Switzerland - Surface area (sq. km)

The value for Surface area (sq. km) in Switzerland was 41,290 as of 2018. As the graph below shows, over the past 57 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 41,290 in 2018 and a minimum value of 41,290 in 1961.

Definition: Surface area is a country's total area, including areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site.

See also:

Year Value
1961 41,290
1962 41,290
1963 41,290
1964 41,290
1965 41,290
1966 41,290
1967 41,290
1968 41,290
1969 41,290
1970 41,290
1971 41,290
1972 41,290
1973 41,290
1974 41,290
1975 41,290
1976 41,290
1977 41,290
1978 41,290
1979 41,290
1980 41,290
1981 41,290
1982 41,290
1983 41,290
1984 41,290
1985 41,290
1986 41,290
1987 41,290
1988 41,290
1989 41,290
1990 41,290
1991 41,290
1992 41,290
1993 41,290
1994 41,290
1995 41,290
1996 41,290
1997 41,290
1998 41,290
1999 41,290
2000 41,290
2001 41,290
2002 41,290
2003 41,290
2004 41,290
2005 41,290
2006 41,290
2007 41,290
2008 41,290
2009 41,290
2010 41,290
2011 41,290
2012 41,290
2013 41,290
2014 41,290
2015 41,290
2016 41,290
2017 41,290
2018 41,290

Development Relevance: Total surface area is particularly important for understanding an economy's agricultural capacity and the environmental effects of human activity. Innovations in satellite mapping and computer databases have resulted in more precise measurements of land and water areas. Population, surface area, income, and output are basic measures of the size of an economy. They also provide a broad indication of actual and potential resources. Land area is therefore used as one of the major indicator to normalize other indicators.

Limitations and Exceptions: The data are collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations through annual questionnaires. The FAO tries to impose standard definitions and reporting methods, but complete consistency across countries and over time is not possible. The data collected from official national sources through the questionnaire are supplemented with information from official secondary data sources. The secondary sources cover official country data from websites of national ministries, national publications and related country data reported by various international organizations.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Total land area includes inland water bodies such as major rivers and lakes. Variations from year to year may be due to updated or revised data rather than to change in area.

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Environment Indicators

Sub-Topic: Land use