Switzerland

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

agricultural land:

38.7%;

• arable land 10.2%;
• permanent crops 0.6%;
• permanent pasture 27.9%

forest:

31.5%

other:

29.8% (2011 est.)

• 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, northern Italy, and southwestern Austria, has the highest elevations in the Alps

noun:

Swiss (singular and plural)

adjective:

Swiss

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.78 male(s)/female

total population:

0.97 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

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)

etymology:

name derives from the canton of Schwyz, one of the founding cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy that formed in the 14th century

name:

Bern

geographic coordinates:

46 55 N, 7 28 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

history:

previous 1848, 1874; latest adopted by referendum 18 April 1999, effective 1 January 2000

amendments:

• proposed by the two houses of the Federal Assembly or by petition of at least one million voters (called the "federal popular initiative");
• passage of proposals requires majority vote in a referendum;
• following drafting of an amendment by the Assembly, its passage requires approval by majority vote in a referendum and approval by the majority of cantons;
• amended many times, last in 2016 (2016)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Switzerland

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

12 years including at least 3 of the last 5 years prior to application

chief of state:

• President of the Swiss Confederation Doris LEUTHARD (since 1 January 2017);
• Vice President Alain BERSET (since 1 January 2017);
• note - the Federal Council, which is comprised of 7 federal councillors, constitutes the federal government of Switzerland;
• council members rotate in a 1-year term as federal president (chief of state and head of government)

head of government:

President of the Swiss Confederation Doris LEUTHARD (since 1 January 2017); Vice President Alain BERSET (since 1 January 2017)

cabinet:

Federal Council or Bundesrat (in German), Conseil Federal (in French), Consiglio Federale (in Italian) indirectly elected usually from among its members by the Federal Assembly for a 4-year term

elections/appointments:

• president and vice president elected by the Federal Assembly from among members of the Federal Council for a 1-year, non-consecutive term;
• election last held on 7 December 2016 (next to be held in early December 2017)

election results:

• Doris LEUTHARD elected president;
• Federal Assembly vote - 188 of 207;
• Alain BERSET elected vice president

description:

bicameral Federal Assembly or Bundesversammlung (in German), Assemblee Federale (in French), Assemblea Federale (in Italian) consists of the Council of States or Staenderat (in German), Conseil des Etats (in French), Consiglio degli Stati (in Italian) (46 seats; members in multi-seat constituencies representing cantons and single-seat constituencies representing half cantons directly elected by simple majority vote; members serve 4-year terms) and the National Council or Nationalrat (in German), Conseil National (in French), Consiglio Nazionale (in Italian) (200 seats; 195 members in cantons directly elected by proportional representation vote and 6 in half cantons directly elected by simple majority vote; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

• Council of States - last held in most cantons on 18 October 2015 (each canton determines when the next election will be held);
• National Council - last held on 18 October 2015 (next to be held in October 2019)

election results:

• Council of States - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party as of 18 October 2015 - CVP 13, FDP 13, SDP 12, SVP 5, other 3;
• National Council - percent of vote by party - SVP 29.4%, SPS 18.8%, FDP 16.4%, CVP 11.6%, Green Party 7.1%, GLP 4.6%, BDP 4.1%, other 8.0%;
• seats by party - SVP 68, SPS 43, FDP 33, CVP 30, Green Party 12, GLP 7, BDP 7

highest court(s):

Federal Supreme Court (consists of 38 judges and 31 substitutes and organized into 5 sections)

judge selection and term of office:

• judges elected by the Federal Assembly for 6-year terms;
• note - judges are affiliated with political parties and are elected according to linguistic and regional criteria in approximate proportion to the level of party representation in the Federal Assembly

subordinate courts:

• Federal Criminal Court (began in 2004);
• Federal Administrative Court (began in 2007);
• note - each of Switzerland's 26 cantons has its own courts

chief of mission:

Ambassador Martin Werner DAHINDEN (since 18 November 2014)

chancery:

2900 Cathedral Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 745-7900

FAX:

[1] (202) 387-2564

consulate(s) general:

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

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Tara Feret ERATH (since 20 January 2017) note - also accredited to Liechtenstein

embassy:

Sulgeneckstrasse 19, CH-3007 Bern

mailing address:

use embassy street address

telephone:

[41] (031) 357-70-11

FAX:

[41] (031) 357-73-20

• red square with a bold, equilateral white cross in the center that does not extend to the edges of the flag;
• various medieval legends purport to describe the origin of the flag;
• a white cross used as identification for troops of the Swiss Confederation is first attested at the Battle of Laupen (1339)

agriculture:

3.3%

industry:

19.8%

services:

76.9% (2015)

lowest 10%:

7.5%

highest 10%:

19% (2007)

general assessment:

highly developed telecommunications infrastructure with excellent domestic and international services

domestic:

• ranked among leading countries for fixed-line teledensity and infrastructure;
• mobile-cellular subscribership roughly 140 per 100 persons;
• extensive cable and microwave radio relay networks

international:

country code - 41; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean) (2016)

• the publicly owned radio and TV broadcaster, Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG/SSR), operates 7 national TV networks, 3 broadcasting in German, 2 in Italian, and 2 in French;
• private commercial TV stations broadcast regionally and locally;
• TV broadcasts from stations in Germany, Italy, and France are widely available via multi-channel cable and satellite TV services;
• SRG/SSR operates 17 radio stations that, along with private broadcasters, provide national to local coverage (2015)

number of registered air carriers:

12; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 163

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

26,843,991

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

1,322,379,468 mt-km (2015)

total:

5,651.5 km

standard gauge:

4,424.8 km 1.435-m gauge (3,634.1 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

• 2 km 1.200-m gauge (2 km electrified);
• 1,188.3 km 1.000-m gauge (1,167.3 km electrified);
• 36.4 km 0.800-m gauge (36.4 km electrified) (2014)

country comparison to the world: 33

total:

71,464 km

paved:

71,464 km (includes 1,415 of expressways) (2011)

country comparison to the world: 66

• 19-26 years of age for male compulsory military service;
• 18 years of age for voluntary male and female military service;
• every Swiss male has to serve at least 260 days in the armed forces;
• conscripts receive 18 weeks of mandatory training, followed by seven 3-week intermittent recalls for training during the next 10 years (2012)

refugees (country of origin):

• 26,264 (Eritrea);
• 11,159 (Syria);
• 5,675 (Afghanistan);
• 5,458 (Sri Lanka) (2016)

stateless persons:

66 (2016)

• 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