Central Europe

Central Europe

see Italy
capital: Rome
area: 301,230 sq.km
pop: 57.6m (2000)
govt: republic
currency: euro
language: Italian, German, French
religion: Catholic 85%
travel:
- visas - Australian passport holders do not need a visa for tourist trips to Italy less than 90 days in 6mths (2005)
- trains: Trenitalia (Italian National Railways)
geography:
- "boot-shaped" peninsula arising from the Swiss Alps & the Dolomites mountain range to its north where it borders with Monaco, France, Switzerland, Austria & Slovenia
- to its east is the shallow, relatively polluted Adriatic Sea, to its west is the Tyrrhenian Sea with its islands Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily
- on the "sole" of the boot to its south-east is the Ionian Sea, separating it from Greece
- islands:
  - Sicily

capital: Valletta
area: 316 sq.km
pop: 0.4m (2000)
govt: parliamentary democracy
currency: Maltese lira
language: Maltese, English
religion: Catholic 98%
geography:
- small archipelago in central Mediterranean Sea, 93km south of Sicily, 352km north of Tripoli & 288km east of Tunis.
- rocky plateau with highest point 250m
- islands: Malta, Gozo, Cosimo

see more info here: Switzerland
see maps here
capital: Bern
financial capital: Zurich.
area: 41,293 sq.km
pop: 7.3m (2000)
govt: federal republic
currency: Swiss franc
language: German, French, Italian, Romansch
religion: Catholic 49%, Protestant 48%
geography:
weather:
- 10 day forecast for Delemont in the NW, lying in a valley at 1400' above sea level near peaks reaching 4500' - in Summer, overnight minimums 7-13degC, maximums 16-24degC.
travel:
- Aust. Swiss Embassy travel info / Australian passport holders do not need a visa for tourist trips < 90 days in 6mths (2005)
- air: Swiss Air / Air France - Berne, Geneva or Zurich airport
  - Singapore Airlines has flights to Zurich but not Berne, and do not allow baggage check-in the day prior at railway stations as do many other airlines to save time.
  - Swiss Air fly from Zurich to Singapore, Hong Kong and then use another carrier to get you back to Melbourne
  - train from Zurich airport (Zürich-Flughafen):
    - 10min to Zurich HB central station & run every 10min
    - every 30min to Berne, Basel, St. Gallen, Lucerne, Constance, Geneva, Lausanne, Zug.
- rail: Swiss rail SBB

capital: Bratislava
area: 48,845 sq.km
pop: 5.4m (2000)
govt: republic (separated from Czech Republic in 1993 when known as Czechoslovakia)
currency: koruna
language: Slovak, Hungarian
religion: Catholic 60%, atheist 10%, Protestant 8%
geography: