People have always been fascinated by extreme values and records. As a result, some extreme values are considered general knowledge, but many records are rather unknown. Today, various media and advertising are helping record values to become more widespread.

Environment and geography
Virtually all Swiss citizens know that the highest point in Switzerland is the Dufourspitze in the Monte Rosa massif at 4,633 m above sea level. Many people also know that the Aletsch Glacier, with a current length of 23.5 km, is the largest glacier in Switzerland. La Brévine in the Neuchâtel Jura ("Siberia of Switzerland”) is the coldest place in Switzerland, with a lowest temperature of -41.8° C recorded on 12 January 1987. But where is the lowest point in Switzerland and what place has the highest annual rainfall? Where was the highest single-day snowfall measured? Answers to these questions can be found on the map.

Infrastructure and economy
The oldest section of motorway runs from Horw to Lucerne and the oldest railway line from 1874, the Swiss Northern Railway ("Spanish-Brötli-Bahn"), runs from Baden to Zurich. The first major Swiss bank was the Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (Swiss Credit Institution), which was founded in 1856. But it is not the oldest financial institution in Switzerland, as the bank Rahn and Bodmer of Zürich, existed already in 1795. Switzerland's largest employer is Nestlé, whose headquarters is located in Vevey on Lake Geneva. The food company employs approximately 335,000 people worldwide. Cailler, the oldest chocolate factory in Switzerland since 1819, is also located in western Switzerland.

Society and culture
Canton Zurich has the highest population, with roughly 95 times more people than the most scarcely populated half-canton Appenzell Innerhoden. By far the highest population density is attributed to the half-canton Basel-Stadt, the lowest to canton Grisons. This is not surprising, however, because Basel-Stadt is also the smallest canton in terms of area, and Grisons the largest. Since the municipality merger of 2016, Scuol in Unterengadin is the largest municipality in Switzerland in terms of area. At 438 km², the area is even larger than the island state of Malta (316 km²). Switzerland also holds several sport records, such as the world's first miniature golf course, which was built in Ascona in 1954. In the cultural sector, the Lucerne Theatre, founded in 1838, is the oldest professional theatre.