Helvetia

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Helvetia

coin]] , in Basel

Basel

Basel is Switzerland's third most populous city . With 731,000 inhabitants in the tri-national metropolitan area , Basel is Switzerland's third-largest urban area....
]] Helvetia is the Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
name for an ancient region of central Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
occupying a plateau between the Alps

Swiss Alps

The Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position with the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....
and the Jura Mountains

Jura mountains

The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone River rivers and forming part of the drainage divide of each....
. Helvetia corresponded roughly to the western part of modern Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
, and the name is still used poetically.

In the first century BC, a Celt

Celt

Celts , is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic languages. The term is also used in a wider sense to describe the Modern Celts of those peoples, notably those who participate in a Celtic culture....
ic group known as the Helvetii

Helvetii

The Helvetii were a Celts tribe and the main occupants of the Swiss plateau in the 1st century BC. They are prominently featured in Julius Caesar Commentarii de Bello Gallico....
migrated from Southern Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
to Switzerland

Switzerland

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Encyclopedia

coin]] , in Basel

Basel

Basel is Switzerland's third most populous city . With 731,000 inhabitants in the tri-national metropolitan area , Basel is Switzerland's third-largest urban area....
]] Helvetia is the Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
name for an ancient region of central Europe

Europe

Swiss Alps

Jura mountains

Switzerland

Celt

Helvetii

Germany

Switzerland

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
. They were pushed back into Switzerland by Caesar

Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
's army in 58 BC. The Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
founded its province of Helvetia in current Switzerland in 15 BC.

Helvetia was a peaceful and prosperous region for many years. Then, in AD 260

260

Events...
, the Germans

Germany

Franks

The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
and the Germans for many years until the Swiss Confederation was founded on August 1, 1291.

Switzerland continues to use the name in its Latin form when it is inappropriate or inconvenient to use any or all of its four official languages. Thus, the name appears on postage stamps, coins and other uses; the full name, Confœderatio Helvetica, is abbreviated for uses such as the ccTLD, .ch

.ch

.ch is the Internet country code top-level domain for Switzerland. It is administered by SWITCH Information Technology Services.The ".ch" domain does not come from the name for Switzerland in any of its national languages; "die Schweiz", "Suisse", "Svizzera" or "Svizra"....
.

Notably, translations of the term Helvetia still serve as the name for Switzerland in languages such as Irish

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people....
, in which the country is known as An Elvéis, Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
, in which it is known as ??ßet?a (Elvetia) and Romanian

Romanian language

Romanian or Daco-Romanian ; self-designation: limba rom?na, ) is a Romance languages spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova....
- Elvetia.

National symbols

Helvetia is the female personification

National personification

A national personification is an anthropomorphism of a nation; it can appear in both editorial cartoons and propaganda.Some early personifications in the Western world tended to be national manifestations of the majestic wisdom and war goddess Minerva/Athena, and often took the Latin name of the ancient Roman province....
of Switzerland. Sometimes called the mother of the Swiss nation, she is typically pictured in a flowing gown, with a spear and a shield emblazoned with the Swiss flag

Flag of Switzerland

File:Flag of Canton of Schwyz.svgFile:Swissflag.JPGThe flag of Switzerland consists of a red square with a bold, equilateral white cross in the center....
, and commonly with braided

Hairstyle

A hairstyle, hairdo, or haircut refers to a styling of head hair. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics....
hair, commonly with a wreath

Wreath

A wreath is a circle made of flowers, leaf and sometimes fruits that can be used as an ornament, hanging on a wall or door, or resting on a table....
as a symbol of Confederation.

Helvetia

National symbols

See also

External links