker, praises the struggle of the Old Confederation against the Helvetic revolution supported by French invasion. It depicts the Swiss folk hero William Tell, carrying a shield with the Rütlischwur, and his son fighting the revolution, represented as a chimera wearing a phrygian cap

The awakening of the Swiss (1798), by Midart, celebrates the transformation of the Old Confederation into the Helvetic Republic. It shows a Swiss who wakes up from his sleep (the ancien régime) and is handed his weapons by Liberty. In the background, the rising sun and the Gallic rooster herald the new era

The provisional constitution of 15 January 1798

The Swiss Confederacy, which until then had consisted of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance (and ruling over subject territories such as Vaud), was invaded by the French Revolutionary Army and turned into an ally known as the "Helvetic Republic".

In 1793, the National Convention had imposed friendship with the United States and the Swiss Confederation as the sole limit while delegating its powers in foreign policy to the Committee of Public Safety, but the situation changed when the more conservative Directoire took power in 1795 and Napoleon conquered Northern Italy in 1796.