Switzerland is a landlocked country in Western Europe, and Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states. These states are called cantons. Berne is the seat of the federation and de facto capital, Switzerland while the country's economic centres are its two global cities, Geneva and especially Zurich. Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world.Switzerland is bordered by Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. Switzerland is multilingual and has four national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh. Switzerland has a long history of neutrality, it has not been at war since 1815 , and hosts many international organizations, including the Red Cross, the World Trade Organization and one of the U.N.'s two European offices.
Switzerland has a stable modern mixed market economy, with a nominal per capita GDP that is higher than those of the larger western European economies, the United States, and Japan ranking 6th behind Luxembourg, Norway, Qatar, Iceland and Ireland. If adjusted for purchasing power parity it ranks 15th. The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report currently ranks Switzerland's economy as the second most competitive in the world. For much of the 20th century, Switzerland was the wealthiest country in Europe by a considerable margin.