{{Short description|Country in Central Europe}}
{{About|the country}}
{{redirect|Swiss Confederation}}
{{Pp-semi-indef}}
{{Pp-move}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Swiss Confederation
| common_name = Switzerland
| native_name = {{collapsible list
| titlestyle = text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:86%;
| title = Name in official languages and Latin
| {{Infobox
| subbox = yes
| bodystyle = font-size:77%;font-weight:normal;
| rowclass1 = mergedrow
| label1 = [[German language|German]]:
| data1 = {{lang|de|Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft}}
| rowclass2 = mergedrow
| label2 = [[French language|French]]:
| data2 = {{lang|fr|Confédération suisse}}
| rowclass3 = mergedrow
| label3 = [[Italian language|Italian]]:
| data3 = {{lang|it|Confederazione Svizzera}}
| rowclass4 = mergedrow
| label4 = [[Romansh language|Romansh]]:
| data4 = {{lang|rm|Confederaziun svizra}}
| rowclass5 = mergedrow
| label5 = [[Latin]]:
| data5 = {{lang|la|Confoederatio helvetica}}[[https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/009827/2020-09-15/ Confoederatio helvetica (CH)], in the [[Historical Dictionary of Switzerland]].]
}}
}}
| image_flag = Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg
| image_coat = Coat of Arms of Switzerland (Pantone).svg
| national_motto = (unofficial)
"{{lang|la|[[Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno]]}}"
| national_anthem = "[[Swiss Psalm]]"{{center|[[File:Swiss Psalm (official instrumental).ogg|Swiss Psalm]]}}
| image_map = {{Switcher|[[File:Switzerland (orthographic projection).svg|upright=1.15|frameless]]|Show globe|[[File:Europe-Switzerland.svg|upright=1.15|frameless]]|Show map of Europe|default=1}}
| map_caption = {{map caption |location_color=green |region=Europe |region_color=green and dark grey}}
| capital = None (''[[de jure]]''); [[Bern]] (''[[de facto]]'')
| admin_center = Bern{{efn|name=fedcit|Bern is referred to as "federal city" ({{langx|de|Bundesstadt|links=no}}; {{langx|fr|ville fédérale|links=no}}; {{langx|it|città federale|links=no}}; {{langx|rm|citad federala|links=no}}). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities ([[Bellinzona]], [[Lausanne]], [[Lucerne]], [[Neuchâtel]], [[St. Gallen]] a.o.).}}[{{Cite journal |last=Holenstein |first=André |year=2012 |title=Die Hauptstadt existiert nicht |journal=UniPress – Forschung und Wissenschaft an der Universität Bern |type=scientific article |language=de |location=Bern|publisher=Department Communication, [[University of Bern]]|volume=152 (Sonderfall Hauptstatdtregion) |pages=16–19 |doi=10.7892/boris.41280 |s2cid=178237847 |quote=Als 1848 ein politisch-administratives Zentrum für den neuen Bundesstaat zu bestimmen war, verzichteten die Verfassungsväter darauf, eine Hauptstadt der Schweiz zu bezeichnen und formulierten stattdessen in Artikel 108: "Alles, was sich auf den Sitz der Bundesbehörden bezieht, ist Gegenstand der Bundesgesetzgebung." Die Bundesstadt ist also nicht mehr und nicht weniger als der Sitz der Bundesbehörden. |trans-quote=In 1848, when a political and administrative centre was being determined for the new federation, the founders of the constitution abstained from designating a capital city for Switzerland and instead formulated in Article 108: "Everything, which relates to seat of the authorities, is the subject of the federal legislation." The federal city is therefore no more and no less than the seat of the federal authorities.}}]
| admin_center_type = [[Federal city]]
| largest_city = [[Zurich]]
| official_languages = [[German language|German]] (62%), [[French language|French]] (23%), [[Italian language|Italian]] (8%), [[Romansh language|Romansh]] (0.5%)
| englishmotto = "One for all, all for one"
| languages_type = Nationality {{nobold|(2024)}}[{{Cite web |url=https://dam-api.bfs.admin.ch/hub/api/dam/assets/34447372/master |title=Wohnbevölkerung der Schweiz steigt 2024 auf über neun Millionen, trotz Geburtenrückgang (Medienmitteilung; provisorische Zahlen) |publisher=[[Federal Statistical Office (Switzerland)|Federal Statistical Office (FSO/BFS)]] |date=3 April 2025 |access-date=26 January 2026 |format=PDF |language=de}}]
| languages = {{unbulleted list|72.6% [[Swiss nationality law|Swiss]]|27.4% [[Immigration to Switzerland|foreign nationals]]}}
| religion_year = 2024
| religion_ref = [{{Cite web |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/population/languages-religions/religions.html |title=Religions |date= |website= |publisher=[[Federal Statistical Office (Switzerland)|Federal Statistical Office]] |location=Neuchâtel, Switzerland |access-date=2026-02-07 }}]
| religion = {{Tree list}}
* 54.7% [[Christianity]]
** 30% [[Catholic Church in Switzerland|Catholicism]]
** 18.7% [[Protestantism in Switzerland|Protestantism]]
** 6% other [[Christian denomination|Christian]]
* 36.8% [[Irreligion|no religion]]
* 6% [[Islam in Switzerland|Islam]]
* 1.5% [[Religion in Switzerland|other religions]]
* 0.9% unanswered
{{Tree list/end}}
| demonym = {{ubl|{{langx|en|[[Swiss people|Swiss]]}}|{{langx|de|link=no|Schweizer/Schweizerin}}|{{langx|fr|link=no|Suisse/Suissesse}}|{{langx|it|svizzero/svizzera}} or {{lang|it|elvetico/elvetica}}|{{langx|rm|Svizzer/Svizra}}}}
| government_type = Federal [[List of countries by system of government#Assembly-independent republics|assembly-independent]][{{Cite journal |last=Shugart |first=Matthew Søberg |date=December 2005 |title=Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive And Mixed Authority Patterns |journal=French Politics |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=323–351 |doi=10.1057/palgrave.fp.8200087 |s2cid=73642272|doi-access=free |issn=1476-3419}}][{{Cite journal |last=Elgie |first=Robert |date=2016 |title=Government Systems, Party Politics, and Institutional Engineering in the Round |journal=Insight Turkey |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=79–92 |issn=1302-177X |jstor=26300453}}] directorial republic
| leader_title1 = [[Federal Council of Switzerland|Federal Councillors]]
| leader_name1 = {{unbulleted list
| [[Guy Parmelin]] ([[President of the Swiss Confederation|President]])
| [[Ignazio Cassis]] ([[Vice President of Switzerland|Vice president]])
| [[Karin Keller-Sutter]]
| [[Albert Rösti]]
| [[Élisabeth Baume-Schneider]]
| [[Beat Jans]]
| [[Martin Pfister]]
}}
| leader_title2 = {{nowrap|[[Chancellor of Switzerland|Federal Chancellor]]}}
| leader_name2 = [[Viktor Rossi]]
| legislature = [[Federal Assembly (Switzerland)|Federal Assembly]]
| upper_house = [[Council of States (Switzerland)|Council of States]]
| lower_house = [[National Council (Switzerland)|National Council]]
| sovereignty_type = [[History of Switzerland|History]]
| established_event1 = [[Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy|Founded]]
| established_date1 = 1 August 1291{{efn|name=rütlischwur|Traditional date. The original date of the [[Rütli Oath]] was 1307 (reported by [[Aegidius Tschudi]] in the 16th century) and is just one among several comparable treaties between more or less the same parties during that period. The date of the [[Federal Charter of 1291]] was selected in 1891 for the official celebration of the "Confederacy's 600th anniversary".}}
| established_event2 = Sovereignty recognised ([[Peace of Westphalia]])
| established_date2 = 24 October 1648
| established_event3 = [[Federal Treaty]]
| established_date3 = 7 August 1815
| established_event4 = [[Switzerland as a federal state|Federal state]]
| established_date4 = 12 September 1848{{efn|name=federal constitution|A solemn declaration of the {{lang|de|[[Tagsatzung]]}} declared the Federal Constitution adopted on 12 September 1848. A resolution of the {{lang|de|Tagsatzung}} of 14 September 1848 specified that the powers of the institutions provided for by the 1815 Federal Treaty would expire at the time of the constitution of the [[Federal Council (Switzerland)|Federal Council]], which took place on 16 November 1848.}}[{{HDS|9811|Federal constitution|date=3 May 2011 |author=Kley, Andreas}}]
