Switzerland,
officially the Swiss Confederation, is a country situated in the confluence of Western,
Central,
and Southern Europe.
It is a federal republic composed of 26 cantons, with federal authorities
based in Bern.
Switzerland is a landlocked country bordered by Italy to the south, France
to the west, Germany
to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein
to the east. It is geographically divided among the Swiss Plateau,
the Alps,
and the Jura, spanning a total area of 41,285 km2
(15,940 sq mi), and land area of 39,997 km2
(15,443 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the
territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8.5 million
is concentrated mostly on the plateau, where the largest cities and economic
centres are located, among them the two global cities
of Zürich
and Geneva
(ranked Alpha and Beta
respectively).
The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the late medieval
period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria
and Burgundy. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman
Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Federal
Charter of 1291 is considered the founding document of Switzerland which is
celebrated on Swiss National Day. Since the Reformation
of the 16th century, Switzerland has maintained a strong policy of armed
neutrality; it has not fought an international war since 1815 and
did not join the United Nations until 2002.
The first stamps used in Switzerland were issued by the cantons of Zürich
(1843), Geneva
(1843) and Basel
(1845) for their own use, with the first federal issues coming several years
later, on April 7, 1850. By March 19, 1798, the Helvetic Republic had come into
being; although it was not until September 1798 that the entire country was
conquered. According to Napoleon, the country was "liberated" to form
itself into a new State, which assumed the title of "Republique Helvetique
Une et Indivisible." And, the Republic was administratively reorganized
into twenty-two (22) Cantons. Later, that number was reduced to nineteen (19)
due to mergers and to some changes at the frontiers. In September 1798, all
postal mail was ordered to be "a natural and necessary property of the
state" or, in modern parlance, nationalization was ordered.
Swiss stamps are inscribed with the word Helvetia, rather
than "Schweiz", "Suisse" "Svizzera", or
"Svizra". With four official languages-German, French, Italian, and
Romansch. The Swiss would have had to put all four languages on each stamp,
quite a problem to overcome with such limited space on a stamp. Switzerland is
officially known by the Latin name "Confoederatio
Helvetica" for historical reasons. "Confoederatio"
means "confederation" and "Helvetica" is a reference to the
Helvetians, a Celtic tribe that lived in Switzerland when the Romans invaded.
The English equivalent of the Latin name is "Swiss Confederation."
Hence, the use of Helvetia on stamps.
The first Swiss stamps were those of the Cantons (States)
of Zurich, Geneva, and Basel. These early Swiss stamps have another
distinction. They were also the 3rd (1843), 4th (1843), and 5th (1845) adhesive
postage stamp issuing nations of the World. Unfortunately, the Cantonal postage
stamp issues are tremendously rare today.
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