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.

Geographic coordinates: 47 00 N, 8 00 E

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 41,290 km²
Land: 39,770 km²
Water: 1,520 km²
Comparative: slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey

Land boundaries
Total: 1,852 km
Border countries: (5) 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
Extremes 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 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: avalanches, landslides, flash floods

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

Population: 7,240,463 (July 1997 est.)
Growth rate: 0.33% (1997 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Swiss (singular and plural)
Adjective: Swiss

Ethnic groups: total population - German 65%, French 18%, Italian 10%, Romansch 1%, other 6%
Note: Swiss nationals - German 74%, French 20%, Italian 4%, Romansch 1%, other 1%

Languages: German 63.7%, French 19.2%, Italian 7.6%, Romansch 0.6%, other 8.9%
Note: figures for Swiss nationals only:German 74%, French 20%, Italian 4%, Romansch 1%, other 1%

Religions: Roman Catholic 46.7%, Protestant 40%, other 5%, no religion 8.3% (1990)

Age structure
0-14 years: 17% (male 643,301; female 614,913)
15-64 years: 68% (male 2,501,705; female 2,412,165)
65 years and over: 15% (male 429,754; female 638,625) (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.33% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 11.05 births/1000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.23 migrant(s)/1000 population (1997 est.)

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

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 5 deaths/1000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 78.77 years
Male: 75.59 years
Female: 82.11 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.45 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 99% (1980 est.)
Male: NA%
Female: NA%

Country name
Conventional long form: Swiss Confederation
Conventional short form: Switzerland
Local long form: Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft (German), Confederation Suisse (French), Confederazione Svizzera (Italian)
Local short form: Schweiz (German), Suisse (French), Svizzera (Italian)

Government type: federal republic

Capital: Bern

Administrative divisions: 26 cantons (cantons, singular - canton in French; cantoni, singular - cantone in Italian; kantone, singular - kanton in German; Aargau, Ausser-Rhoden, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Geneve, Glarus, Graubunden, Inner-Rhoden, Jura, Luzern, Neuchatel, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Sankt Gallen, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Thurgau, Ticino, Uri, Valais, Vaud, Zug, Zurich

Independence: 1 August 1291

National holiday: Anniversary of the Founding of the Swiss Confederation, 1 August (1291)

Constitution: 29 May 1874

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 Arnold KOLLER (since 1 January 1997); Vice President Flavio COTTI (since 1 January 1997); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Arnold KOLLER (since 1 January 1997); Vice President Flavio COTTI (since 1 January 1997); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Cabinet: Federal Council or German - Bundesrat, French - Conseil Federal, Italian - Consiglio Federale elected by the Federal Assembly 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 4 December 1996 (next to be held NA December 1997)
Election results: Arnold KOLLER elected president; percent of Federal Assembly vote - NA; Flavio COTTI elected vice president; percent of legislative vote - NA

Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly or German - Bundesversammlung, French - Assemblee Federale, Italian - Assemblea Federale consists of the Council of States or German - Standerat, French - Conseil des Etats, Italian - Consiglio degli Stati (46 seats; members are elected two from each canton and one from each half canton to serve four-year terms) and the National Council or German - Nationalrat, French - Conseil National, Italian - Consiglio Nazionale (200 seats; members are elected by popular vote on a basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
Elections: Council of States - last held throughout 1995 (each canton determines when the next election will be held); National Council - last held 20 October 1995 (next to be held NA October 1999)
Election results: Council of States - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PRD 17, PDC 16, UDC 5, PSS 5, LPS 2, LdU 1; National Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PRD 45, PSS 55, PDC 34, UDC 29, Greens 10, LPS 7, FPS 6, LdU/EVP 5, SD 3, PdAdS 3, Ticino League 2, EDU 1

Judicial branch: Federal Supreme Court, judges elected for six-year terms by the Federal Assembly

