Switzerland
Switzerland is one of the 193 UN member states, in Western Europe. UN Tourism counted 11.8 million international arrivals there in 2019, more visited than 80% of the 199 places with figures, so its stamp in Globestamp is printed in Foil.
- International arrivals
- 11.8 millionin 2019, UN Tourism
- Rank by visitors
- 41st of 199most visited first
- Stamp finish
- Foilrarer than 20%
- Area
- 41,328 km² (15,957 sq mi)
- Population
- 8.6 millionNatural Earth estimate
- Cantons
- 26in Globestamp’s regions layer
- Airports
- 5with scheduled flights
- World Heritage Sites
- 9on Globestamp’s list
Does Switzerland count as a country?
Yes. Switzerland is one of the 193 UN member states, so every common list counts it: the UN’s 193, Globestamp’s 250 and the Travelers’ Century Club’s 330.
| List | Counts Switzerland? |
|---|---|
| UN member states (193) | Yes, a member |
| Globestamp’s countries and territories (250) | Yes |
| Travelers’ Century Club (330) | Yes, as Switzerland |
| European Union | No |
| Schengen area | Yes, since 12 December 2008 |
The Switzerland stamp
Every country in Globestamp has its own stamp, drawn after a real entry stamp. Its finish shows how few travelers get there. Switzerland’s is Foil: a hot-stamped foil block in the ink’s own colour, the finish for places with 6 to 15 million visitors a year. With 11.8 million international arrivals in 2019, Switzerland is more visited than 80% of the 199 places with figures. See every stamp on the stamp wall, or the rarest on the least-visited countries.
What counts as a visit to Switzerland
The common rule among travelers is that you set foot there: an airport layover usually doesn’t count, and a port where you went ashore does. Globestamp counts Switzerland when one of your photos was taken on its ground, or just off its coast; a photo taken from a plane never counts. Photos only at an airport make a transit stamp in lighter ink, counted only if you count layovers. Read more in how to count the countries you’ve visited.
Places in Switzerland you can collect
Under the country itself, Globestamp keeps layers of places on your globe, and a photo taken at one ticks it. These are the ones it knows in Switzerland, from 9 World Heritage Sites.
World Heritage Sites 9
Monte San Giorgio (2003) · Abbey of Saint Gall (1983) · Lavaux (2007) · Saint John Abbey (1983) · Glarus thrust (2008) · Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area (2001) · Old City of Bern (1983) · Three Castles of Bellinzona (2000) · La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle, Watchmaking Town Planning (2009). On the bucket list →
National parks 1
Swiss National Park. On the bucket list →
Famous landmarks 1
Matterhorn. On the bucket list →
Ski resorts 45
Davos · St. Moritz · Zermatt · Grindelwald · Lauterbrunnen · Andermatt and 39 more. On the bucket list →
Wine regions 9
Château de Glérolles · Châtelard Castle with fountain · Château with Vineyard Outbuildings · Mestral Château · Duillier Castle · Former charterhouse La Lance and 3 more. On the bucket list →
Theme parks 5
Jungfrau Park · Conny-Land · Happyland · Alpamare · Heididorf. On the bucket list →
Zoos and aquariums 23
Basel Zoo · Zürich Zoo · Knie's Kinderzoo · Tierpark Bern and 19 more. On the bucket list →
Botanical gardens 15
Geneva Botanic Garden · Old Botanical Garden, Zurich · Botanical Garden of the University of Zurich · University of Basel Botanical Garden and 11 more. On the bucket list →
Science museums and planetariums 86
Natural History Museum of Geneva · Swiss Museum of Transport · Natural History Museum of Basel · Basel Historical Museum and 82 more. On the bucket list →
Largest cities
| City | People (urban area) |
|---|---|
| Geneva | 1,240,000 |
| Zürich | 1,108,000 |
| Basel | 830,000 |
| Bern | 275,329 |
| Lausanne | 265,702 |
| Luzern | 250,000 |
| Lugano | 105,388 |
| Biel | 78,708 |
Airports
Switzerland has 5 airports with scheduled flights, 2 of them large. Each is a dot on Globestamp’s airports layer, and every flight you log adds to how far you’ve flown (try the flight distance calculator).
26 cantons to fill in
Globestamp goes deeper than countries: its regions layer splits Switzerland into 26 cantons (Natural Earth’s first-level divisions), and each one fills in when a photo was taken there.
All 26
Aargau · Appenzell Ausserrhoden · Appenzell Innerrhoden · Basel-Landschaft · Basel-Stadt · Bern · Fribourg · Geneva · Glarus · Grisons · Jura · Lucerne · Neuchâtel · Nidwalden · Obwalden · Schaffhausen · Schwyz · Solothurn · St. Gallen · Thurgau · Ticino · Uri · Valais · Vaud · Zug · Zürich
Questions people ask
Is Switzerland a country?
Yes. Switzerland is one of the 193 UN member states, so every common list counts it: the UN’s 193, Globestamp’s 250 and the Travelers’ Century Club’s 330.
How many tourists visit Switzerland a year?
UN Tourism (via the World Bank) counted 11,818,000 international arrivals in Switzerland in 2019, the 41st most of the 199 places with figures. Countries count arrivals in different ways (some include day-trippers and cruise passengers), so treat it as a rough rank rather than an exact number of tourists.
How rare is a Switzerland stamp in Globestamp?
It is printed in Foil, the finish for places with 6 to 15 million visitors a year, rarer than 20% of the places with figures. The fewer travelers a place receives, the rarer its finish, from plain Ink to Mythic.
Does Switzerland count for the Travelers’ Century Club?
Yes. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “Switzerland”, one of its 330 destinations.
Places as rare as Switzerland
Near Switzerland
Sources
- Countries, cities and regions: Natural Earth 10m admin-0 (public domain); lists as of October 2026.
- Visitors: UN Tourism via the World Bank, ST.INT.ARVL (International tourism, number of arrivals), CC BY 4.0, data updated 2026-10-08. Each country's latest year before 2020. Countries count visitors differently; use as a rough rank.
- World Heritage Sites, parks, landmarks and the bucket-list places: Wikidata (CC0), as compiled in the app, October 2026.
- Airports: OurAirports (public domain), airports with scheduled service.
- Travelers’ Century Club: the club’s list of 330 destinations, as of January 2022.