Central Europe, east of France, north of Italy

47 00 N, 8 00 E

Europe

total: 41,290 sq km
water: 1,520 sq km
land: 39,770 sq km

slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey

total: 1,852 km
border countries: Austria 164 km, France 573 km, Italy 740 km, Liechtenstein 41 km, Germany 334 km

0 km (landlocked)

none (landlocked)

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

mostly mountains (Alps in south, Jura in northwest) with a central plateau of rolling hills, plains, and large lakes

lowest point: Lake Maggiore 195 m
highest point: Dufourspitze 4,634 m

hydropower potential, timber, salt

arable land: 10.57%
permanent crops: 0.61%
other: 88.82% (1998 est.)

250 sq km (1998 est.)

avalanches, landslides, flash floods

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

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea

landlocked; crossroads of northern and southern Europe; along with southeastern France, northern Italy, and southwestern Austria, has the highest elevations in the Alps

People

   Switzerland

7,318,638 (July 2003 est.)

0-14 years: 16.6% (male 623,428; female 591,709)
15-64 years: 67.8% (male 2,519,302; female 2,439,560)
65 years and over: 15.6% (male 470,257; female 674,382) (2003 est.)

total: 40.2 years
male: 39.3 years
female: 41.2 years (2002)

0.21% (2003 est.)

9.59 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)

8.82 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)

1.37 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2003 est.)

total: 4.36 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
male: 4.47 deaths/1,000 live births

total population: 79.99 years
male: 77.11 years
female: 83.02 years (2003 est.)

1.48 children born/woman (2003 est.)

0.5% (2001 est.)

19,000 (2001 est.)

less than 100 (2001 est.)

noun: Swiss (singular and plural)
adjective: Swiss

German 65%, French 18%, Italian 10%, Romansch 1%, other 6%

Roman Catholic 46.1%, Protestant 40%, other 5%, none 8.9% (1990)

German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 19.2%, Italian (official) 7.6%, Romansch (official) 0.6%, other 8.9%

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1980 est.)
male:
female:

Government

   Switzerland

conventional long form: Swiss Confederation
conventional short form: Switzerland
local short form: Schweiz (German), Suisse (French), Svizzera (Italian)
local long form: Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft (German), Confederation Suisse (French), Confederazione Svizzera (Italian)

federal republic

Bern

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

1 August 1291 (Founding of the Swiss Confederation)

Founding of the Swiss Confederation, 1 August (1291)

18 December 1998

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

18 years of age; universal

chief of state: President Pascal COUCHEPIN (since 1 January 2003); Vice President Ruth METZLER (since 1 January 2003); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Pascal COUCHEPIN (since 1 January 2003); Vice President Ruth METZLER (since 1 January 2003); 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 usually 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 2002 (next to be held NA December 2003)
election results: Pascal COUCHEPIN elected president; percent of Federal Assembly vote - NA%; Ruth METZLER elected vice president; percent of legislative vote - NA%

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: Council of States - last held NA 1999 (each canton determines when the next election will be held); National Council - last held 19 October 2003 (next to be held NA October 2007)
election results: Council of States - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - FDP 18, CVP 15, SVP 7, SPS 6; National Council - percent of vote by party - SVP 27.7%, SPS 24.2%, FDP 16%, CVP 12.9%, Greens 7.7%, other small parties all under 5%; seats by party - SVP 55, SPS 52, FDP 36, CVP 28, Green Party 13, other small parties 16

Federal Supreme Court (judges elected for six-year terms by the Federal Assembly)

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) [Philipp STAEHELIN, president]; 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 and Patrice MUGNY, co-presidents]; Radical Free Democratic Party (Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei der Schweiz or FDP, Parti Radical-Democratique Suisse or PRD, Partitio Liberal-Radicale Svizzero or PLR) [Christiane LANGENBERGER, 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) [Christiane BRUNNER, 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

NA

ACCT, AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, 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), MONUC, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNOMIG, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

chief of mission: Ambassador Christian BLICKENSTORFER
consulate(s): Boston
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco
FAX: [1] (202) 387-2564
telephone: [1] (202) 745-7900
chancery: 2900 Cathedral Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

chief of mission: Ambassador Mercer REYNOLDS III
embassy: Jubilaeumsstrasse 93, 3005 Bern
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [41] (031) 357 70 11
FAX: [41] (031) 357 73 44

red square with a bold, equilateral white cross in the center that does not extend to the edges of the flag

Economy

   Switzerland

Switzerland is a 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.

purchasing power parity - $233.4 billion (2002 est.)

0.1% (2002 est.)

purchasing power parity - $32,000 (2002 est.)

agriculture: 2%
industry: 34%
services: 64% (2002 est.)

NA%

lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 25.2% (1992)

33.1 (1992)

0.5% (2002 est.)

4 million (2001)

services 69.1%, industry 26.3%, agriculture 4.6% (1998)

1.9% (2002 est.)

revenues: $30 billion
expenditures: $30 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)

machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision instruments

3.2% (2001)

68.68 billion kWh (2001)

fossil fuel: 1.3%
hydro: 59.5%
other: 2% (2001)
nuclear: 37.1%

53.43 billion kWh (2001)

34.54 billion kWh (2001)

24.1 billion kWh (2001)

0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

290,400 bbl/day (2001 est.)

10,420 bbl/day (2001)

289,500 bbl/day (2001)

0 cu m (2001 est.)

3.093 billion cu m (2001 est.)

0 cu m (2001 est.)

3.093 billion cu m (2001 est.)

grains, fruits, vegetables; meat, eggs

$100.3 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)

machinery, chemicals, metals, watches, agricultural products

Germany 19.2%, US 10.2%, Italy 9.6%, France 8.9%, UK 7.7% (2002)

$94.4 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)

machinery, chemicals, vehicles, metals; agricultural products, textiles

Germany 27.4%, France 11.4%, Italy 9.7%, US 8.5%, Russia 5.8%, UK 5.4%, Austria 4.6%, Netherlands 4.1% (2002)

$NA

ODA, $1.1 billion (1995)

Swiss franc (CHF)

CHF

Swiss francs per US dollar - 1.56 (2002), 1.69 (2001), 1.69 (2000), 1.5 (1999), 1.45 (1998)

calendar year

Communications

   Switzerland

4.82 million (1998)

1.967 million (1999)

general assessment: excellent domestic and international services
domestic: extensive cable and microwave radio relay networks
international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean)

AM 4, FM 113 (plus many low power stations), shortwave 2 (1998)

115 (plus 1,919 repeaters) (1995)

.ch

44 (Switzerland and Liechtenstein) (2000)

3.85 million (2002)

Transportation

   Switzerland

total: 4,511 km
standard gauge: 3,483 km 1.435-m gauge (3,472 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 982 km 1.000-m gauge (975 km electrified); 46 km 0.800-m gauge (46 km electrified) (2002)

total: 71,011 km
paved: 71,011 km (including 1,638 of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (2000)

65 km
note: The Rhine carries heavy traffic on the Basel-Rheinfelden and Schaffhausen-Bodensee stretches; there are also 12 navigable lakes

gas 1,831 km; oil 212 km; refined products 7 km (2003)

Basel

total: 29 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 597,049 GRT/1,051,380 DWT
note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: UK 6, US 1 (2002 est.)
ships by type: bulk 16, cargo 6, chemical tanker 2, container 2, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 1, specialized tanker 1

66 (2002)

total: 41
over 3,047 m: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 9
under 914 m: 14 (2002)
1,524 to 2,437 m: 10

total: 25
1524 to 2437 m: 1
under 914 m: 24 (2002)

1 (2002)

Military

   Switzerland

Army, Air Force, Frontier Guards, Fortification Guards

20 years of age (2003 est.)

males age 15-49: 1,834,638 (2003 est.)

males age 15-49: 1,552,728 (2003 est.)

males: 42,761 (2003 est.)