| area_km2 = 41,291[{{Cite web | url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/territory-environment.html | title= Territory and environment | website=www.bfs.admin.ch}}]
| area_rank = 132nd
| area_sq_mi = 15,944.14
| percent_water = 4[{{Cite web |title=Switzerland {{!}} Population counter (real-time estimate) |date=13 June 2026|url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/population/effectif-change.assetdetail.32175841.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250205175840/https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/population/effectif-change.assetdetail.32175841.html |archive-date=5 February 2025 |access-date=5 February 2025}}]
| population_census = {{IncreaseNeutral}} 8,327,126[{{Cite report |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/population.assetdetail.1401565.html |title=Switzerland's population 2015 |date=22 November 2016 |publisher=Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), Swiss Confederation |issue=1 Population |location=Neuchâtel, Switzerland |access-date=7 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220075134/https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/population.assetdetail.1401565.html |archive-date=20 December 2016 |format=PDF |url-status=live |editor=Jacqueline Kucera |editor2=Athena Krummenacher |series=Swiss Statistics}}]
| population_estimate_year = 2026
| population_estimate_rank = 99th
| population_census_year = 2015
| population_density_km2 = 207
| population_density_rank = 67th
| GDP_PPP = {{increase}} $960.599 billion[{{cite web |url=https://data.imf.org/en/Data-Explorer?datasetUrn=IMF.RES:WEO(9.0.0) |title=World Economic Outlook Database (April 2026 Edition) |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] |website=www.imf.org |date=14 April 2026 |access-date=18 April 2026}}]
| GDP_PPP_year = 2026
| GDP_PPP_rank = 37th
| GDP_PPP_per_capita = {{increase}} $105,680[{{cite web |url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tessi190/default/table?lang=en |title=Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income – EU-SILC survey |publisher=[[Eurostat]] |website=ec.europa.eu |access-date=31 March 2024 |archive-date=9 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009091832/https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tessi190/default/table?lang=en |url-status=live }}]
| HDI = 0.970
| HDI_year = 2023
| HDI_change = increase
| HDI_ref = [{{Cite web |date=6 May 2025 |title=Human Development Report 2025 |url=https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2025reporten.pdf|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250506051232/https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2025reporten.pdf |archive-date=6 May 2025 |access-date=6 May 2025 |publisher=[[United Nations Development Programme]] |language=en}}]
| HDI_rank = 2nd
| currency = [[Swiss franc]]
| currency_code = CHF
| time_zone = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| utc_offset = +1
| utc_offset_DST = +2
| time_zone_DST = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| date_format = dd.mm.yyyy ([[AD]])
| calling_code = [[+41]]
| patron_saint = St [[Nicholas of Flüe]]
| iso3166code = CH
| cctld = [[.ch]], [[.swiss]]
| today =
}}
'''Switzerland''',{{Efn|{{langx|de|Schweiz}} {{IPA|de|ʃvaɪts||De-Schweiz2.ogg}}; {{langx|fr|Suisse}} {{IPA|fr|sɥis||LL-Q150 (fra)-0x010C-Suisse.wav}}; {{langx|it|Svizzera}} {{IPA|it|ˈzvittsera||LL-Q652 (ita)-XANA000-Svizzera.wav}}; {{langx|rm|Svizra}} {{IPA|rm|ˈʒviːtsrɐ||Rm-sursilv-Svizra.flac}} or {{IPA|rm|ˈʒviːtsʁːɐ|}}.}} officially the '''Swiss Confederation''',{{Efn|{{langx|de|Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft}} {{IPA|de-CH|ˈʃvaɪtsərɪʃɛ ˈaɪdɡəˌnɔsn̩ʃaft||De-Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft.ogg}}; {{langx|fr|Confédération suisse}} {{IPA|fr|kɔ̃fedeʁasjɔ̃ sɥis||LL-Q150 (fra)-GrandCelinien-Confédération suisse.wav}}; {{langx|it|Confederazione Svizzera}} {{IPA|it|konfederatˈtsjone ˈzvittsera|}}; {{langx|rm|Confederaziun svizra}}; {{langx|la|Cōnfoederātiō Helvētica}}.}} is a [[landlocked country]][{{Cite web |date=September 2023 |title=Switzerland |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6512a2d43d3718000d6d0b62/Switzerland_factfile.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=April 3, 2026 |website=[[PCGN]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251005220812/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6512a2d43d3718000d6d0b62/Switzerland_factfile.pdf |archive-date=2025-10-05}}] located at the intersection of [[Central Europe|Central]], [[Western Europe|Western]], and [[Southern Europe]].{{efn|name=CH_definition|There are several definitions. See [[Geography of Switzerland#Western or Central Europe]].}}{{efn|The canton of [[Ticino]] is sometimes included as part of Southern Europe, as it lies geographically on the south side of the Alps ([[Po (river)|Po Basin]]).[{{cite book |author=James Redfern |date=1971 |title=A Lexical Study of Raeto-Romance and Contiguous Italian Dialect Areas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m5RsDwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Mouton Publishers]] |page=38 |isbn= 9783110824841|quote=The canton of the Ticino marks the geographic descent from high Alps to plain and is, therefore, a land of climatic as well as linguistic transition, where heat and abundant moisture favor almonds, figs, and all the fruits common to southern Europe, except the olive.}}][{{cite book |author=[[OECD]] |date=2002 |title=OECD Territorial Reviews: Switzerland 2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=soDWAgAAQBAJ |publisher=OECD Publishing |page=80 |isbn= 9789264160651|quote=The Regio Insubrica spreads over three Italian provinces (Verbano-Cusio Ossola, Varese, Como) and the Swiss canton of Ticino. The national border cuts across a culturally and geographically homogenous territory. The region is peripheral for both countries, but it is an essential pole of communication between Northern and Southern Europe.}}]}}[{{Cite book |last1=Berner |first1=Elizabeth Kay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bRDbbGQP0xgC&pg=PA194 |title=Global Environment: Water, Air, and Geochemical Cycles – Second Edition |last2=Berner |first2=Robert A. |date=22 April 2012 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-4276-6 |language=en |access-date=23 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922021612/https://books.google.com/books?id=bRDbbGQP0xgC&pg=PA194 |archive-date=22 September 2023 |url-status=live}}] It is bordered by [[Germany]] to the north, [[France]] to the west, [[Austria]] and [[Liechtenstein]] to the east, and [[Italy]] to the south. Switzerland is geographically divided among the [[Swiss Alps]], the [[Swiss Plateau]], and the [[Jura Mountains]]; the Alps cover most of the country's territory, whereas the majority of its [[Demographics of Switzerland|9 million people]] are concentrated on the plateau, which hosts many of the [[List of cities in Switzerland|largest cities]] and economic centres, including [[Zurich]], [[Geneva]], [[Basel]], [[Bern]], [[Lausanne]], [[Winterthur]], and [[Lucerne]].[{{Cite web |title=BFS: 9 Millionen Menschen in der Schweiz – 20 Minuten |date=20 September 2023 |url=https://www.20min.ch/story/bundesamt-fuer-statistik-nun-leben-offiziell-9-millionen-menschen-in-der-schweiz-980611863297 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922021614/https://www.20min.ch/story/bundesamt-fuer-statistik-nun-leben-offiziell-9-millionen-menschen-in-der-schweiz-980611863297 |archive-date=22 September 2023 |access-date=20 September 2023}}]
Switzerland is a [[federal republic]] composed of [[Cantons of Switzerland|26 cantons]], with Bern serving as the [[federal city]] and the seat of the national government.{{efn|name=fedcit}}[{{HDS|10102|Federal city|author=Georg Kreis|date=20 March 2015}}] The country encompasses four principal linguistic and cultural regions—[[German-speaking Switzerland|German]], [[Romandy|French]], [[Italian speaking Swiss|Italian]], and [[Romansh language|Romansh]]—reflecting a long-standing tradition of multilingualism and cultural pluralism. Swiss national identity nonetheless remains fairly cohesive, rooted in a shared historical background, common values such as [[federalism]] and [[direct democracy]],[{{Cite book |last=Vatter |first=Adrian |url=http://www.nomos-shop.de/Vatter-politische-System-Schweiz/productview.aspx?product=21055 |title=Das politische System der Schweiz |publisher=UTB Verlag |year=2014 |isbn=978-3-8252-4011-0 |series=Studienkurs Politikwissenschaft |location=Baden-Baden |language=de |trans-title=The Political System of Switzerland |access-date=20 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222105727/http://www.nomos-shop.de/Vatter-politische-System-Schweiz/productview.aspx?product=21055 |archive-date=22 December 2015 |url-status=live}}] and [[Alps|Alpine]] symbolism.[{{Cite journal |last=Zimmer |first=Oliver |date=12 January 2004 |title=In Search of Natural Identity: Alpine Landscape and the Reconstruction of the Swiss Nation |journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History |location=London |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=637–665 |doi=10.1017/S0010417598001686 |s2cid=146259022 |orig-year=originally published: October 1998}}][{{Cite news |last=Lang |first=Josef |date=14 December 2015 |title=Die Alpen als Ideologie |url=http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/schweiz/standard/die-alpen-als-ideologie/story/22155483 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151215013611/http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/schweiz/standard/die-alpen-als-ideologie/story/22155483 |archive-date=15 December 2015 |access-date=14 December 2015 |work=[[Tages-Anzeiger]] |location=Zurich, Switzerland |language=de}}] Swiss [[nation]]hood transcends language, ethnicity, and religion, leading to Switzerland being described as a {{Lang|de|[[Willensnation]]}} ("nation of volition") rather than a conventional [[nation state]].[{{Cite book |last=Schmock |first=Nico |url=https://www.grin.com/document/454871 |title=Die Schweiz als "Willensnation"? Die Kernelemente des Schweizer Selbstverständnisses |date=30 January 2019 |publisher=GRIN Verlag |isbn=978-3-668-87199-1 |language=de |access-date=4 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122160456/https://www.grin.com/document/454871 |archive-date=22 January 2023 |url-status=live}}]
The country originates from the [[Old Swiss Confederacy]] established in the [[Late Middle Ages]] as a [[Eidgenossenschaft|defensive and commercial alliance]]; the [[Federal Charter of 1291]] is considered the country's founding document. The confederation steadily [[Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy|expanded and consolidated]] despite external threats and internal [[Reformation in Switzerland|political and religious strife]].[{{Cite web |title=The Federal Charter of 1291 |url=https://www.admin.ch/en/federal-charter-1291 |access-date=2026-05-19 |website=www.admin.ch |language=en}}] Swiss independence from the [[Holy Roman Empire]] was formally recognized in the [[Peace of Westphalia]] in 1648. The confederation was among the first and few republics of the [[early modern period]], and the only one besides [[San Marino]] to survive the [[Napoleonic Wars]].[{{Cite web |date=2024-12-13 |title=Switzerland - Alps, Neutrality, Confederation {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Switzerland/History |access-date=2024-12-15 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}] Switzerland remained a network of self-governing states until 1798, when [[French Revolution|revolutionary France]] invaded and [[French invasion of Switzerland|imposed]] the [[centralist]] [[Helvetic Republic]]. [[Napoleon]] abolished the republic in 1803 and [[Act of Mediation|reinstated a confederation]].