Guide to Switzerland Introduction Background: The Swiss Confederation was founded in 1291 as a defensive alliance among three cantons. In succeeding years, other localities joined the original three. The Swiss Confederation secured its independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1499. Switzerland's sovreignty and neutrality have long been honored by the major European powers, and the country was not involved in either of the two World Wars. The political and economic integration of Europe over the past half century, as well as Switzerland's role in many UN and international organizations, has strengthened Switzerland's ties with its neighbors. However, the country did not officially become a UN member until 2002. Switzerland remains active in many UN and international organizations, but retains a strong commitment to neutrality.
Geography Location: Central Europe, east of France, north of Italy
Geographic coordinates: 47 00 N, 8 00 E
Map references: Europe
Area: total
Area - comparative: slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: temperate, but varies with altitude; cold, cloudy, rainy/snowy winters; cool to warm, cloudy, humid summers with occasional showers
Terrain: mostly mountains (Alps in south, Jura in northwest) with a central plateau of rolling hills, plains, and large lakes
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: hydropower potential, timber, salt
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 250 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: avalanches, landslides, flash floods
Environment - current issues: air pollution from vehicle emissions and open-air burning; acid rain; water pollution from increased use of agricultural fertilizers; loss of biodiversity
Environment - international agreements: party to
Geography - note: landlocked; crossroads of northern and southern Europe; along with southeastern France, northern Italy, and southwestern Austria, has the highest elevations in the Alps
People Population: 7,489,370 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 0.49% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 9.77 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 8.48 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 3.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 1.42 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.4% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 13,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (2003 est.)
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: German 65%, French 18%, Italian 10%, Romansch 1%, other 6%
Religions: Roman Catholic 41.8%, Protestant 35.3%, Orthodox 1.8%, other Christian 0.4%, Muslim 4.3%, other 1%, unspecified 4.3%, none 11.1% (2000 census)
Languages: German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%, Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census) note
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
Government type: formally a confederation, but similar in structure to a federal republic
Capital: Bern
Administrative divisions: 26 cantons (cantons, singular - canton in French; cantoni, singular - cantone in Italian; kantone, singular - kanton in German); Aargau, Appenzell Ausser-Rhoden, Appenzell Inner-Rhoden, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Geneve, Glarus, Graubunden, Jura, Luzern, Neuchatel, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Sankt Gallen, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Thurgau, Ticino, Uri, Valais, Vaud, Zug, Zurich
Independence: 1 August 1291 (founding of the Swiss Confederation)
National holiday: Founding of the Swiss Confederation, 1 August (1291)
Constitution: revision of Constitution of 1874 approved by the Federal Parliament 18 December 1998, adopted by referendum 18 April 1999, officially entered into force 1 January 2000
Legal system: civil law system influenced by customary law; judicial review of legislative acts, except with respect to federal decrees of general obligatory character; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly or Bundesversammlung (in German), Assemblee Federale (in French), Assemblea Federale (in Italian) consists of the Council of States or Standerat (in German), Conseil des Etats (in French), Consiglio degli Stati (in Italian) (46 seats - members serve four-year terms) and the National Council or Nationalrat (in German), Conseil National (in French), Consiglio Nazionale (in Italian) (200 seats - members are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms) elections
Judicial branch: Federal Supreme Court (judges elected for six-year terms by the Federal Assembly)
Political parties and leaders: Green Party (Grune Partei der Schweiz or Grune, Parti Ecologiste Suisse or Les Verts, Partito Ecologista Svizzero or I Verdi, Partida Ecologica Svizra or La Verda) [Ruth GENNER]; Christian Democratic People's Party (Christichdemokratische Volkspartei der Schweiz or CVP, Parti Democrate-Chretien Suisse or PDC, Partito Democratico-Cristiano Popolare Svizzero or PDC, Partida Cristiandemocratica dalla Svizra or PCD) [Doris LEUTHARD, president]; Radical Free Democratic Party (Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei der Schweiz or FDP, Parti Radical-Democratique Suisse or PRD, Partitio Liberal-Radicale Svizzero or PLR) [Marianne KLEINER-SCHLAEPFER, president]; Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei der Schweiz or SPS, Parti Socialist Suisse or PSS, Partito Socialista Svizzero or PSS, Partida Socialdemocratica de la Svizra or PSS) [Hans-Juerg FEHR, president]; Swiss People's Party (Schweizerische Volkspartei or SVP, Union Democratique du Centre or UDC, Unione Democratica de Centro or UDC, Uniun Democratica dal Center or UDC) [Ueli MAURER, president]; and other minor parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: ACCT, AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EFTA, ESA, FAO, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUC, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
