Switzerland

Geography of Switzerland: Important Geographical Information about Switzerland

The productive land area in Switzerland is about 30,753 square kilometers. Switzerland is a small landlocked nation that measures just 350 kilometers from east to west and about 220 kilometers from north to south. There are three main geographic regions in Switzerland, the Plateau, located in the central parts of the country, the Jura and the Alpine region. Switzerland lies in the path that links southern Europe to northern Europe. What is very interesting is that when you travel across Switzerland you will be encountering language changes two to four times throughout your journey.

Contrasting landscapes greet visitors to Switzerland. Most of the country is dominated by towering and breathtaking Alps yet there are massive lakes, flat land and rolling hills and productive and lush valleys in between. Different climactic conditions a few dozen kilometers apart also distinguish Switzerland. Lake Maggiore in Ascona, located in the canton of Ticino has the lowest elevation in Switzerland, which is still 195 meters above sea level. The area has Mediterranean climate and palm trees can be found here.

The highest elevation in the country is the Dufour Peak or Dufourspitze, also called Monte Rosa, located in the canton of Valais in the south of Switzerland. It is the second highest peak in Western Europe and in the Alps and rises to a height of 4,634 meters. Valais is also the canton where Matterhorn, with a height of 4,478 meters, one of the deadliest peaks in the Alps is located. It is a very unique mountain, with four faces facing each point of the compass. Valais also has Aletsch, the longest glacier in the country which runs for 23 kilometers. The valleys here are very ideal for the production of tomatoes, grapes, apricots and cherries. To illustrate the dramatic climatic changes, Stalden, also in Valais receives very little rain, only amounting to about 20 inches annually, while about 40 kilometers away, in the region where the Dufour Peak is located, the area receives an average annual rainfall that can reach 156 inches.

The complexity of the country continues. On the southeast canton of Graunbünden, which is only 7,100 square kilometers in size, there are 150 valleys and its rivers flow either into the Black Sea, to the North Sea or to the Mediterranean Sea. Such a small place only has a total population of about 188,000 people yet three national languages are spoken in this canton.

Climate and Seasons
The presence of the Alps is an important factor in the climatic and seasonal changes in Switzerland. The Alpine regions work as a barrier, creating climactic differences between the northern and southern weather conditions. The northern part can have harsh winters while the south experiences milder winters. Differences in rainfall are also felt throughout the country.

March to May is spring time in Switzerland where the meadows and valleys are verdant and the trees are in full bloom. The summer is from June to August, where the temperature can be between 77 °F to 86 °F. Autumn, from September to November is harvest time in Switzerland and from December to February, the landscape is changed by the winter snow.

The Three Regions
The Swiss Plateau
The midland of Switzerland comprise the Swiss Plateau, from Lake Geneva in the southwest to the northeast location of Lake Constance, covering 30 % of the total land area of Switzerland with an average altitude of 580 meters. This section of the country is highly urbanized and densely populated, with about 450 people per square kilometer. It is also home to about two-thirds of the nation’s population. This is where most of the farmlands and industries in Switzerland are concentrated. Land is used extensively, and the fields are highly organized, following a strict pattern, and meadows alternate with fields where cereals and other crops are planted.

The Jura
The Jura lends its name to the Jurassic Period, as there were numerous dinosaur tracks and fossils found in this Swiss region that is mainly composed of limestone. Although rocks from the Jurassic period are found in different locations in the world, it was at the Jura Region that the rocks from the period were first studied toward the end of the 18th century. The Jura range stretches to the Rhine River from Lake Geneva, and covers about 12% of Switzerland’s land surface. It is a picturesque highland located 700 meters above sea level. Many river valleys cut through the landscape. The region is sparsely populated although there are several clock and watch makers in the Jura and the area of Sainte-Croix is very well known for their musical boxes.

The Alps
Spanning 200 kilometers at an average altitude of 1,700 meters, the Alps cover about two-thirds of Switzerland’s total land area. At the height of 2,500 to 2,800 meters, the snow line on the Alps begins. There are about 1,800 glaciers in the country and 48 mountains that are 4,000 meters or higher in height. As previously mentioned, the highest peak in Switzerland is the Dufourspitze.

The Alps provide a continental watershed that work in defining the climate and vegetation in the country. The Alps are what contribute to the international identity of Switzerland and provide an economic viability to an otherwise harsh region, with tourism development concentrated on its foothills and the Alps themselves.

Water Sources
Six percent of the fresh water stock of Europe is found in Switzerland. Its three rivers drain into different seas. The Rhine as well as its two tributaries, Thur and Aare drain 67.7% of their waters into the North Sea. On the other hand the Rhone River and the Ticino River, a tributary of the Po River located in Italy drain 18% of their waters to the Mediterranean Sea while the Inn River, a tributary of River Donau in Austria and Germany drain its excess water (4.4%) into the Black Sea.

Switzerland has more than 1,500 lakes, with Lakes Constance and Geneva being the two largest. Lake Geneva, which is shared with France, is also central Europe’s largest freshwater lake. Lake Constance is shared with Austria and Germany. The biggest lake within Switzerland is Lake Neuchâtel, which covers an area of 218.4 square kilometers. The most popular lake, Lake Lucerne is found in the central region of Switzerland. It measures 113.7 square kilometers.

There are seven waterfalls that can be found in Switzerland with the Rhine Falls located in Schaffhausen are the largest waterfall found in Europe. The waters from the falls cascade from a height of 23 meters and from a width of 150 meters.

Artificial channels
Due to the disparity in the availability of water and rainfall, the government of Switzerland had instituted measures to divert some of the abundant sources of water to provide water where it is scarce. Some villages have built channels called bisses (French) or suonen (German) to harness melting glacier water. Over the years, natural water courses were also corrected to re-direct the flow of water to the areas and fields that demand the precious resource the most.