[{{Cite news |title=Helvetic Republic {{!}} Helvetic Republic {{!}} Revolution, Confederation & Napoleonic Wars {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Helvetic-Republic |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251229125732/https://www.britannica.com/place/Helvetic-Republic |archive-date=29 December 2025 |access-date=2026-05-19 |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en |url-status=live }}] Following the Napoleonic Wars, Switzerland [[Restoration and Regeneration in Switzerland|restored its pre-revolutionary system]], but [[Revolutions of 1830|by 1830]] faced growing division [[Sonderbund War|and conflict]] between liberal and conservative movements; this culminated in [[Swiss Federal Constitution|a new constitution]] in 1848 that established the current federal system and enshrined principles such as individual rights, separation of powers, and parliamentary bicameralism.[{{Cite web |title=A Concise History of Switzerland |url=https://www.cambridge.org/universitypress/subjects/history/european-history-general-interest/concise-history-switzerland |access-date=2026-05-19 |website=Cambridge University Press & Assessment |language=British English}}]
Switzerland has maintained a [[Swiss neutrality|policy of armed neutrality]] since the 16th century and has not fought an international war [[Switzerland in the Napoleonic era|since 1815]]. It joined the [[Council of Europe]] in 1964 and the [[United Nations]] (UN) in 2002, pursuing an active foreign policy that includes frequent involvement in [[peace building]] and [[global governance]]. Switzerland is the birthplace of the [[International Committee of the Red Cross|Red Cross]] and hosts the headquarters or offices of most major [[International organisations in Europe|international institutions]], including the [[WTO]], the [[WHO]], the [[ILO]], [[FIFA]], the [[WEF]], and the UN. It is a founding member of the [[European Free Trade Association]] (EFTA) and participates in the [[European single market]] and the [[Schengen Area]]. Switzerland is among the world's [[List of countries by Human Development Index|most developed countries]], with the highest nominal [[wealth per adult]][{{Cite web |title=Global wealth databook 2019 |url=https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/assets/corporate/docs/about-us/research/publications/global-wealth-databook-2019.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023104250/https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/assets/corporate/docs/about-us/research/publications/global-wealth-databook-2019.pdf |archive-date=23 October 2019 |access-date=17 June 2020 |publisher=[[Credit Suisse]]}}Archived . The country data comes from Table 3.1 on page 117. The region data comes from the end of that table on page 120.] and the [[List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita|eighth-highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita]].[{{Cite web |last=Ghosh |first=Subir |date=9 October 2010 |title=US is still by far the richest country, China fastest growing |url=http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/298716 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112131438/http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/298716 |archive-date=12 January 2016 |access-date=14 December 2015 |website=Digital Journal}}][{{Cite news |last=Bowers |first=Simon |date=19 October 2011 |title=Franc's rise puts Swiss top of rich list |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/oct/19/currency-appreciation-makes-swiss-wealthiest |url-status=live |access-date=14 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112131447/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/oct/19/currency-appreciation-makes-swiss-wealthiest |archive-date=12 January 2016}}] [[International rankings of Switzerland|It performs highly]] on several international metrics, including [[Global Competitiveness Report|economic competitiveness]], [[Democracy Index|democratic governance]], and [[press freedom]]. Zurich, Geneva and Basel rank among the highest in [[quality of life]],[{{Cite news |last=Bachmann |first=Helena |date=23 March 2018 |title=Looking for a better quality of life? Try these three Swiss cities |work=USA Today |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/03/23/swiss-cities-rank-high-quality-life/448843002/ |url-status=live |access-date=14 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109043029/https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/03/23/swiss-cities-rank-high-quality-life/448843002/ |archive-date=9 November 2020}}][{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Chloe |date=20 May 2019 |title=These cities offer the best quality of life in the world, according to Deutsche Bank |publisher=CNBC |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/20/these-cities-offer-the-best-quality-of-life-deutsche-bank-says.html |url-status=live |access-date=14 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623014627/https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/20/these-cities-offer-the-best-quality-of-life-deutsche-bank-says.html |archive-date=23 June 2019}}] albeit with some of the highest [[costs of living]].[{{Cite news |date=18 November 2020 |title=Coronavirus: Paris and Zurich become world's most expensive cities to live in because of COVID-19 |publisher=Euronews |url=https://www.euronews.com/2020/11/18/coronavirus-paris-and-zurich-become-world-s-most-expensive-cities-to-live-in-because-of-co |url-status=live |access-date=14 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212091604/https://www.euronews.com/2020/11/18/coronavirus-paris-and-zurich-become-world-s-most-expensive-cities-to-live-in-because-of-co |archive-date=12 December 2020}}] Switzerland has a longstanding [[Banking in Switzerland|banking and financial sector]], advanced [[Pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland|pharmaceutical]] and biotechnology industries, and a strong tradition of [[Swiss watchmaking industry|watchmaking]], precision engineering, and technology. It is known for its [[Swiss chocolate|chocolate]] and [[Swiss-type cheeses|cheese production]], well-developed [[Tourism in Switzerland|tourism industry]], and growing startup sector.
== Etymology ==
{{Main|Name of Switzerland}}
{{anchor|Etymology}}The English name ''Switzerland'' compounds ''Switzer'', an obsolete term for a [[Swiss people|Swiss]] person which was in use during the 16th to 19th centuries,[{{Cite web |title=swiss {{!}} Etymology, origin and meaning of swiss by etymonline |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/swiss |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430171445/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Swiss |archive-date=30 April 2011 |access-date=15 September 2022 |website=www.etymonline.com |language=en}}] with the common English suffix [[wikt:-land|-land]] denoting a region or country. The English adjective ''Swiss'' is a [[loanword]] from French ''{{lang|fr|Suisse}}'', also in use since the 16th century. The name ''Switzer'' is from the [[Alemannic German|Alemannic]] ''{{lang|gsw|Schwiizer}}'', in origin an inhabitant of ''[[Schwyz]]'' and its [[Canton of Schwyz|associated territory]], one of the {{Lang|de|[[Waldstätte]]}} cantons which formed the nucleus of the [[Old Swiss Confederacy]]. The Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the [[Swabian War]] of 1499, used alongside the term for "Confederates", {{Lang|de|[[Eidgenossen]]}} (literally: ''comrades by oath''), used since the 14th century. {{anchor|CH}}The [[Data codes for Switzerland#Country|ISO 3166-1 data codes for Switzerland]], CH and CHE, are derived from [[Latin]] {{Lang|la|[[Confoederatio Helvetica]]}} (''Helvetic Confederation'').
