Switzerland 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 a total area of (land area ). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the
Right of foreigners to vote in Switzerland Right of foreigners to vote in Switzerland The right of foreigners to vote in Switzerland is an ongoing political issue in the country. Switzerland is a federal nation. As such, the cantons have extensive powers to enact their own legislation (similar to the arrangement in the states of the United States). For this reason, the rules regarding the rights of foreign residents to vote differ considerably throughout Switzerland. At federal level, exercising one's political rights in the strictest sense (the right to stand for election and to vote in popular initiatives and referendums) is limited to Swiss citizens aged 18