Flag description: red square with a bold, equilateral white cross in the center that does not extend to the edges of the flag
Economy Economy - overview: Switzerland is a peaceful, prosperous, and stable modern market economy with low unemployment, a highly skilled labor force, and a per capita GDP larger than that of the big Western European economies. The Swiss in recent years have brought their economic practices largely into conformity with the EU's to enhance their international competitiveness. Switzerland remains a safe haven for investors, because it has maintained a degree of bank secrecy and has kept up the franc's long-term external value. Reflecting the anemic economic conditions of Europe, GDP growth dropped in 2001 to about 0.8%, to 0.2% in 2002, and to -0.3% in 2003, with a small rise to 1.8% in 2004. Even so, unemployment has remained at less than half the EU average.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $251.9 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 1.8% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $33,800 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 3.77 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 4.6%, industry 26.3%, services 69.1% (1998)
Unemployment rate: 3.4% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 33.1 (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 0.9% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 20.4% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Public debt: 57.2% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: grains, fruits, vegetables; meat, eggs
Industries: machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision instruments
Industrial production growth rate: 4.7% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 63.47 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 54.53 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 32.3 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 27.8 billion kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 290,400 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: 10,420 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports: 289,500 bbl/day (2001)
Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 3.093 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 3.093 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Current account balance: $40.95 billion (2004 est.)
Exports: $130.7 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery, chemicals, metals, watches, agricultural products
Exports - partners: Germany 20.2%, US 10.5%, France 8.7%, Italy 8.3%, UK 5.1%, Spain 4% (2004)
Imports: $121.1 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery, chemicals, vehicles, metals; agricultural products, textiles
Imports - partners: Germany 32.8%, Italy 11.3%, France 9.9%, US 5.2%, Netherlands 5%, Austria 4.3% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $69.58 billion (2003)
Debt - external: $NA (2000)
Economic aid - donor: ODA, $1.1 billion (1995)
Currency (code): Swiss franc (CHF)
Currency code: CHF
Exchange rates: Swiss francs per US dollar - 1.2435 (2004), 1.3467 (2003), 1.5586 (2002), 1.6876 (2001), 1.6888 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 5.419 million (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 6.172 million (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 4, FM 113 (plus many low power stations), shortwave 2 (1998)
Radios: 7.1 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 115 (plus 1,919 repeaters) (1995)
Televisions: 3.31 million (1997)
Internet country code: .ch
Internet hosts: 667,275 (2004)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 44 (Switzerland and Liechtenstein) (2000)
Internet users: 2.556 million (2002)
Transportation Railways: total
Highways: total
Waterways: 65 km note
Pipelines: gas 1,831 km; oil 94 km; refined products 7 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Basel
Merchant marine: total
Airports: 65 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total
Heliports: 2 (2004 est.)
Military Military branches: Land Forces, Swiss Air Force (Schweizer Luftwaffe)
Military service age and obligation: the Swiss Confederation states that "every Swiss male is obligated to do military service"; every Swiss male has to serve for at least 260 days in the armed forces; 19 years of age for compulsory military service; 17 years of age for voluntary military service; conscripts receive 15 weeks of compulsory training, followed by 10 intermittent recalls for training over the next 22 years; women are accepted on a voluntary basis, but are not drafted (2005)
Manpower available for military service: males age 19-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 19-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $2.548 billion (FY01)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1% (FY01)
Transnational Issues Disputes - international: none
Illicit drugs: a major international financial center vulnerable to the layering and integration stages of money laundering; despite significant legislation and reporting requirements, secrecy rules persist and nonresidents are permitted to conduct business through offshore entities and various intermediaries; transit country for and consumer of South American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
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