Landform Regions

The Alps make up Switzerland's main terrain region, covering 60 percent of its land area. This complicated zone is formed by the Bernese, Pennine, Lepontine, and Rhaetian mountain systems. The Alps extend from France on the west to Germany and Austria on the north and east and into Italy on the south. A notable peak is the Dufourspitze of Monte Rosa, a mountain with several summits, on the Switzerland-Italy border at 15,203 feet (4,634 meters), Switzerland's highest point. The region's chief mountain passes are the Simplon, Furka, and St. Gotthard. Two other famous peaks in the Alps are the Jungfrau near Interlaken and the Matterhorn near Zermatt. (See also Alps.)

The Jura Mountains, covering 10 percent of Switzerland, are a lower and less rugged system of mountain ranges. They lie along the France-Switzerland border. Altitudes vary from 3,000 to 5,600 feet (900 to 1,700 meters), but the ridges have relatively few natural interruptions, and they are therefore a notable barrier to settlement and movement. Like the Alps, the area is sparsely populated.

The Mittelland, with an average elevation of 1,500 feet (460 meters), occupies 30 percent of the country. It is a region of gently rolling hills and valleys formed by glaciers thousands of years ago. It extends from Lake Geneva on the southwest to Lake Constance on the northeast, where Germany, Austria, and Switzerland meet. Most of Switzerland's cities and economic activities are in the Mittelland.

Climate

Vegetation

As the climate varies, so does the original vegetation. It is affected most by altitude. Deciduous and evergreen trees rise to the snow line. Above that level mountain meadows and tundra dominate the landscape. Forests are one of Switzerland's treasures.

Natural Resources

Switzerland's mineral resources are limited. There are small iron and manganese deposits in the Jura but no known deposits of coal. A variety of materials is worthy of commercial exploitation. Among them are lime, salt, sand, gravel, clay, and marble.

Switzerland's lack of mineral resources is largely counterbalanced by its greatest asset—waterpower—which is harnessed by huge dams that produce hydroelectricity for industry. Nuclear energy provides more than one third of Switzerland's electricity despite criticism by environmentalists. Thermal power plants that use imported fuels supply only a small portion of the country's energy.

People

With a population of 7 million, Switzerland has an average density of more than 450 persons per square mile (175 per square kilometer). In the Mittelland the density is significantly higher. As a result of rural-urban migration and natural increase, the country has become increasingly urbanized since World War II, though about one third of the people still live in rural areas. Only a limited number of these rural dwellers are farmers. The four chief cities are Zürich, Geneva, Basel, and the capital, Bern. (See also Bern; Geneva; Zürich.)

Although there is no marked ethnic differentiation, there is considerable linguistic variety: about 65 percent of the people speak German, 18 percent French, and 10 percent Italian. Fewer than 1 percent speak the ancient Romansh tongue. There is also a marked religious diversity. About 46 percent of the residents are Roman Catholics, and 40 percent claim Protestant affiliation. The foreign population of well over 1 million is mainly composed of guest workers largely from Italy, France, and Spain. They are overwhelmingly Roman Catholics. The Jewish community is very small.

Education

Switzerland boasts universal literacy. This is tied to an excellent school system administered at the canton level. Education is compulsory for nine years beginning at the age of 6 or 7. The majority of the students continue their education with vocational training, and some proceed to technical schools. About one fifth go on to higher secondary schools. There they receive a “maturity” certificate that qualifies them to attend a higher technical institute or a university. There are 10 universities in Switzerland, with the oldest located at Basel. There are also two Federal Institutes of Technology, which are equivalent to universities, and seven universities of applied sciences. The high quality of Swiss elementary and secondary education is attributed in part to the teachings of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, an educational reformer of the late 18th and early 19th centuries (see Pestalozzi). There is a clear commitment on the part of the Swiss to devote a major share of their resources to all branches of education.

Social Welfare

Switzerland's social welfare system is comprehensive and contains provisions for free subsidized health care, including maternity benefits. The state also provides old-age pensions and long-term nursing care. The cantons share with the federal government and the trade unions the costs of the welfare system.

Cultural Life

Although Switzerland was by no means a leader in the development of European culture, it can be proud of its contributions to the arts and sciences. Many Swiss artists have chosen to live abroad, particularly among their linguistic counterparts in neighboring France and Germany. Yet Switzerland has always been a haven for foreign artists and scholars in times of war and unrest. The mid-1840s was such a period, and the 1930s and 1940s brought artists like the German Thomas Mann and the Italian Ignazio Silone (see Mann, Thomas).

