Switzerland vs United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates is 2.0 times larger than Switzerland — 83,600 against 41,277 km². United Arab Emirates is 1.3 times more populous than Switzerland — 11,513,149 against 9,092,436 people.

Side by side

Population density

Switzerland is 1.6 times more densely populated than United Arab Emirates — 220 against 138 people per km². Density is where area and population interact, and it often reverses the impression the headline figures give — a large country with a small population can feel emptier than a small crowded one by an enormous margin.

Practical differences

• Different currencies: the Swiss franc and the United Arab Emirates dirham.
• Different continents — Europe and Asia.

Switzerland

The most mountainous country in Europe: the Alps cover about sixty percent of it and it has 48 peaks over 4,000 m. The Gotthard Base Tunnel, 57 km long, is the longest and deepest rail tunnel in the world. Switzerland has four official languages and about 1,500 lakes.

United Arab Emirates

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is 828 m, the tallest building in the world, and has been since 2010. Most of the country is desert; the Liwa Oasis on the edge of the Empty Quarter carries dunes over 250 m high. Jebel Jais in the Hajar mountains reaches 1,934 m and sees occasional snow.

Neutral facts only. Nothing here addresses politics, government, economics or which country is preferable in any respect — population is the one figure that dates, and it carries its year.