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Image of the Swiss Alps, covered in snow during the daytime. The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, [1] represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main physiographic regions.
Most of the 26 canton high points are located in the Swiss Alps. Others (with lower altitudes), are located in the Jura Mountains. The 14 lower summits (up to the Säntis) are within the hiking trail network. The ascent of the 11 higher summits involves rock climbing or glacier touring. Canton high points are shown as red dots.
The Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area (officially Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch) is located in south-western Switzerland between the cantons of Bern and Valais.It is a mountainous region in the easternmost side of the Bernese Alps, containing the northern wall of Jungfrau and Eiger, and the largest glaciated area in western Eurasia, comprising the Aletsch Glacier.
While smaller groups within the Alps may be easily defined by the passes on either side, defining larger units can be problematic. A traditional divide exists between the Western Alps and the Eastern Alps, which uses the Splügen Pass (Italian: Passo dello Spluga) on the Swiss-Italian border, together with the Rhine to the north and Lake Como in the south as the defining features.
The Swiss Alps occupy the southern part of Switzerland. They were formed by the thrust of the African plate, which also caused the formation of the Jura in the north-east and the plateau between the two massifs. In terms of area the Alps constitute about 60% of the country, the plateau 30% and the Jura 10%.
Bern in 2006 decided a reduction of its 26 districts to 10 districts to be overseen by 5 regions, which took effect in 2010. St. Gallen, Solothurn and Lucerne removed the administrative role, but retained districts for elections. In 2008 Vaud decided on a reduction from 19 to 10 districts, followed by Thurgau which combined eight into five in 2012.
However, the Siegfried Map offered greater precision than the Dufour Map, by using a scale of 1:25,000 for the Swiss Plateau, the French Prealps, the Jura Mountains and southern Ticino, and a scale of 1:50,000 for other mountain regions and the Swiss Alps.
List of towns and cities [ edit ] This is an alphabetical list of towns or cities (these English terms can be used interchangeably, as there is no official differentiation), which follows the FSO's definition ( German : Statistische Städte 2012 , French : Villes statistiques 2012 ), as well as places with historic town rights (h) and/or market ...