The region and its boundaries

From the 17th century to the end of the Ancien Régime (1789), the Swiss Confederation remained territorially unchanged as a conglomerate of 13 sovereign cantons, subordinated lands (Untertänen), and associated towns and villages. In 1815, Switzerland became a confederation of 22 sovereign cantons with a nearly powerless central government. Since then, the territory of the Swiss state has changed only minimally. In small Switzerland, the border regions were far more extensive, relative to the overall territory, than in a large state. Two of the three largest cities, Geneva and Basel, are situated in a peripheral region that is nearly completely surrounded by the territories of other states. The languages of the surrounding states of Italy, France, Germany, and Austria are the same as the primary languages of Switzerland. Moreover, important south-north transit routes traverse the country. All this explains a migration that has been relatively strong for centuries, compared to larger countries in Europe.

Switzerland’s political structure has changed considerably over the course of time: after the Sonderbund War in 1847, the new, federally oriented constitution of 1848 for the first time set up a central government, though its sphere of authority remained narrowly circumscribed. The powers of the government were gradually broadened in the 19th and 20th centuries and Switzerland was increasingly organized as a centralized state.