About Switzerland

The people of Switzerland
Switzerland has a population of about 7.78 million. Foreigners account for around 22% of the resident population. The average age is increasing, as people live longer and have fewer children. Lifestyles are changing as the Swiss adapt to new demands.
Religious belief has declined in recent years, but the religious landscape has diversified.

Switzerland has four unevenly distributed languages and a wealth of dialects.

The Swiss economy
Switzerland’s economy is based on a highly qualified labour force performing highly skilled work. The main areas include microtechnology, hitech, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, as well as banking and insurance know-how. The service sector now employs the greatest number of people.

Most of the people working in Switzerland are employed by small and medium-sized enterprises, which play an extremely important role in the Swiss economy.

The Swiss are concerned that economic activity should have as little impact as possible on the environment. Switzerland's energy and transport policies aim to be environmentally friendly.

The age of unlimited economic growth in Switzerland is over. Fear of unemployment has been one of the main concerns of the Swiss for several years. 

Swiss Geography
The geography of Switzerland is notable for its great diversity. Switzerland’s three main geographical regions are the Jura, Plateau and the Alps.

The geography of Switzerland means that the climate varies greatly from one region to another. Depending on the area and the time of year, Switzerland experiences conditions reminiscent both of Siberia and of the Mediterranean.

Even the major towns of their own distinctive character.

Building land is in short supply, but planning regulations aim to preserve the appearance of towns and villages.

CH: Confoederatio Helvetica

Switzerland in its modern form came into being in 1848. Until that time, Switzerland was not a real state, but a loose alliance of autonomous cantons whose degree of cooperation with each other varied from one period to another. Before 1848 the cantons were free to secede from the confederation if they wanted to.

Switzerland's 1848 constitution made it into a federal state, giving it a central authority that counterbalanced and limited the power of the individual cantons. Some areas, such as foreign policy, are now solely in the hands of the central government. The cantons no longer have the right to secede.

The constitution was designed to balance as fairly as possible the interests of the state as a whole with the interests of the individual cantons.

For historical reasons, Switzerland's official name is still the "Swiss Confederation". In Latin this is Confoederatio Helvetica, from which the country's international abbreviation, CH, is derived. However, this is in fact a misnomer: a confederation is an alliance of autonomous entities. Since 1848 Switzerland has been a federation: a grouping of entities with a central authority.

The word Helvetica refers to the Helvetians, one of the many Celtic tribes living in what is now Switzerland at the time of the Roman conquest.