Het Huis Stoclet in Brussel - Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten Aalst

3. Bazel
Switzerland, one of Europe's smallest countries, with the Alps at its core, has an area of
41293 square kilometres. Its 1850 kilometres of borders link it to France in the west,
Germany in the north, Liechtenstein and Austria in the east, and Italy in the south.
Surrounded by the great continental cultures, its central position and control of the alpine
passes have made Switzerland a classic transit region, across which goods were, and still
are, moved from east to west, from north to south, and vice versa. Switzerland is a
European watershed whose rivers flow in all directions, and is the source of Rhine, Rhone,
and of major tributaries to Danube and Po. 140 glaciers and some 1500 lakes make
Switzerland Europe's moated castle. The other major mountain range is the Jura, which
extends from the Basel region along Switzerland's western border to Geneva. The Swiss
midlands lie between the Jura and the Alps, and south of the Alps lie the Ticino and a few
valleys that belong to the canton of Grisons. The country's highest point, 4634m above
sea level, is the Dufourspitze in the Monte Rosa massif; its lowest, at 193m, is Lago
Maggiore.
Seven million inhabitants
Like its topography, Switzerland's climate also varies very widely. In the west, the Atlantic
is the dominant influence; in the east, continental air currents dominate; in the north, the
Arctic makes its influence felt; and the south is often subjected to hot and humid
Mediterranean air. The Föhn, a warm, dry southerly wind, blows mainly down the Alpine
valleys and can cause severe storms; it is also often blamed for moodiness. Because the
Alpine region is rather inhospitable, most of Switzerland's population is concentrated in the
country's midlands, which are also used for intensive agriculture, and in its cities; the
biggest of these are Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Berne, and Lausanne. Foreign nationals
account for about one-fifth of Switzerland's population of some seven million, but the ratio
in some cantons, such as Basel-Stadt, may be as high as thirty percent.
Four official languages
Switzerland has four official languages. The majority speaks German; next comes French,
followed by Italian and Romantsch, an ancient form of Latin struggling for survival in the
Alps. Protestants and Roman Catholics are the main denominations, the latter with a
slightly higher share of the total population.