Switzerland
Swiss ConfederationSchweizerische Eidgenossenschaft (German); Confederation Suisse (French); Confederazione Svizzera (Italian); Confederaziun Svizra (Romansh)
formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic
Switzerland as the 2007 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 130 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
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 sovereignty 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
Central Europe, east of France, north of Italy
18 fieldsLand useshare of 41,290 sq km
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
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:
- Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
- signed, but not ratified:
- Law of the Sea
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
19 fieldsAge structuremale left, female right · (2007 est.)
Per 1,000 population(2007 est.)
Male · female
Religions(2000 census)
Sex ratio
- at birth:
- 1.05 male(s)/female
- under 15 years:
- 1.079 male(s)/female
- 15-64 years:
- 1.017 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over:
- 0.7 male(s)/female
- total population:
- 0.969 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
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 (official) 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census) note: German, French, Italian, and Romansch are all national and official languages
Government
Formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic; President Micheline CALMY-REY (since 1 January 2007); President Micheline CALMY-REY (since 1 January 2007)
18 fieldsCouncil of States, 200 seats, elected in most cantons on 19 October 2003one dot, one seat
Country name
- conventional long form:
- Swiss Confederation
- conventional short form:
- Switzerland
- local long form:
- Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft (German);
- Confederation Suisse (French);
- Confederazione Svizzera (Italian);
- Confederaziun Svizra (Romansh)
- local short form:
- Schweiz (German);
- Suisse (French);
- Svizzera (Italian);
- Svizra (Romansh)
Capital
- name:
- Bern
- geographic coordinates:
- 46 57 N, 7 26 E
- time difference:
- UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
- daylight saving time:
- +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
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
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
Executive branch
- chief of state:
- President Micheline CALMY-REY (since 1 January 2007);
- Vice President Pascal COUCHEPIN (since 1 January 2007);
- note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
- head of government:
- President Micheline CALMY-REY (since 1 January 2007); Vice President Pascal COUCHEPIN (since 1 January 2007)
- cabinet:
- Federal Council or Bundesrat (in German), Conseil Federal (in French), Consiglio Federale (in Italian) elected by the Federal Assembly usually from among its 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 a one-year term (they may not serve consecutive terms);
- election last held on 13 December 2006 (next to be held in December 2007)
- election results:
- Micheline CALMY-REY elected president;
- percent of Federal Assembly vote - 76.5%;
- Pascal COUCHEPIN elected vice president;
- percent of Federal Assembly vote - 86.5%
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; membership consists of 2 representatives from each canton and 1 from each half canton; to 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:
- Council of States - last held in most cantons on 19 October 2003 (each canton determines when the next election will be held);
- National Council - last held on 21 October 2007 (next to be held in October 2011)
- election results:
- Council of States - percent of vote by party - NA;
- seats by party - CVP 15, FDP 14, SVP 8, SPS 6, other 3;
- National Council - percent of vote by party - SVP 29%, SPS 19.5%, FDP 15.6%, CVP 14.6%, Greens 9.6%, other 11.7%;
- seats by party - SVP 62, SPS 43, FDP 31, CVP 31, Green Party 20, other small parties 13
Political parties and leaders
- Green Party (Gruene 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) [Christophe DARBELLAY];
- Radical Free Democratic Party (Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei der Schweiz or FDP, Parti Radical-Democratique Suisse or PRD, Partitio Liberal-Radicale Svizzero or PLR) [Fulvio PELLI];
- 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];
- 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];
- and other minor parties
International organization participation
ACCT, AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EFTA, ESA, FAO, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUC, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Urs ZISWILER
- chancery:
- 2900 Cathedral Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
- telephone:
- [1] (202) 745-7900
- FAX:
- [1] (202) 387-2564
- consulate(s) general:
- Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco
- consulate(s):
- Boston
Diplomatic representation from the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Peter R. CONEWAY
- embassy:
- Jubilaumsstrasse 93, CH-3005 Bern
- mailing address:
- use embassy street address
- telephone:
- [41] (031) 357 70 11
- FAX:
- [41] (031) 357 73 44
Flag description
red square with a bold, equilateral white cross in the center that does not extend to the edges of the flag
Economy
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.
48 fieldsGDP - composition by sector(2003 est.)
Trading partnersexports left, imports right
Electricity
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 safehaven 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 stagnated during the 2001-03 period, improved during 2004-05 to 1.8% annually and to 2.9% in 2006. Even so, unemployment has remained at less than half the EU average.
Industries
machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision instruments, tourism, banking, and insurance
Exchange rates
Swiss francs per US dollar - 1.2539 (2006), 1.2452 (2005), 1.2435 (2004), 1.3467 (2003), 1.5586 (2002)
Communications
8 fieldsTelephone system
- general assessment:
- excellent domestic and international services
- domestic:
- extensive cable and microwave radio relay networks
- international:
- country code - 41; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean)
Transportation
10 fieldsMerchant marine, 32 ships by typeone square, one ship · ships (1000 GRT or over) 577,765 GRT/918,974 DWT
Airports by runway lengthpaved only
Airports by runway lengthunpaved only
Networkskm
Railways
- total:
- 4,839 km
- standard gauge:
- 3,561 km 1.435-m gauge (3,195 km electrified)
- narrow gauge:
- 1,268 km 1.000-m gauge (1,274 km electrified); 10 km 0.800-m gauge (10 km electrified) (2006)
Military
Swiss Armed Forces: Land Forces, Swiss Air Force (Schweizer Luftwaffe); Switzerland has no navy, but maintains a fleet of military patrol boats to patrol Swiss borders (2006)
6 fieldsMilitary branches
Swiss Armed Forces: Land Forces, Swiss Air Force (Schweizer Luftwaffe); Switzerland has no navy, but maintains a fleet of military patrol boats to patrol Swiss borders (2006)
Military service age and obligation
- 19 years of age for male compulsory military service;
- 17 years of age for voluntary military service;
- the Swiss Constitution states that "every Swiss male is obliged to do military service";
- every Swiss male has to serve for at least 260 days in the armed forces;
- conscripts receive 18 weeks of mandatory training, followed by seven 3-week intermittent recalls for training over the next 10 years;
- women are accepted on a voluntary basis but are not conscripted (2005)
Manpower available for military service
- males age 19-49:
- 1,707,694
- females age 19-49:
- 1,662,099 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually
- males age 18-49:
- 46,319
- females age 19-49:
- 43,829 (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues
2 fieldsIllicit 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, Southwest Asian heroin, and Western European synthetics;
- domestic cannabis cultivation and limited ecstasy production
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Switzerland.” The World Factbook 2007. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/switzerland/2007.