I. General
Switzerland (Swiss Confederation, Confoederatio Helvetica) came into being in 1848 when a league of states joined together to form a federal state with a federalist constitution based on direct democracy. It has an area of 41,282 km2 and includes the central Jura Mountains, a midland between Lake Geneva and Lake Constance, and the Alps. Its four national languages – German, French, Italian, and Romanish – are spoken i…