Switzerland has an area of 41,285 square kilometres (15,940 square miles). The productive area - that is, the area without the lakes, rivers, unproductive vegetation and no vegetation at all - covers 30,753 square km (11,870 square miles).

It  measures 220 kilometers (137 miles) from north to south and 350 km (217 miles) from east to west.

The Jura, the Plateau and the Alps form the three main geographic regions of the country.

Switzerland has a population of 7.4 million. Population density is high, with 234 people per square km (606 per square mile) of the productive area in 2000. In the agglomerations, which cover about 20% of the total surface area, the density is 590 per square km (1528 per square mile).