Switzerland (German: Schweiz[note 3] [ˈʃvaɪts]  French: Suisse [sɥis]  Italian: Svizzera [ˈzvit͡sːera]  Romansh: Svizra [ˈʒviːtsrɐ] or [ˈʒviːtsʁːɐ])  officially the Swiss Confederation (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica  hence its abbreviation CH)  is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons  with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities