The National Flag of Switzerland
Switzerland is a landlocked country in Western Europe, it shares a land border with Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy and France.
The official name of Switzerland is Confoederatio Helvetica. It is Latin and means Swiss Confederation. That is why name of the country is often abbreviated with letters CH.
The largest city in Switzerland is Zürich.
Switzerland has 26 cantons. They are the federal states of the Swiss confederation. They vary greatly in size, population and character. For instance, the canton of Geneva comprises just one city, but the canton of Uri is entirely mountains and valleys. And, the population of the Zurich canton is over a million while the people of Appenzell Inner-Rhodes would fit into a football stadium.
Switzerland has no single Head of State. Instead it has a seven-member executive council which serves as the Swiss collective head of state.
With a high quality of life, the Swiss cities of Zürich, Geneva and Bern regularly rank in the top 10 most livable cities in the world.
Switzerland has a population of about 8 million. About 5 million of them live in the Swiss Plateau in between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Alps. All the larger Swiss cities lie on the plateau,
including the city of Zurich, which is Switzerland's largest with a population of 376,990. The canton (federal state) of Zurich is the most densely populated canton in Switzerland, with 1,242,000 inhabitants in total.
Foreigners account for around 23 percent of the population, however, in February 2014, Swiss voters narrowly passed through a controversial anti-immigration initiative. It aims to impose limits on the number of foreigners allowed into Switzerland and may signal an end to the country’s free movement accord with the European Union. However, international criticism means it may have difficulties in implementation.
The number of elderly people is increasing. In 2012, 17 percent of the population was 65 or over. As at 2012, life expectancy at birth is 80.5 years for men and 84.7 years for women.
Around 6 percent of the population over 65 years old or more live in a care or nursing home.
Switzerland's climate is not all about snowy mountains. There's no excessive heat, cold or humidity, and varies according to region. In the north, the climate is moderate, with cold winters and warm summers; temperatures drop in the mountainous east; the west has a mild climate; while in the south it's so warm that palm trees line the shore of Lake Lugano. As a guide, expect daytime temperatures from 18–28°C (65–85°F) during July and August, in January and February -2–7°C (28-45°F) and in spring and autumn/fall 8–15°C (46–59°F).
The Swiss currency is not the euro. Switzerland uses the Swiss franc (CHF). As at October 2013, one Swiss franc is worth around EUR 0.81/USD 1.10/GBP 0.68.
All men in Switzerland are required to keep the firearms they are issued during their military service at home even after they leave the military to prevent any home break ins and to have the countries men ready to mobilize in the event of a threat.
Switzerland has one of the lowest crime rates of all industrialized countries in spite having liberal gun laws (2.3–4.5 million guns in a population of 8 million). In 2010, there were only 0.5 gun murders per 100,000 people compared to 5 per 100,000 in the US.
People marry relatively late in Switzerland – men at 31.8 years and women at 29.5 years. The divorce rate is around 43 percent.
The average number of children per woman is around 1.5.
In 2013, around 79 percent of the population aged 15 to 64 had a paid job.
Switzerland lags behind most Western European countries in many aspects of sex equality . Less than 20 percent of all national decision-taking posts are held by women and despite a commitment to equal pay for men and women, there is a gender pay gap of 17 percent.
There are large differences between men and women in the labor market . As of 2013, 85 percent of men and only 41 percent of women work full-time.
Women did not get the right to vote at federal elections until 1971. They are still under-represented in political life.
Swiss women are among the oldest in Europe when they have their first child at an average of 30.4 years old.
The Swiss are an educated population. In 2013, 86 per cent of adults aged 25–64 had the equivalent of a high school diploma.
Once married, many women do not work because childcare is not readily available. Children come home from school for lunch, shops close at 6pm, and in 2013, voters rejected an amendment which would make it easier for parents to combine work and family.
Living spaces (homes, apartments, etc.) per person is generous. A 2000 census showed the average figure to be 44sqm (474 sq ft).
Tobacco consumption is widespread. In 2010, 21 percent of men and 17 percent of women smoked every day. However, it is in decline because of an awareness of health risks and rising prices.
Switzerland has one of the highest rates of cannabis use in the world. It's estimated that about 600,000 users get through 100 tons of hashish and marijuana each year.
The Swiss enjoy drinking alcohol. in 2012, the Swiss consumed 56.5 litres of beer and 36 litres of wine per person. A lot of the latter is homegrown and only about 2 percent of Swiss wine is exported to other countries.
Switzerland has four official national languages. They are French, German, Italian and Rhaeto-Romantsch. The latter has Latin roots.
English is becoming increasingly popular in Switzerland. Proficiency in English is increasing at the expense of the four national languages.