$2.548 billion (FY01)

1% (FY01)

Location: Central Europe, east of France, north of Italy

Geographic coordinates: 47 00 N, 8 00 E

Map references: Europe

Area:
total: 41,290 sq km
land: 39,770 sq km
water: 1,520 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey

Land boundaries:
total: 1,852 km
border countries: Austria 164 km, France 573 km, Italy 740 km, Liechtenstein 41 km, Germany 334 km

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: Lake Maggiore 195 m
highest point: Dufourspitze 4,634 m

Natural resources: hydropower potential, timber, salt

Land use:
arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 2%
permanent pastures: 28%
forests and woodland: 32%
other: 28% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 250 sq km (1993 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: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea

Geography - note: landlocked; crossroads of northern and southern Europe; along with southeastern France and northern Italy, contains the highest elevations in Europe

Geography

Switzerland is bounded on the north by France and Germany, on the east by Austria and Liechtenstein, on the south by Italy,and on the west by France.

It is one of the most mountainous countries of Europe, with more than 70 percent of its area covered by the Alps, in the central and southern sections, and the Jura, in the northwest. The Swiss Alps are part of the largest mountain system in Europe and are famous for their jagged peaks and steep gorges.

There are several ranges within the Alps, including the Pennine range, which has Switzerland’s highest peak,4,634 meter. Dufourspitze of Monte Rosa. The Jura (Celtic for 145forest’) are much lower and smaller than the Alps and are popular for cross–country skiing. The renowned Swiss watchmaking industry began in the Jura Mountains.

Between these two mountain systems lies the Swiss plateau, an average of 400 meters ,above sea level and some 50 kilometers ; it extends from Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) in the extreme southwest to the Lake of Constance (Bodensee) in the extreme northeast.

The plateau is thickly studded with hills. Between the ranges of the Alps and Jura also stretch long valleys connected by transverse gorges; one such valley is the Engadine along the Inn River in the southeast. Nearly every Swiss valley is traversed by streams, often interrupted by picturesque waterfalls, including the Staubbach Falls (about 290 meters / 950 feet) in the canton of Bern.

The principal river system is formed by the Rhine and its tributaries. Other important rivers are the Rhone, Ticino, and Inn. However, Swiss rivers are not navigable for any appreciable extent. Switzerland is famous for its many lakes, particularly those of the Alpine region, known for their scenic beauty.

The most important include Lake Geneva, Lake of Constance, Lake of Lugano, and Lake Maggiore (at which lies Switzerland’s lowest point, 194 meters / 636 feet above sea level), which are not wholly within Swiss borders; and Lake of Neuchâtel, Lake of Lucerne and Zürichsee, Brienzersee, and Thunersee, which are entirely within Switzerland.

Climate

The climate is moderate with no excessive heat, cold or humidity. From July to August the daytime temperature range is 65-80F from January to February the range is 30-40F. Depending on the altitude the temperature range may vary.

Under normal cirumstances, summer in all parts of Swizerland should be sunny and warm but unfortunately we have no means of giving long term forecasts.

During spring, summer and autumn it is advisable to take good clothes, including a warm jacket and good walking shoes, as excursions are often to mountains which are snow-covered during summer. A warm jacket, good trousers and shoes are necessary in the winter months.

Background:

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.

Switzerland is a small European country known for its beautiful, snow-capped mountains and freedom-loving people. The Alps and the Jura Mountains cover more than half of Switzerland.

But most of the Swiss people live on a plateau that extends across the middle of the country between the two mountain ranges. In this region are most of Switzerland's industries and its richest farmlands. Switzerland's capital, Bern, and largest city, Zurich, are also there.

Airline
Swiss International Air Lines
The Swiss Carrier
Swissair
The former Swiss Carrier

Railroad
Schweizer Bundesbahnen
Swiss Federal Railways

Administration

Cantons

Culture

Economy

Education

Geography

History

Statistical Information

Various

FAQ

Name: Switzerland and Confoederatio Helvetica (therefore the abbreviation CH) - more ...

Location: Central Europe (GMT+1) - more ...

Size: 41285 km² - more ...

Climate: General information, diagramms and weather forecast - more ...

Capital: Bern City - more ...

Currency: Swiss Francs (CHF) - more ...  - The Euro (EUR) is not an official currency but ...

Phone: Since May 1st 2002, the area code must be dialed even for local calls - more ...

Education: From Kindergarten to University - more ...

Food: Cheese, chocolate and much more ...

History: Founded in 1291, independant since 1648 - more ...

Languages: There are four official languages in Switzerland - more ...

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Statistical information: Figures and facts ...

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