International organization participation: AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EBRD, ECE, EFTA, ESA, FAO, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MTCR, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OSCE, PCA, UN (observer), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UNPREDEP, UNTAES, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Alfred DEFAGO (since April 1997)
In the us chancery: 2,900 Cathedral Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 745-7,900
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 387-2,564
In the us consulates general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Pago Pago (American Samoa), and San Francisco
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Madeleine May KUNIN (since 8 August 1996)
From the us embassy: Jubilaeumstrasse 93, 3,005 Bern
From the us mailing address: use embassy street address
From the us telephone: [41] (31) 357 70 11
From the us FAX: [41] (31) 357 73 44

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

Economy overview: Switzerland, a fundamentally prosperous and stable modern economy with a per capita GDP roughly 10% above that of the big West European economies, is experiencing continued economic difficulties. GDP has dropped for five consecutive quarters, unemployment is reaching record levels, and the fiscal deficit is again above 3% of GDP. In 1997, growth may reach barely 0.6%; a recovery is not likely before mid to late 1997. Weak domestic consumer demand is partly at fault; declining real disposable income is combining with a reluctance to reduce saving rates in the face of an uncertain employment outlook. Switzerland's leading sectors, including financial services, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and special-purpose machines, will therefore be more reliant on export markets at the same time they are being squeezed by the strong franc. Consequently, growth in machinery and equipment investment, for example, is expected to taper off. On the other side, import growth in 1997 also is likely to be lower than the 1995 rate of 6.6%, but higher than 1996's expected 1.9%.

Real gdp growth rate: -0.75% (1996 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $22,600 (1996 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 2.8%
Industry: 31.1%
Services: 66.1% (1995)

Agriculture products: grains, fruits, vegetables; meat, eggs

Industries: machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision instruments

Industrial production growth rate: -2% (1996 est.)

Labor force
Total: 3.776 million (939,000 foreign workers, mostly Italian)
By occupation services: 67%
By occupation manufacturing and construction: 29%
By occupation agriculture and forestry: 4% (1994)

Unemployment rate: 5.3% (December 1996)

Budget
Revenues: $31 billion
Expenditures: $36.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $N/A (1995)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports
Total value: $81.35 billion (f.o.b., 1995)
Commodities: manufactures 94.74%, agricultural products 2.99%, raw materials 2.05%, fuels 0.15% (1995)
Partners: EU countries 62.1%, US 8.7%, Japan 4.0% (1996 est.)

Imports
Total value: $80.05 billion (c.i.f., 1995)
Commodities: manufactures 86.81%, agricultural products 6.44%, raw materials 3.65%, fuels 2.93% (1995)
Partners: EU 80.2%, US 6.6% (1996 est.)

Debt external: $NA

Exchange rates: Swiss francs, franken, or franchi (SFR) per US$1 - 1.3936 (January 1997), 1.2360 (1996), 1.1825 (1995), 1.3677 (1994), 1.4776 (1993), 1.4062 (1992)

Electricity
Capacity: 14.27 million kW (1994)
Production: 62.2 billion kWh (1995)
Consumption per capita: 6,810 kWh (1995 est.)

Telephones: 4.573 million (1993 est.)

Telephone system: excellent domestic and international services
Domestic: extensive cable and microwave radio relay networks
International: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $3.74 billion (1995)
Percent of gdp: 1.4% (1995)

Airports: 67 (1996 est.)
With paved runways total: 66
With paved runways over 3047 m: 4
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 4
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 13
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 5
With paved runways under 914 m: 40 (1996 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 1
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1 (1996 est.)

Pipelines: crude oil 314 km; natural gas 1,506 km

Railways
Total: 5,719 km (1,432 km double track)
Standard gauge: 3,283 km 1.435-m gauge (99% electrified; 310 km nongovernment owned)
Narrow gauge: 1,255 km 1.000-m gauge (99% electrified; 1,181 km nongovernment owned)
Other gauge: 1,181 km NA-m gauge (1995)

Waterways: 65 km; Rhine (Basel to Rheinfelden, Schaffhausen to Bodensee; 12 navigable lakes

Merchant marine
Total: 23 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 378,871 GRT/665,519 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 13, cargo 1, chemical tanker 6, oil tanker 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1, specialized tanker 1 (1996 est.)

Disputes international: none

Illicit drugs: money-laundering center; transit country for and consumer of South American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin