Switzerland the Chasselas (called Fendant in Valais) and Pinot noir. The Merlot is the main variety produced in Ticino. Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a country in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The sovereign state is a federal republic situated in western, central and southern Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning
Cantons of Switzerland to refer to the members of the Swiss Confederacy. English use of "canton" in reference to the Swiss Confederacy (as opposed to the heraldic sense) dates to the early 17th century. In the Old Swiss Confederacy, the term "Ort" (plural: "Orte") was in use from the early 15th century as a generic term for the member cantons. The founding cantons specifically were also known as "Waldstätte" "forest settlements", "forest cantons" (singular: "Waldstatt"). The formulaic ' for the members of the early confederacy is recorded in the mid-14th century, used interchangeably with ' ("cities and lands", "city cantons and rural cantons")