Switzerland

Switzerland's independence and neutrality have long been honored by the major European powers and Switzerland did not participate in either World War I or II. The political and economic integration of Europe since World War II may be rendering obsolete Switzerland's concern for neutrality.

• temperate, but varies with altitude;
• cold, cloudy, rainy/snowy winters;
• cool to warm, cloudy, humid summers with occasional showers

• air pollution from vehicle emissions and open-air burning;
• acid rain;
• water pollution from increased use of agricultural fertilizers;
• loss of biodiversity

• landlocked;
• crossroads of northern and southern Europe;
• along with southeastern France and northern Italy, contains the highest elevations in Europe

0-14 years:

17% (male 639,970; female 611,876)

15-64 years:

68% (male 2,509,988; female 2,417,580)

65 years and over:

15% (male 444,482; female 651,571) (1999 est.)

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.68 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

total population:

78.99 years

male:

75.83 years

female:

82.32 years (1999 est.)

noun:

Swiss (singular and plural)

adjective:

Swiss

conventional long form:

Swiss Confederation

conventional short form:

Switzerland

local long form:

Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft (German), Confederation Suisse (French), Confederazione Svizzera (Italian)

local short form:

Schweiz (German), Suisse (French), Svizzera (Italian)

• 26 cantons (cantons, singular--canton in French; cantoni, singular--cantone in Italian; kantone, singular--kanton in German);
• Aargau, Ausser-Rhoden, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Geneve, Glarus, Graubunden, Inner-Rhoden, Jura, Luzern, Neuchatel, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Sankt Gallen, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Thurgau, Ticino, Uri, Valais, Vaud, Zug, Zurich

• 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

chief of state:

• President Ruth DREIFUSS (since 1 January 1999);
• Vice President Adolf OGI (since 1 January 1999);
• note--the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government:

• President Ruth DREIFUSS (since 1 January 1999);
• Vice President Adolf OGI (since 1 January 1999);
• note--the president is both the chief of state and head of government

cabinet:

Federal Council or Bundesrat (in German), Conseil Federal (in French), Consiglio Federale (in Italian) elected by the Federal Assembly from among its own members for a four-year term

elections:

• president and vice president elected by the Federal Assembly from among the members of the Federal Council for one-year terms that run concurrently;
• election last held NA December 1998 (next to be held NA December 1999)

election results:

• Ruth DREIFUSS elected president;
• percent of Federal Assembly vote--Ruth DREIFUSS 75%;
• Adolf OGI elected vice president;
• percent of legislative vote --NA

Radical Free Democratic Party (Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei der Schweiz or FDP, Parti Radical-Democratique Suisse or PRD, Partitio Liberal-Radicale Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei der Schweiz or SPS, Parti Socialist Suisse or PSS, Partito Socialista Svizzero or PSS, Partida 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 president]; Swiss People's Party (Schweizerische Volkspartei or SVP, Union Democratique du Centre or UDC, Unione Democratica de Centro or Green Party (Grune Partei der Schweiz or Grune, Parti Ecologiste Suisse or Les Verts, Partito Ecologista Svizzero or I Verdi, Partida (Landesring der Unabhaengigen or LdU, Alliance des Independants or Party (Schweizer Demokraten or SD, Democrates Suisses or DS, Democratici Svizzeri or DS), Liberal Party (Liberale Partei der Schweiz or LPS, Parti Liberal Suisse or PLS, Partito Liberale Svizzero or PLS), Workers' Party (Parti Suisse du Travail or PST, Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz or PdAdS, Partito Svizzero del Lavoro or PSdL), Evangelical People's Party (Evangelische Volkspartei der Schweiz or EVP, Parti Evangelique Suisse or PEV, Partito Evangelico Svizzero or PEV), and the Union of Federal Democrats (Eidgenossisch-Demokratische Union or EDU, Union Democratique Federale or UDF, Unione Democratica Federale or UDF)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Alfred DEFAGO

chancery:

2900 Cathedral Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

consulate(s) general:

Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco

chief of mission:

Ambassador Madeleine May KUNIN

embassy:

Jubilaeumstrasse 93, 3005 Bern

mailing address:

use embassy street address

lowest 10%:

2.9%

highest 10%:

28.6% (1982)

total:

4,479 km (1,564 km double track)

standard gauge:

3,304 km 1.435-m gauge (3,288 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

1,165 km 1.000-m gauge (1,057 km electrified); 10 km 0.750-m or 0.800-m gauge (1996)

total:

71,048 km (including 1,613 km of expressways)

paved:

NA km

unpaved:

NA km (1997 est.)

• 65 km;
• Rhine (Basel to Rheinfelden, Schaffhausen to Bodensee);
• 12 navigable lakes

• because of more stringent government regulations, used significantly less as a money-laundering center;
• transit country for and consumer of South American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin