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: 9.91% permanent crops: 0.58% other: 89.51% (2005)

Irrigated land:

250 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

53.3 cu km (2005)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 2.52 cu km/yr (24%/74%/2%) per capita: 348 cu m/yr (2002)

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-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
Switzerland

Population:

7,581,520 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 15.8% (male 623,213/female 577,430) 15-64 years: 68.2% (male 2,605,044/female 2,562,354) 65 years and over: 16% (male 501,699/female 711,780) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 40.7 years male: 39.6 years female: 41.7 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.329% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

9.62 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

8.54 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

2.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 4.23 deaths/1,000 live births male: 4.71 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 80.74 years male: 77.91 years female: 83.71 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.44 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.4% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

13,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

fewer than 100 (2003 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Swiss (singular and plural) adjective: Swiss

Ethnic groups:

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

Religions:

Roman Catholic 41.8%, Protestant 35.3%, Muslim 4.3%, Orthodox 1.8%, other Christian 0.4%, other 1%, unspecified 4.3%, none 11.1% (2000 census)

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

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 15 years male: 15 years female: 15 years (2006)

Education expenditures:

5.8% of GDP (2005)

Government
Switzerland

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)

Government type:

formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic

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

Independence:

1 August 1291 (founding of the Swiss Confederation)

National holiday:

Founding of the Swiss Confederation, 1 August (1291)

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

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Pascal COUCHEPIN (since 1 January 2008); Vice President Hans-Rudolf MERZ (since 1 January 2008); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government representing the Federal Council; the Federal Council is the formal chief of state and head of government whose council members, rotating in one-year terms as federal president, represent the Council head of government: President Pascal COUCHEPIN (since 1 January 2008); Vice President Hans-Rudolf MERZ (since 1 January 2008) 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 12 December 2007 (next to be held in December 2008) election results: Pascal COUCHEPIN elected president; percent of Federal Assembly vote - 80.0%; Hans-Rudolf MERZ 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; note - seating for the Council of States as of December 2007 is CVP 16, FDP 12, SVP 7, SPS 9, other 2

Judicial branch:

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

Political parties and leaders:

Green Party (Gruene Partei der Schweiz or Gruene, 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 (Christlichdemokratische 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

Political pressure groups and leaders: