Personal Finance

Chapter 5: Banking

International Finance

At the center of Austria, Germany, France, and Italy, Switzerland has often been called the crossroads to Europe. Three unique land regions make up the country's small size: the snow-capped Alps to the south, the Jura Mountains in the northwest, and the fertile plateau of the Mittelland, or “Middle Land,” in between. The Alps, Europe's largest mountain system, cover 60 percent of the country and make Switzerland the watershed—a high place from which rivers flow—of central Europe. Fed by melting snow, such major European rivers as the Rhine and Rhone begin in the Swiss Alps. Once a part of the Holy Roman Empire, Switzerland has enjoyed independence for more than 700 years and is honored as one of the world's oldest democracies.

To learn more about Switzerland, visit www.Britannica.com.