Most people in Switzerland are Christians. 42 percent are Roman Catholic and 35 percent Protestant, 4 percent of the population are Muslim, 0.3 percent are Buddhist, 0.2 percent are Jewish, and 11 percent have no religious affiliation.
Switzerland was the birthplace of Le Corbusier. He was born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (1887-1965) and is recognized as one of the most influential architects of the 20th century.
Switzerland is widely recognized as an international research center with both the private and public sector strongly promoting science and technology.
Switzerland's economy is based on highly skilled workers in specialist areas such as microtechnology, hi-tech, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, as well as banking and insurance.
Switzerland is the best place in the world to be born according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) 2013 Quality of Life Index, a survey which takes 11 statistically significant factors into account, e.g. how happy people say they are, crime levels, trust in public institutions, climate, employment, gender equality, quality of family life and material well-being.
As from October, 2013, the possession of marijuana has been decriminalized. Anyone over 18 caught with up to 10g of the drug will pay an on-the-spot fine of CHF 100 but there won't be any formal legal proceedings.
Chocolate is a major Swiss export. Eighteen Swiss chocolate companies (including made 172,376 tons of chocolate in 2012.
Swiss people consume the most chocolate per capita in the world.
More than half of Swiss domestic electricity is produced by 556 hydroelectric power plants some 19 million gigawatt hours a year. Hydropower is the country's most important renewable energy.
CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research) is the world's largest particle physics laboratory . It is based in Geneva and straddling the Swiss/French border. Physicists won the 2013 Nobel prize in physics for their work on the theory of the Higgs boson, one of the building blocks of the universe, which was finally discovered at CERN's Large Hadron Collider in 2012.
Apart from occupation by Napoleon's France between 1798 and 1815 Switzerland has been an independent country since the year 1499.
For over 190 years Switzerland has been a neutral country during wartimes.
There are more than 1500 lakes in Switzerland containing around 6% of Europe's fresh water stocks.
The largest of these lakes are Lake Geneva, Lake Constance and Lake Maggiore.
There are 208 mountains over 3,000m high with 24 of them over 4,000m. The highest is Monte Rosa (Dufoursptiz) at 4,634m, situated on the Swiss/Italian border. Encompassing part of the Alps that run through Europe, Switzerland is a very mountainous country. The most famous mountain in Switzerland.
Alpine symbolism is a main national identity of Switzerland. Traditionally, farmers herded stock through the alpine hills with folk art, the alphorn and yodel music, cultural traditions. Today alpine areas have a strong ski resort culture in winter, and a hiking and mountain biking culture in summer.
The annual CO2 emissions per capita in Switzerland is around 5-6 metric tons. That is astounding efficiency for a developed nation. Compare that to 18-19 for the United States and 9-10 for Germany, 8-10 for Japan in recent years.
The individual recycling rate of all recyclable materials in Switzerland is above 94% for glass, 91% for aluminum, 85% for paper and cardboard, 80%for PET plastic, and 69% for batteries as of 2010.
Traditional Swiss sports include Schwingen (wrestling), Hornussen, (a cross between baseball and golf) and Steinstossen (stone put).
Switzerland remained neutral during World War II. Both the Allies and Nazi Germany generally respected Swiss neutrality. Because of its neutrality, thousands of people deposited money in Swiss banks. When the depositors died, their relatives were denied any access to their funds, funds off of which the banks continued to make interest. The banks also funneled hundreds of millions into Nazi Germany.
One of Switzerland’s main defense strategies is to demolish every main access into the country via roads, bridges, and railways. There are at least 3,000 locations currently prepared to blow at a moment’s notice in case of an attack.
Switzerland has enough nuclear fallout shelters to accommodate its entire human population.
The average salary of a teacher in Switzerland in 2010 was $112000 per year.
In Switzerland, it is illegal to deny that the holocaust happened.
In Switzerland, a group of citizens may challenge a law passed by Parliament, if they are able to gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days. A national vote is scheduled where voters decide by a simple majority whether to accept or reject the law.
Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland. (It is also legal in Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and in three U.S. states of: Oregon, Washington, and Montana.)
The first youth hostel was established to protect the travelers from bandits and has been in operation in the Swiss Alps for nearly 1,200 years.
The Dalai Lama owns the smallest vineyard in the world and it is located in Switzerland. It consists of only three vines and has an area of 1.67 meters squared.
The country of Liechtenstein is so small that in 2007, Swiss troops accidentally invaded it after getting lost in a rainstorm.
In Switzerland, it is illegal to keep just one guinea pig. You got to have them in pairs.
The Swiss Guards who protect the Vatican, in the Vatican City are dual citizens and the only Swiss citizens allowed to serve in foreign armies.