Switzerland is a relatively small country in the middle of Europe. Unless you take a freeway on flat fields, you may not find it so easy to drive in several areas of this country, where big mountains make it sometimes difficult. One popular route is the one from Geneva to Zurich, passing through Lausanne and Bern. There are less than 300 km and you can travel fast.

Closer you get to the Alps, more difficult becomes to travel without stops. There are places where your car must be taken by train. In the winter, some mountain passes may get closed. Continue reading »

Switzerland (or the Swiss Confederation) is one of the richest countries in the world, a relatively small alpine country in the middle of Europe. Bordered by Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein, Switzerland has a long history of neutrality and hosts many international organizations, such as the Red Cross, the World Trade Organization and one United Nations European office.

Switzerland has four national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh. The country’s economic centres are Geneva, Basel and Zurich. Continue reading »

The 2008 Quality of Living Survey of Mercer Human Resource Consulting also provides a Ranking by Personal Safety, with the top 50 cities in the world. According to this survey, Luxembourg ranks first, followed by Helsinki (Finland) and three cities of Switzerland (Bern, Geneva and Zurich), all last four tied for the second place.

The survey identified those cities with the highest personal safety ranking based on relationships with other countries, internal stability, crime and effectiveness of law enforcement. Continue reading »