In the 20th century Le Corbusier created an international school of architecture that for a time dominated building trends in Europe, the United States, and Latin America (see Le Corbusier). Modern Swiss artists of international reputation include the sculptor Alberto Giacometti and the painter Paul Klee (see Giacometti; Klee). The dramatists Friedrich Dürrenmatt and Max Frisch are world renowned, and their plays have been translated into many foreign languages. Among famous writers of Swiss birth were the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the historian Jakob Burckhardt, while popular authors Johanna Spyri and Johann Wyss wrote Heidi and The Swiss Family Robinson, respectively (see Rousseau, Jean-Jacques; Spyri). Switzerland was also the home of the noted psychologist Carl Jung (see Jung). Albert Einstein was educated and spent a portion of his adult life in Switzerland (see Einstein).

Although the country has not been a leading music center, the 20th-century composers Arthur Honegger and Frank Martin received worldwide recognition. Igor Stravinsky spent most of the World War I years in Switzerland (see Stravinsky). Notable Swiss performers were the pianist Edwin Fischer and the conductor Ernest Ansermet, who founded l'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva in 1918.

The number of Swiss scientists who have been awarded the Nobel prize is remarkable considering the small population. The Federal Institutes of Technology have also produced many award-winning scholars.

Communications

Switzerland publishes a number of quality newspapers and magazines. Among the newspapers is the noted Neue Zürcher Zeitung. This paper and several of its competitors are international in focus and rank among the world's best. Swiss television and radio are controlled by the state, and programs are broadcast for each of the three major language groups. There are also programs in Romansh and several other languages. Paid advertising is forbidden on radio; on television it is limited to about 20 minutes each day.

Economy

Switzerland has a highly developed market-oriented economy based on manufacturing and services such as international trade, shipping, banking, insurance, and tourism. Industries are heavily dependent on foreign guest workers, who account for a large segment of the labor force. The country has kept unemployment low and has achieved one of the highest per capita incomes in the world.

Switzerland's rugged terrain limits the arable land to about a tenth of the total area, and agriculture accounts for only 3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 4 percent of the labor force. Like that of the European Union, Swiss agriculture is protected and highly subsidized, but it supplies only half of the nation's grain needs. The leading agricultural activity is cattle grazing. Pastures support an estimated 2 million dairy cattle and an equivalent number of beef cattle. There is considerable regional diversity in crops, ranging from the irrigated horticulture of the southwest to the modified Mediterranean crops of Ticino Canton in the south. The leading crops are wheat, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, and hardy fruits. The production of wine, basically for domestic consumption, meets only a fraction of Swiss demands. Food industries, based on the country's milk production, focus on cheese (Emmentaler and Gruyère) and chocolate products.

Despite Switzerland's limited supply of raw materials, its economy has prospered. This prosperity can be attributed to abundant hydroelectric power, a central position on international trade routes, and a skilled labor force. Switzerland's industries are predominantly high value-added and labor- and capital-intensive enterprises.

The nation's transformation into an industrial state began during the late 19th century. Major exports now include machinery, watches, pharmaceutical products, and chemicals. The nature of industrial activities necessitates imports of raw and semifinished materials by costly overland routes. Only the notable quality of its manufactured goods permits Switzerland to remain competitive. Manufacturing industries account for roughly one third of the GDP and one quarter of the labor force. Leading manufacturing sectors include the production of turbines, generators, watches, precision instruments, textiles, chemicals, and foodstuffs.

The longtime dominance of the Swiss watch industry has been severely challenged by Asian competitors—particularly Taiwan and Japan. The Swiss have moved to combat the threat with a merger of several companies to reduce costs, with research and development to produce higher-quality products, and with the mass production of inexpensive plastic watches to compete in that market. The innovations have kept the watch industry competitive.

Heavy industry has markedly declined, with a corresponding rise in services and trade. High-tech and communications industries are in the forefront of Swiss economic development. Zürich and Basel are the chief manufacturing centers, but industrial plants are scattered throughout the Mittelland—even within the rural countryside. Switzerland's noted banking system and its reputation for financial secrecy have made it a key center of international finance. Foreign investors are drawn to Swiss banks by the nation's economic stability, the solid Swiss franc, and the long experience of Swiss bankers. Many domestic and foreign fortunes are invested in Swiss banks.

