Background: Switzerland's independence and neutrality have long been honored by the major European powers and Switzerland was not involved in either of the two World Wars. The political and economic integration of Europe over the past half century as well as Switzerland's role in many UN and international organizations may be rendering obsolete the country'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: 7,283,274 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: 0.27% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: NA%

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

Ethnic groups: German 65% French 18% Italian 10% Romansch 1% other 6%

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

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

Age structure
0-14 years: 16.97% (male 634,030; female 601,929)
15-64 years: 67.73% (male 2,505,450; female 2,427,408)
65 years and over: 15.3% (male 453,366; female 661,091) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.27% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 10.12 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 8.77 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.37 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 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
International agreements 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
International agreements signed but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.05 male/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male/female
Total population: 0.97 male/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 4.48 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 79.73 years
Male: 76.85 years
Female: 82.76 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.47 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.46% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: 17,000 (1999 est.)
Deaths: 150 (1999 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 (Founding of the Swiss Confederation)

National holiday: 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 Moritz LEUENBERGER (since 1 January 2001); Vice President Kaspar VILLIGER (since 1 January 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Moritz LEUENBERGER (since 1 January 2001); Vice President Kaspar VILLIGER (since 1 January 2001); 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 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 6 December 2000 (next to be held NA December 2001)
Election results: Moritz LEUENBERGER elected president; percent of Federal Assembly vote - 76%; Kaspar VILLIGER elected vice president; percent of legislative vote - 72%

Legislative branch
Elections: Council of States - last held in 1999 (each canton determines when the next election will be held); National Council - last held 24 October 1999 (next to be held NA October 2003)
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 - SPS 22.5%, SVP 22.6%, FDP 19.9%, CVP 15.8%, other small parties all under 5%; seats by party - SPS 51, SVP 44, FDP 43, CVP 35, Greens 9, other small parties 18

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

Political parties and leaders: 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) [Adalbert DURRER 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) [Ruedi BAUMANN president]; Radical Free Democratic Party (Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei der Schweiz or FDP Parti Radical-Democratique Suisse or PRD Partitio Liberal-Radicale Svizzero or PLR) [Franz STEINEGGER 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

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

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Alfred DEFAGO
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, and San Francisco
In the us consulates: Boston
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador J. Richard FREDERICKS
From the us embassy: Jubilaeumstrasse 93, 3,001 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 prosperous and stable modern market economy with a per capita GDP 20% above that of the big western European economies experienced solid growth of 3% in 2000 but growth is expected to fall back to about 2% in 2001. The Swiss in recent years have brought their economic practices largely into conformity with the EU's to enhance their international competitiveness. Although the Swiss are not pursuing full EU membership in the near term in 1999 Bern and Brussels signed agreements to further liberalize trade ties and the agreements should come into force in 2001. Switzerland is still considered 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.

Real gdp growth rate: 3% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $28,600 (2000 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: 8.6% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 3.9 million (964,000 foreign workers mostly Italian) (1998 est.)
By occupation services: 69.1%
By occupation industry: 26.3%
By occupation agriculture: 4.6% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate: 1.9% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2.8%
Highest 10: 25.2% (1992)

Budget
Revenues: $32.66 billion
Expenditures: $34.89 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.3 billion (1998 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 1.5% (2000 est.)

Exports: $91.3 billion (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: machinery chemicals metals watches agricultural products
Partners: EU 65.8% (Germany 22.6% France 9.2% Italy 8.0% UK 5.5% Austria 3.2%) US 12.4% Japan 4.0% (1999)

Imports: $91.6 billion (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: machinery chemicals vehicles metals; agricultural products textiles
Partners: EU 77.7% (Germany 31.0% France 12.0% Italy 9.7% Netherlands 5.1% UK 5.7%) US 7.1% Japan 2.9% (1999)

Debt external: $NA

Exchange rates: Swiss francs per US dollar - 1.6303 (January 2001) 1.6888 (2000) 1.5022 (1999) 1.4498 (1998) 1.4513 (1997) 1.2360 (1996)

Electricity
Production: 66.768 billion kWh (1999)
Production by source fossil fuel: 3.44%
Production by source hydro: 59.16%
Production by source nuclear: 35.43%
Production by source other: 1.97% (1999)
Consumption: 51.862 billion kWh (1999)
Exports: 31.955 billion kWh (1999)
Imports: 21.723 billion kWh (1999)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 4.82 million (1998)
Mobile cellular: 1.967 million (1999)

Telephone system
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)

Internet
Country code: .ch
Service providers isps: 44 (Switzerland and Liechtenstein) (2000)
Users: 2.4 million (2000)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $3.1 billion (FY98)
Percent of gdp: 1.2% (FY98)

Airports: 67 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 42
With paved runways over 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 4
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 13
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 7
With paved runways under 914 m: 15 (2000 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 25
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 25 (2000 est.)

Pipelines: crude oil 314 km; natural gas 1506 km

Railways
Total: 4,492 km (1,564 km double track)
Standard gauge: 3,317 km 1.435-m gauge (3,288 km electrified)
Narrow gauge: 1,165 km 1.000-m gauge (1,165 km electrified); 10 km 0.800-m gauge (1998)

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

Merchant marine
Total: 24 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 435,966 GRT/780,458 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 12, cargo 6, chemical tanker 5, petroleum tanker 1
Note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: UK 1 (2000 est.)

Disputes international: none