Switzerland is located in the center of Europe and shares its 1,899-km long boundary with five neighboring nations. These common boundary segments add up to 572 km with France, 362 km with Germany, 180 km with Austria, 41 km with the Principality of Liechtenstein, and 744 km with Italy.
As in any country, it is of primary importance to know the course of its sovereign territory – even in the age of globalization and the European Union.
The national boundary serves simultaneously as a cantonal, district, municipal and private boundary and therefore the definition must be absolutely identically for all types of boundaries in the Cadastral Survey. This also holds true for the neighboring countries.
The more than 7000 markers along the Swiss boundary are regularly inspected, maintained and restored. Many of these are small historical monuments which were established beginning already in the 16th century. They are an integral part of our cultural heritage and as such witnesses of our history.