Guides
Short, evergreen explainers for the Swiss address system. Each one corrects a common misunderstanding and proves the point with live data from official sources — every figure links to the page behind it.
- Addresses
How Swiss addresses are structured
Canton, municipality, locality, postal code — four different systems people mix up daily. Here is how they nest, with the live count at every level.
Read guide → - Postal codes
How Swiss postal codes work
A postal code is a sorting key introduced by Swiss Post in 1964, not a place. What the four digits mean, why codes cut across municipal boundaries, and the edge cases that explain the system.
Read guide → - Postal codes
A postal code is not a municipality
"My PLZ is my Gemeinde" is the most common Swiss address mistake. More than a third of postal codes cover several municipalities — we show exactly which ones.
Read guide → - Municipalities
Why the number of municipalities keeps falling
Switzerland once had around 3,000 municipalities and has far fewer today. Mergers are why — and yes, your address can change when they happen.
Read guide → - Municipalities
The BFS number — a municipality's real name
Names get changed and postal codes move, but the BFS number stays put. It is the key behind every dataset on this site.
Read guide → - Health insurance
Swiss health-insurance premiums: explained canton by canton
Premiums are set per canton and premium region, not per municipality. How the system works — with the average premium of all 26 cantons.
Read guide →