Mountain ranges
The Alps are generally divided into two main parts; Western Alps and Eastern Alps. The western mountain range makes up the largest part of Switzerland, while the far greater number of the eastern mountain ranges are much smaller and are all located in the canton of Graubünden.
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The latter is part of the Central Eastern Alps, except for the Ortler Alps, which belong to the Southern Limestone Alps. The Pennine, Bern, and Bernina Mountain Ranges are the country’s highest mountain ranges, with peaks of 38, 9, and 1, respectively, over 4000 metres. The smallest mountain range, the Appenzell Alps, is 2,500 meters.
Rivers
The northern side of the Swiss Alps is drained by the Rhône, Rhine and Han (part of the Danube basin), while the southern side is drained by the Ticino (Po basin).
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The rivers in the north flow into the Mediterranean, the North Sea and the Black Sea, and the southern ones into the Po river in the Adriatic Sea. The important tripartite basin within the country in the Alps; Piz Lunghin are Witenwasserenstock and Monte Forcola. Between Witenwasserenstock and Piz Lunghin, the European Basin is operated, separating the Atlantic basin (North Sea) and the Mediterranean (Adriatic and Black Sea).
The European basin actually lies only partially in the main chain. Switzerland has 6% of Europe’s clean water and is sometimes referred to as “Europe’s water tower”.
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Lakes
Since the highest dams are located in the Alpine regions, many large mountain lakes are artificial and used as hydroelectric reservoirs.
Large artificial lakes above 2,300 m can be found, but natural lakes larger than 1 km² are generally below 1000 m (with the exceptions of lakes in Engadin and Oeschinen in the Bern Oberland). Melting low-altitude glaciers can create new lakes, such as the 0.25 km² Triftsee, formed between 2002 and 2003.
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Switzerland Geography
The geography of Switzerland covers the geographical features of Switzerland, a mountainous and landlocked country located in Western and Central Europe. It borders with 5 countries: Austria and Liechtenstein to the east, France to the west, Italy to the south and Germany to the north. Switzerland has a length of 220 km in a north-south direction and 350 km in an east-west direction.
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