Transportation

Tourism

Switzerland is one of the world's leading tourist centers. Its visitors bring in huge revenues to the economy. Tourism is a year-round industry, with a seasonal shift in activities from winter to summer. Winter sports include skiing, sledding, tobogganing, and ice skating. The leading winter resorts are St-Moritz, Gstaad, and Interlaken. All three are world renowned. Summers bring golf, boating, swimming, hiking, and climbing. Switzerland has been called a country of hotel keepers, and many people are employed in hotels, inns, spas, and restaurants. The Swiss are world famous for their hospitality and the quality of their cuisine.

Government and History

Switzerland is a decentralized federal republic composed of 23 cantons, three of which are divided into half cantons. These in turn are divided into communes. Legislative power is the responsibility of the dual-chamber Federal Assembly. One chamber consists of 200 representatives chosen by the electorate for four-year terms. The other, which has 46 representatives, is selected directly by the cantons. Each sends two representatives, but the mode of their election and the terms of their service depend on the laws of the individual cantons. Executive power is in the hands of the Federal Council, which is chosen by the assembly. The council consists of seven members elected for four-year terms, and they act as a cabinet. One of the members of the council is chosen as president but serves for only one year. The president's powers are therefore extremely limited. Women did not attain suffrage until 1971. While men in one of the half cantons continued to reject proposals to allow women the right to vote on local matters, the nation's high court in 1990 ordered them to grant women the right.

Settlements of hunters, fishermen, gatherers, and agriculturists occupied Switzerland before the Christian era. The Neolithic dwellers, of whom there are archaeological records, made their homes around Switzerland's lakes.

A people known as the Helvetians apparently lived in western Switzerland, while the ancient Rhaetians controlled the east. The Romans conquered both territories in the 1st century BC and remained in firm control for four centuries, using garrisons stationed in strategic mountain passes. From the 3rd through the 6th century the region was settled by a host of Germanic tribes, one succeeding another. A century later missionaries converted the population to Christianity.

Much of what is now Switzerland became part of the Holy Roman Empire during the 11th century. Between the 13th and the 15th century various administrative units known as cantons formed a loose confederation, which gradually grew to today's borders.

In the 16th century Switzerland was the focus of the Protestant Reformation, and the cantons split along religious lines. One of the greatest political and religious leaders of the Reformation was John Calvin. His success lay in his extraordinary ability to combine extreme political convictions with administrative talent. Calvin made much of Switzerland a tower of Protestant strength. Both civil and secular law were dominated by Calvin's preachings. His religious base was Geneva, but his ideas spread rapidly to Scotland, the Netherlands, and even to southern France. Another famous religious leader was Huldrych Zwingli, who preached in Zürich and led the Protestants in an extended civil war with their Roman Catholic neighbors (see Calvin; Zwingli).

Switzerland's secession from the Holy Roman Empire was recognized by the Treaty of Westphalia, which followed the Thirty Years' War early in the 17th century. The desire for independence ultimately overshadowed religious conflict, and the new state soon regained political stability. There was an intellectual flourishing of literature and philosophy in centers like Geneva, Basel, Bern, and Zürich. During the Napoleonic era that followed, Switzerland was occupied by the French, who imposed their institutions on the country. This ended with the defeat of the French and the convening of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, which guaranteed Swiss neutrality for the foreseeable future. The desire for independence may have led ultimately to the Swiss focus on defense, which even today consumes significant expenditures of human and monetary resources.

In the century that followed, the Swiss Confederation experienced growing prosperity. Of significance was the textile industry—wool, cotton, linen, and silk goods—which flourished in Zürich and Basel. The watch industry also had its beginnings at this time.

Switzerland remained neutral through the Franco-Prussian War and the two world wars. The country thus gained the respect of the world as a peaceful and tolerant nation. It has welcomed refugees from war and persecution, and its people have led world humanitarian and peace efforts. Originally the site of the League of Nations, Switzerland is currently one of several United Nations (UN) headquarters. After years of resistance, the country joined the UN in 2002.

Switzerland has often been the site of prestigious international conferences. While it has refused to join the European Union or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Switzerland has joined the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the Council of Europe. Population (2002), 7,282,000.