Switzerland
Created | Updated Oct 20, 2010
<p>Switzerland (Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera) is a small country in the heart of Western Europe with a lot to offer. Until the late 90s of the twentieth century, the political situation in the small democracy can be described as "quiet". So quiet that in fact most people who haven't been to Europe probably never heard of it or mistook it for "Sweden" (another great country, by the way). At the very end of the 20th century, Switzerland started to be haunted by its past or -to be more specific- by its dubious role during the Second World War. Having accepted large amounts of Nazi Gold while acting behind a the curtain of neutrality and successfully managing to hide these facts for almost fifty years after the war left ugly dark (brownish...) stains on the country's otherwise white vest. <BR/>
It, however, has to be said that since the discovery of this outrageous truth much has been done to restore the Helvetic Confederation's (1) reputation. One should also not forget that a huge majority of the people living in Switzerland today don't have anything whatsoever to do with the uglyness of the Second World War. While the past should always be kept in mind, let's focus on the present now and take a closer look at a very beautiful country that is certainly worth a visit.
</p>
<p><b>Geographical situation</b><BR/>
<BR/>
<a href="http://www.fahrzeugmarkt.com/cgi/map.pl?">Switzerland</a> borders with several interesting European countries (Germany, France, Italy, Liechtenstein and Austria) and therefore is a perfect starting point to begin your vacation in Europe. Please take a look at this <a href="http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/europe/Europe.jpg">map</a> of Europe to locate Switzerland (abbreviated as "Switz."). As you'll have noticed, the country's long and complicated name isn't exactly an indicator for its size. Occupying an area of only 41,284 square km it is one of the smallest countries in the world. In addition to its small area, a big part of the country's ground is located on mountains (the Alps, of course) and therefore inaccessible for construction. Other landmarks are the five major lakes (Lake Geneva, Lac de Neuchâtel, Vierwaldstaettersee, Lake of Zurich and Lake of Constance) and several beautiful rivers (the most famous being the Rhine and the Rhone).<BR/>
Its small size allows the traveller to easily access Switzerland's numerous must-see places and aids tourists to keep an overview of their activities.
</p>
<p><b>Political situation</b><BR/>
<BR/>
The country is devided into <a href="http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/schweiz/kantone/index.html">26 cantons (states) and half-cantons</a>. The biggest number of these is located in the country's German speaking area (2). <BR/>
The nation's capital is <a href="http://www.berne.ch">Berne</a>, the largest city with a population of roughly 363'000 is <a href="http://www.zuerich.ch">Zurich</a>.<BR/>
With a very high population density of 172 inhabitants per square km, approximately 7'200'000 people live in Switzerland. Compared to the U.S. State of Minnesota with a population of about 6'000'000 and an area 35 times bigger than Switzerland, that really is quite a lot. The highest population density (5218 per km^2!) can be found in the city of Basel (pronunced "buuusa)l"<BR/>
The population is devided according to the nation's four official languages (German, French, Italian and Rumantsch) (list sorted according to the percentage of people speaking the language, with German having the highest percentage).
Very roughly speaking, German is spoken in the Northern, French in the Western, Italian in the Southern and Rumantsch in the Eastern parts of Switzerland. It's save to say that if you speak either German or French you won't have any trouble whatsoever finding your way while travelling. If the only language you speak is English, things shouldn't be too difficult either, just be prepared to hear a very funny accent when you talk to people :) (please note: Your Spanish definitely won't get you anywhere). <BR/>
Traditionally there have been certain differences of opinion between the people of the various language regions. The French speaking part of Switzerland is traditionally more progressive (especially when it comes to the question whether Switzerland should become a member of the European Union, which it isn't at the moment), whereas the German and Italian speaking parts are more conservative.
<p><b>Government</b><BR/>
<BR/>
Switzerland is one of the oldest democracies on this planet, taking great pride in this tradition. The government is devided into the executive (called <a href="http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/cf/index.html">"The Federal Council"</a>), the
legislative (<a href="http://www.parlament.ch/poly/Framesets/E/Frame-E.htm">parliament</a>) and the judiciary branch (<a href="http://www.bger.ch/e/default.htm">Federal Supreme Court</a>). In accordance with the country's democratic principles, the Swiss people has an extraordinary amount of power. Nowhere on Earth have there been more votes than in Switzerland since 1848 when the government in its current form was established.
</p>
<p><b>Currency</b><BR/>
The Swiss currency is the "Swiss Franc", an internationally accepted strong currency. If you can change money for free in your country of origin, it's save to do so before travelling to Switzerland. If they charge you for that, bring your own currency and change it in Switzerland where you'll generally get good exchange rates.
Note: Switzerland isn't a member of the European Union at this moment, Euros (€), therefore, won't get you anywhere, not even once they'll officially have been introduced in 2002.
</p>
<p><b>Education and Science</b><BR/>
Switzerland has a very high educational standard. The one major difference to education in other countries is the exceptionally high standard of apprenticeships. Here, just because someone hasn't been to college doesn't mean she or he is stupid :)<BR/>
Everybody who has been through Switzerland's school system has come into contact with at least one foreign language. Changes are that the people you encounter know one of the four official languages in addition to their mother tongue, plus English.
</p>
Tourism:
- Climate
- Prices
- Places to see
-Travelling in Switzerland
- Do's and don't's
- Life in Switzerland
- Driving Age
- Drinking Age
- Smoking Age
- "Polizeistunde"
- Opening times of stores
- Food (traditional & international)
- Phone companies
- Using your cellphone in Switzerland (900/1900!!)
-
Moving to Switzerland:
- Working in Switzerland
- Living in Switzerland
- Obtaining Citizenship
-
Misc. Stuff:
- Recommended Search Engines for Switzerland
- Maps
- Important Web-sites and addresses
- Webcams
Bibliographie:
- Swiss Federal Statistics Office http://www.statistik.admin.ch/eindex.htm
- Map of Europe: University of Texas
- Map of Switzeralnd: Fahrzeugmarkt.com
It, however, has to be said that since the discovery of this outrageous truth much has been done to restore the Helvetic Confederation's (1) reputation. One should also not forget that a huge majority of the people living in Switzerland today don't have anything whatsoever to do with the uglyness of the Second World War. While the past should always be kept in mind, let's focus on the present now and take a closer look at a very beautiful country that is certainly worth a visit.
</p>
<p><b>Geographical situation</b><BR/>
<BR/>
<a href="http://www.fahrzeugmarkt.com/cgi/map.pl?">Switzerland</a> borders with several interesting European countries (Germany, France, Italy, Liechtenstein and Austria) and therefore is a perfect starting point to begin your vacation in Europe. Please take a look at this <a href="http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/europe/Europe.jpg">map</a> of Europe to locate Switzerland (abbreviated as "Switz."). As you'll have noticed, the country's long and complicated name isn't exactly an indicator for its size. Occupying an area of only 41,284 square km it is one of the smallest countries in the world. In addition to its small area, a big part of the country's ground is located on mountains (the Alps, of course) and therefore inaccessible for construction. Other landmarks are the five major lakes (Lake Geneva, Lac de Neuchâtel, Vierwaldstaettersee, Lake of Zurich and Lake of Constance) and several beautiful rivers (the most famous being the Rhine and the Rhone).<BR/>
Its small size allows the traveller to easily access Switzerland's numerous must-see places and aids tourists to keep an overview of their activities.
</p>
<p><b>Political situation</b><BR/>
<BR/>
The country is devided into <a href="http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/schweiz/kantone/index.html">26 cantons (states) and half-cantons</a>. The biggest number of these is located in the country's German speaking area (2). <BR/>
The nation's capital is <a href="http://www.berne.ch">Berne</a>, the largest city with a population of roughly 363'000 is <a href="http://www.zuerich.ch">Zurich</a>.<BR/>
With a very high population density of 172 inhabitants per square km, approximately 7'200'000 people live in Switzerland. Compared to the U.S. State of Minnesota with a population of about 6'000'000 and an area 35 times bigger than Switzerland, that really is quite a lot. The highest population density (5218 per km^2!) can be found in the city of Basel (pronunced "buuusa)l"<BR/>
The population is devided according to the nation's four official languages (German, French, Italian and Rumantsch) (list sorted according to the percentage of people speaking the language, with German having the highest percentage).
Very roughly speaking, German is spoken in the Northern, French in the Western, Italian in the Southern and Rumantsch in the Eastern parts of Switzerland. It's save to say that if you speak either German or French you won't have any trouble whatsoever finding your way while travelling. If the only language you speak is English, things shouldn't be too difficult either, just be prepared to hear a very funny accent when you talk to people :) (please note: Your Spanish definitely won't get you anywhere). <BR/>
Traditionally there have been certain differences of opinion between the people of the various language regions. The French speaking part of Switzerland is traditionally more progressive (especially when it comes to the question whether Switzerland should become a member of the European Union, which it isn't at the moment), whereas the German and Italian speaking parts are more conservative.
<p><b>Government</b><BR/>
<BR/>
Switzerland is one of the oldest democracies on this planet, taking great pride in this tradition. The government is devided into the executive (called <a href="http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/cf/index.html">"The Federal Council"</a>), the
legislative (<a href="http://www.parlament.ch/poly/Framesets/E/Frame-E.htm">parliament</a>) and the judiciary branch (<a href="http://www.bger.ch/e/default.htm">Federal Supreme Court</a>). In accordance with the country's democratic principles, the Swiss people has an extraordinary amount of power. Nowhere on Earth have there been more votes than in Switzerland since 1848 when the government in its current form was established.
</p>
<p><b>Currency</b><BR/>
The Swiss currency is the "Swiss Franc", an internationally accepted strong currency. If you can change money for free in your country of origin, it's save to do so before travelling to Switzerland. If they charge you for that, bring your own currency and change it in Switzerland where you'll generally get good exchange rates.
Note: Switzerland isn't a member of the European Union at this moment, Euros (€), therefore, won't get you anywhere, not even once they'll officially have been introduced in 2002.
</p>
<p><b>Education and Science</b><BR/>
Switzerland has a very high educational standard. The one major difference to education in other countries is the exceptionally high standard of apprenticeships. Here, just because someone hasn't been to college doesn't mean she or he is stupid :)<BR/>
Everybody who has been through Switzerland's school system has come into contact with at least one foreign language. Changes are that the people you encounter know one of the four official languages in addition to their mother tongue, plus English.
</p>
Tourism:
- Climate
- Prices
- Places to see
-Travelling in Switzerland
- Do's and don't's
- Life in Switzerland
- Driving Age
- Drinking Age
- Smoking Age
- "Polizeistunde"
- Opening times of stores
- Food (traditional & international)
- Phone companies
- Using your cellphone in Switzerland (900/1900!!)
-
Moving to Switzerland:
- Working in Switzerland
- Living in Switzerland
- Obtaining Citizenship
-
Misc. Stuff:
- Recommended Search Engines for Switzerland
- Maps
- Important Web-sites and addresses
- Webcams
Bibliographie:
- Swiss Federal Statistics Office http://www.statistik.admin.ch/eindex.htm
- Map of Europe: University of Texas
- Map of Switzeralnd: Fahrzeugmarkt.com
