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Switzerland Flag of Switzerland

Last reviewed: 12 February 08

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Map of Switzerland

Area: 41,293 sq km (16,000 sq mi)
Population: 7.5 million (2007)
Capital City: Berne
People: German (64%), French (19%), Italian (8%), Romansch (1%)
Languages: Swiss German, French, Italian, Rhaeto-Rumantsch
Religion(s): Roman Catholic (46.1%), Protestant (40%), Muslim (4.3%)
Currency: Swiss franc (SFr)
Major political parties: Radicals (FDP - (party president) Fulvio Pelli), Christian Democrats (CVP - Christophe Darbellay), Social Democrats (Hans-Jurg Fehr), People's Party (SVP - Ueli Maurer)
Government: 7 member Federal Council
Political system: Federal Republic with strong local governments (cantons)
President: Pascal Couchepin (for 2008)
Foreign Minister: Micheline Calmy-Rey (since 2003)
Membership of international groupings/organisations: Council of Europe, EAPC/PfP, EBRD, EFTA, IBRD, IMF, OECD, OSCE, UN, UNESCO, UNHCR, WTO

DID YOU KNOW

  • Switzerland and Austria will be co-hosting the European Football Championships in 2008.
  • Zurich ranks first as the world's top city for quality of life, with Geneva following closely behind, according to Mercer Human Resources Consulting. London is in 39th place.
  • Nestlé is the largest company in Switzerland, yet more than 98% of its revenue comes from outside the country.
  • Swiss Guards still protect the Pope at the Vatican.
  • The Red Cross was started in 1864 by Henri Dunant in Geneva. The symbol of the Red Cross is based on a reversed Swiss flag.
  • Women were not given the right to vote until 1971.
  • Switzerland manages 35% of all private and institutional offshore funds and is world number one in Private Funds.
  • Switzerland is responsible for around half the value of the worlds watch production.
  • There are five 'designer' public conveniences in the Eastern Swiss town of St Gallen, one of which plays the sound of twittering birds and a stream rushing over pebbles to its users.
  • Swiss physicist and explorer Auguste Piccard was the model for Professor Calculus in the Tintin comic books. Author Hergé described him as the "archetypal scientist."
  • Switzerland has the densest rail network in Europe - 121.9 km of rail per 1000 km2, more than 2.5 times the European average.
  • Zurich Council banned chocolate in 1722, due to it reputation as an aphrodisiac. Today, the Swiss eat more chocolate per head than anyone else in the world – an annual average consumption in 2006 of 12 kg per head.
  • Switzerland has the steepest funicular railway in the world: the Gelmerbahn at the foot of the Grimsel Pass, which reaches 106% gradient in places.
  • Switzerland is the second most densely forested country in Europe (30%).

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contacts

Switzerland

Address:

Embassy of Switzerland
16/18 Montagu Place
London W1H 2BQ

Telephone:

(020) 7616 6000

Fax:

(020) 7724 7001

Email: swissembassy@lon.rep.adminh.ch

Office hours:

Mon–Fri: 0900–1200

Website: www.swissembassy.org.uk