Did you know that the 225 residents of Bivio, canton of Graubünden, speak seven languages and dialects?

In the village of Bivio, canton of Graubünden, three languages have been spoken since the Middle Ages. In addition to the official language, Italian, most residents speak German and Romansch. Since the spoken German – just as the Italian – breaks up into several local varieties (i.e. standard German, “Bündnerdeutsch” and Zurich German) linguists have counted up to seven dialects.

Switzerland's four highest mountains are the Dufourspitze (4,634m), the Dom (4,545m), the Weisshorn (4,506m) and the Matterhorn (4,478m). Although Switzerland is renowned as a country full of mountains, the highest mountain in the Alps and western Europe is over the border in France - Mont Blanc, which stands at a height of 4809m. With the exception of the peaks in the Caucasus range, Mont Blanc is the highest summit in Europe.

The biggest underground lake in Europe is at St Léonard in the Valais canton. Tourists can take a comfortable boat ride even when it is pouring with rain outside in the 300m-long, 20m-wide and 10m-deep lake which was discovered by Jean-Jacques Pittard in 1943. The lake was opened to the public in 1949 and now a 40-seater boat allows visitors to take an unusual subterrannean cruise.

The highest-lying settlement in Europe is called Juf - a village inhabited throughout the year and found in Switzerland. Situated at a height of 2,126m, it is part of the Avers valley community in the canton of Graubunden. Six families live in the village, giving it a total population of 24. The Italian village of Le Baite, near Trepalle, has also claimed the title of Europe's highest village but most evidence still supports Juf's claim.

The Vienna Philharmonic is considered as one of the world's finest orchestras - in 2006 it was voted as Europe's best classical orchestra by leading journalists. Founded in 1842, when Otto Nicolai first picked musicians from the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, the Vienna Philharmonic first performed in March 1842, with subscription concerts being held since 1860. The orchestra has attracted some acclaimed conductors over the years including Karl Böhm, Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein. The Vienna Philharmonic now holds about ten subscription concerts a year plus the annual Nicolai Concert and the traditional New Year's Concert which is dedicated to the work of the Strauss dynasty.

The Sachertorte is Vienna's most famous culinary specialty. First devised in 1832, the original Sachertorte is probably the world's most famous chocolate cake and its recipe is a well guarded secret. Made of two layers of chocolate cake separated by apricot jam, it is covered with a thick, dark chocolate icing. The cake's creator Franz Sacher was a 16-year-old apprentice chef at the court of Count Metternich when he had his eureka moment. In 1876 his son Eduard Sacher opened the first Sacher restaurant and hotel. The original Sachertorte is only available at Hotel Sacher Wien, Hotel Sacher Salzburg, Café Sacher Innsbruck, Café Sacher Graz and at the Sacher shops in Bozen and at Vienna airport.

A total of 48 mountains in Switzerland have peaks over 4,000m (13,125 feet) above sea level. The most famous is the Matterhorn, which reaches for the sky at a height of 4,478m - although it is not the highest peak in Switzerland. The first men to reach the summit of the Matterhorn were a group of seven mountaineers on July 14, 1865, led by Edward Whymper from Great Britain. Four of these seven adventurers died on the way back down.

The Geneva-based World Economic Forum said that Switzerland was the most competitive of the top 125 world economic powers in a 2006 survey – and also praised Switzerland's capacity for innovation and its sophisticated business culture. The United States took sixth place and the UK tenth in the rankings. Switzerland generally seems to do well in opinion polls and surveys, as it also did in 2005 when it took eighth place in the World Competition Yearbook rankings. At that time, the US occupied the top position and the UK the 22nd.

Acclaimed Swiss film director Marc Forster has agreed to bring James Bond's next adventure to the big screen. Forster will direct the as-yet-unnamed film from a script which he will develop in collaboration with Oscar-winning screenwriter Paul Haggis, that stems from a draft by previous Bond collaborators. Forster is the son of a Swiss doctor and German architect, who was born in Germany in 1969 and grew up in Davos - in the east of Switzerland.

The Neusiedler See is one of Europe’s few steppe lakes - lakes which have no rivers flowing in or out. Straddling the border between with Hungary, the Neusiedler See is Austria’s largest lake covering 315km squared, 240km squared of which are in Austria. Mostly very shallow and largely surrounded by reed beds, the area enjoys a mild climate. The Neusiedler See-Seewinkel National Park was founded in 1993 and comprises the lake’s eastern and southern shores. The 300km squared nature reserve is Austria’s first cross-border national park and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.