Suiza

"Suiza (en alemán: «Schweiz», en francés: «Suisse», en italiano: «Svizzera» y en romanche: «Svizra»), oficialmente Confederación Suiza (en alemán: «Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft», en francés: «Confédération Suisse», en italiano: «Confederazione Svizzera», en romanche: «Confederaziun Svizra» y en latín: «Confoederatio Helvetica» de ahí que su código ISO sea CH), es un país sin salida al mar ubicado en la Europa central y que cuenta con una población de 8 139 600 habitantes (2013). Suiza es una república federal de 26 estados, llamados cantones. Berna es la sede de las autoridades federales, mientras que los centros financieros del país se encuentran en las ciudades de Zúrich, Basilea, Ginebra y Lugano. Suiza es el cuarto país más rico del mundo según su PIB per cápita, con 83 718 dólares estadounidenses (2011). Limita al norte con Alemania, al oeste con Francia, al sur con Italia y al este con Austria y Liechtenstein. Se caracteriza diplomáticamente por su política de relaciones exteriores neutral, sin haber participado activamente en ningún conflicto internacional desde 1815. Suiza es la sede de varias organizaciones internacionales, como la Organización Mundial del Movimiento Scout, la Cruz Roja, la Organización Mundial del Comercio, la Unión Postal Universal así como una de las dos oficinas de la ONU en Europa, además de ser sede de la FIFA, máximo organismo del fútbol a escala mundial, y de la UEFA, mayor ente del fútbol europeo; también es sede del COI, máximo organismo encargado de la realización de los juegos olímpicos y de la FIDE, máximo organismo del ajedrez en el ámbito mundial. Suiza es una confederación multilingüe y cuenta con cuatro idiomas oficiales: alemán, francés, italiano y romanche. La fecha de su creación como Estado se fijó el 1 de agosto de 1291 de acuerdo con la tradición. Debido a este motivo, cada año se celebra la fiesta nacional el 1 de agosto. Actualmente, se percibe como uno de los países más desarrollados del mundo. Por su política de neutralidad, el país alberga gran cantidad de inmigrantes provenientes de naciones de varios continentes, por lo que es considerado como uno de los países europeos con mayor diversidad cultural. Finalmente, es reconocida internacionalmente por su turismo de montaña y por sus relojes, chocolates, navajas, bancos, ferrocarriles y quesos."

"("Swiss" and "Swiss Confederation" redirect here. For other uses, see Swiss (disambiguation) and Swiss Confederation (disambiguation).) Switzerland (/swtsrlnd/), officially the Swiss Confederation) is a federal republic in Europe. While still named the "Swiss Confederation" for historical reasons, modern Switzerland is a federal directorial republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities, called '"federal city" (German: Bundesstadt, French: Ville féderale, Italian: Capitale federale). The country is situated in Western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2 (15,940 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately eight million people is concentrated mostly on the plateau, where the largest cities are to be found: among them are the two global and economic centres Zürich and Geneva. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the late medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria and Burgundy. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815 and did not join the United Nations until 2002. Nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to numerous international organisations, including the second largest UN office. On the European level, it is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association, but notably it is not part of the European Union, nor the European Economic Area. However, the country does participate in the Schengen Area and the EU's single market through a number of bilateral treaties. Spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, Italian and Romansh. Although the majority of the population are German speaking, Swiss national identity is rooted in a common historical background, shared values such as federalism and direct democracy, and Alpine symbolism. Due to its linguistic diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names: Schweiz [vats] (German); Suisse [sis()] (French); Svizzera [zvittsera] (Italian); and Svizra [vitsr] or [vits] (Romansh). On coins and stamps, Latin (frequently shortened to "Helvetia") is used instead of the four living languages. Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Switzerland ranks at or near the top globally in several metrics of national performance, including government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic competitiveness, and human development. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer."