Informazioni sulla Svizzera (Fonte: CIA -- The World Factbook 1999) |
[Top] 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. |
[Top] Location: Central Europe, east of France, north of Italy Geographic coordinates: 47 00 N, 8 00 E Map references: Europe Area: Areacomparative: slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey Land boundaries: 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:
Natural resources: hydropower potential, timber, salt Land use: Irrigated land: 250 sq km (1993 est.) Natural hazards: avalanches, landslides, flash floods Environmentcurrent issues: air pollution from vehicle emissions and open-air burning; acid rain; water pollution from increased use of agricultural fertilizers; loss of biodiversity Environmentinternational
agreements: Geographynote: landlocked; crossroads of northern and southern Europe; along with southeastern France and northern Italy, contains the highest elevations in Europe |
[Top] Population: 7,275,467 (July 1999 est.) Age structure: Population growth rate: 0.2% (1999 est.) Birth rate: 10.53 births/1,000 population (1999 est.) Death rate: 9.06 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.) Net migration rate: 0.49 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.) Sex ratio: Infant mortality rate: 4.87 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.) Life expectancy at
birth: Total fertility rate: 1.46 children born/woman (1999 est.) Nationality: Ethnic groups: German 65%, French 18%, Italian 10%, Romansch 1%, other 6% Religions: Roman Catholic 46.1%, Protestant 40%, other 5%, no religion 8.9% (1990) Languages: German 63.7%, French 19.2%, Italian 7.6%, Romansch 0.6%, other 8.9% Literacy: |
[Top] Country name: Data code: SZ Government type: federal republic Capital: Bern Administrative divisions: 26 cantons (cantons, singularcanton in French; cantoni, singularcantone in Italian; kantone, singularkanton 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:
Legislative branch:
bicameral Federal Assembly or Bundesversammlung (in
German), Assemblee Federale (in French), Assemblea
Federale (in Italian) consists of the Council of States
or Standerat (in German), Conseil des Etats (in French),
Consiglio degli Stati (in Italian) (46 seatsmembers
serve four-year terms) and the National Council or
Nationalrat (in German), Conseil National (in French),
Consiglio Nazionale (in Italian) (200 seatsmembers
are elected by popular vote on a basis of proportional
representation to serve four-year terms) Judicial branch: Federal Supreme Court, judges elected for six-year terms by the Federal Assembly Political parties and leaders: 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) [Ursula KOCH, president]; 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]; 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]; 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]; Freedom Party or FPS [Roland BORER]; Alliance of Independents' Party (Landesring der Unabhaengigen or LdU, Alliance des Independants or AdI) [Anton SCHALLER, president]; Ticino League (Lega dei Ticinesi) [leader NA]; and other minor parties including Swiss Democratic Party (Schweizer Demokraten or SD, Democrates Suisses or DS, Democratici Svizzeri or DS), Liberal Party (Liberale Partei der Schweiz or LPS, Parti Liberal Suisse or PLS, Partito Liberale Svizzero or PLS), Workers' Party (Parti Suisse du Travail or PST, Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz or PdAdS, Partito Svizzero del Lavoro or PSdL), Evangelical People's Party (Evangelische Volkspartei der Schweiz or EVP, Parti Evangelique Suisse or PEV, Partito Evangelico Svizzero or PEV), and the Union of Federal Democrats (Eidgenossisch-Demokratische Union or EDU, Union Democratique Federale or UDF, Unione Democratica Federale or UDF) 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), MTCR, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN (observer), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UNPREDEP, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC Diplomatic
representation in the US: Diplomatic
representation from the US: Flag description: red square with a bold, equilateral white cross in the center that does not extend to the edges of the flag |
[Top] Economyoverview: Switzerland, a fundamentally prosperous and stable modern economy with a per capita GDP 15%-20% above that of the big West European economies, experienced an export-driven upturn in its economy in 1998. The downturn in the global economy, however, will have a cooling effect on the 1998 boom in the Swiss export sector, including financial services, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and special-purpose machines. A major downturn in the Swiss economy should still be avoided, as consumer and capital spending have picked up and will keep the economy moving in 1999. GDP growth in 1999 is expected to come in around 1.4%. The growing political and economic union of Europe suggests that Switzerland's time-honored neutral separation is becoming increasingly obsolete. Thus, when the surrounding trade partners launched the euro on 1 January 1999, their firms began prodding Swiss exporters and importers to keep their accounts in euros. GDP: purchasing power parity$191.8 billion (1998 est.) GDPreal growth rate: 2% (1998 est.) GDPper capita: purchasing power parity$26,400 (1998 est.) GDPcomposition
by sector: Population below poverty line: NA% Household income or
consumption by percentage share: Inflation rate (consumer prices): 0% (1998) Labor force: 3.8 million (850,000 foreign workers, mostly Italian) Labor forceby occupation: services 67%, manufacturing and construction 29%, agriculture and forestry 4% (1995) Unemployment rate: 3.6% (1998 est.) Budget: Industries: machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision instruments Industrial production growth rate: 6% (1998 est.) Electricityproduction: 54.815 billion kWh (1996) Electricityproduction
by source: Electricityconsumption: 53.765 billion kWh (1996) Electricityexports: 24.2 billion kWh (1996) Electricityimports: 23.15 billion kWh (1996) Agricultureproducts: grains, fruits, vegetables; meat, eggs Exports: $94.4 billion (f.o.b., 1998) Exportscommodities: machinery 29%, chemicals 28%, metals, watches, agricultural products (1997) Exportspartners: EU 61% (Germany 23%, France 9%, Italy 8%, UK 6%, Austria 3%), US 10%, Japan 4% (1997) Imports: $95.5 billion (f.o.b., 1998) Importscommodities: machinery 22%, chemicals 16%, vehicles, metals, agricultural products, textiles (1997) Importspartners: EU 79% (Germany 32%, France 12%, Italy 10%, Netherlands 5%, UK 5%),, US 7%, Japan 3% (1997) Debtexternal: $NA Economic aiddonor: ODA, $1.1 billion (1995) Currency: 1 Swiss franc, franken, or franco (SFR) = 100 centimes, rappen, or centesimi Exchange rates: Swiss francs, franken, or franchi (SFR) per US$11.3837 (January 1999), 1.4498 (1998), 1.4513 (1997), 1.2360 (1996), 1.1825 (1995), 1.3677 (1994) Fiscal year: calendar year |
[Top] Telephones: 5.24 million (1996 est.); 307,000 cellular telephone subscribers (1994 est.) Telephone system:
excellent domestic and international services Radio broadcast stations: AM 7, FM 50, shortwave 1 (1997) Radios: 2.8 million (1996) Television broadcast stations: 108 (1997) Televisions: 2.647 million licenses (1996) |
[Top] Railways: Highways: Waterways: 65 km; Rhine (Basel to Rheinfelden, Schaffhausen to Bodensee); 12 navigable lakes Pipelines: crude oil 314 km; natural gas 1,506 km Ports and harbors: Basel Merchant marine: Airports: 67 (1998 est.) Airportswith
paved runways: Airportswith
unpaved runways: |
[Top] Military branches: Army, Air Force, Frontier Guards, Fortification Guards Military manpowermilitary age: 20 years of age Military manpoweravailability:
Military manpowerfit
for military service: Military manpowerreaching
military age annually: Military expendituresdollar figure: $3.1 billion (1999) Military expenditurespercent of GDP: 1.2% (1999) |
[Top] Disputesinternational: none Illicit drugs: because of more stringent government regulations, used significantly less as a money-laundering center; transit country for and consumer of South American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin
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