Glaciers and divisions and regions

There are more than 3000 km squared of glaciers in Switzerland. Many of the Swiss glaciers are slowly decreasing in size. The Aletsch glacier consists of 27 billion tons of ice and it is the largest glacier of the Alps. The entire region is a habitat for rare animal and plant species. A cable car offers a great view of the winding upper part of the glacier. A lake called Lake Marjelen which is fed by meltwater from the glacier itself which lies at the corner of the ice flow. The glaciers in Switzerland are formed like any other glaciers in the world. They form by constant snowfall compressing over time to form ice. Switzerland has lost many of its beautiful glaciers to a rise in the earths average temperature and plucking and abrasion that happens beneath the glaciers surface.

Switzerland is the oldest federal country. Federal means a country or system that is controlled by a central government. This small federal country only has four languages and two religions. Switzerland is divided into 7 regions and are further divided into 26 cantons. Each canton was independent and self-governing with its own army, boarder line and currency until the establishment of the Swiss federal state. This was formed by the Treaty of Westphalia in 1848. There are considerable differences between the individual cantons particularly in population and geographical area. An example of a region is Central Switzerland and it consists of six cantons they are called Uri, Schwyz, Obwaldon, Nidwalden, Lucerne and Zug.