Although Switzerland is a small country, it is very varied. In some regions towns sprang up and grew large and wealthy through trade. In other regions the people settled in small villages and lived mainly off the land.

By the Middle Ages there was a clear division between the city areas (Städteorte) and the rural areas (Länderorte). This division reflected not only the way people lived, but also the way in which they were ruled. The cities came to be governed by restricted interest groups, while decision-making in the rural areas was - in theory - much more democratic.

Each area naturally looked to its own interests which sometimes meant cooperating with its neighbours and sometimes meant competing with them.

Cooperation turned out to be the stronger impulse, otherwise Switzerland would not exist today. But this need not necessarily have been so. At many times in the course of history the bonds between the different areas could have dissolved.

Even today, some people wonder what keeps Switzerland together.