The toponym ''Schwyz'' itself was first attested in 972, as [[Old High German]] ''{{lang|goh|Suittes}}'', perhaps related to ''{{lang|goh|swedan}}'' 'to burn' (cf. [[Old Norse]] {{Lang|non|svíða}} 'to singe, burn'), referring to the area of forest that was burned and cleared to build.[{{Cite book |last=Room |first=Adrian |url=https://archive.org/details/placenamesofworl00room |title=Placenames of the world : origins and meanings of the names for over 5000 natural features, countries, capitals, territories, cities, and historic sites |publisher=McFarland |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7864-1814-5 |location=Jefferson, N.C. |oclc=54385937 |author-link=Adrian Room}}] The name was extended to the area dominated by the canton, and after the Swabian War of 1499 gradually came to be used for the entire Confederation.[{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Switzerland |encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia |publisher=New Advent |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14358a.htm |access-date=15 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122153740/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14358a.htm |archive-date=22 January 2010}}][{{Cite web |title=On Schwyzers, Swiss and Helvetians |url=http://www.bar.admin.ch/archivgut/00591/00601/00602/index.html?lang=en# |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805105934/http://www.bar.admin.ch/archivgut/00591/00601/00602/index.html?lang=en%23 |archive-date=5 August 2010 |website=admin.ch}}] The [[Swiss German]] name of the country, ''{{lang|gsw|Schwiiz}}'', is homophonous to that of the canton and the settlement, but distinguished by the use of the definite article (''{{lang|gsw|d'Schwiiz}}'' for the Confederation,[{{Cite web |title=Züritütsch, Schweizerdeutsch |url=http://www.schweizer-deutsch.ch/uploads/media/einige_Beispielseiten_2007-07-05_01.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112131458/http://www.schweizer-deutsch.ch/uploads/media/einige_Beispielseiten_2007-07-05_01.pdf |archive-date=12 January 2016 |access-date=26 January 2010 |website=schweizerdeutsch.ch |page=2}}] but simply ''{{lang|gsw|Schwyz}}'' for the canton and the town).[{{Cite web |title=Kanton Schwyz: Kurzer historischer Überblick |url=http://www.sz.ch/xml_1/internet/de/application/d2/d56/d756/f759.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815131226/https://www.sz.ch/xml_1/internet/de/application/d2/d56/d756/f759.cfm |archive-date=15 August 2016 |access-date=26 January 2010 |website=sz.ch}}] The long [iː] of Swiss German is historically and still often today spelled {{angle bracket|y}} rather than {{angle bracket|ii}}, preserving the original identity of the two names even in writing.
The Latin name {{Lang|la|Confoederatio Helvetica}} was [[Neologism|neologised]] and introduced gradually after the [[Switzerland as a federal state|formation of the federal state]] in 1848, harking back to the Napoleonic [[Helvetic Republic]]. It appeared on coins from 1879, inscribed on the [[Federal Palace]] in 1902 and after 1948 used in the official seal[{{Cite web |title=Confoederatio helvetica (CH) |url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/009827/2020-09-15/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927075128/http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D9827.php |archive-date=27 September 2015 |access-date=15 September 2022 |website=hls-dhs-dss.ch |language=de}}, Historical Lexicon of Switzerland.] (e.g., the [[ISO 4217|ISO banking code]] "CHF" for the [[Swiss franc]], the Swiss postage stamps ('HELVETIA') and the country top-level domain ".ch", are both taken from the state's Latin name). The name {{Lang|la|Helvetica}} is derived from the ''[[Helvetii]]'', a [[Gaulish tribe]] living on the [[Swiss Plateau]] before the [[Switzerland in the Roman era|Roman era]]. It in turn, gives its name to a [[Helvetica|typeface]] developed in 1960.[{{cite web|last1=Shaw|first1=Paul|title=Helvetica & Univers|url=http://www.paulshawletterdesign.com/2011/11/from-the-archives-no-26%E2%80%94helvetica-and-univers/|website=Blue Pencil|access-date=1 July 2015|archive-date=3 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503071716/https://www.paulshawletterdesign.com/2011/11/from-the-archives-no-26%E2%80%94helvetica-and-univers/|url-status=live}}]
''[[Helvetia]]'' appeared as a [[national personification]] of the Swiss confederacy in the 17th century in a 1672 play by Johann Caspar Weissenbach.[{{HDS|16440|Helvetia}}]
== History ==
{{Main|History of Switzerland}}
The state of Switzerland took its present form with the adoption of the [[Swiss Federal Constitution]] in 1848. Switzerland's precursors established a defensive alliance in 1291, forming a loose [[confederation]] that persisted for centuries.
=== Beginnings ===
{{Main|Early history of Switzerland|Switzerland in the Roman era}}
The oldest traces of hominid existence in Switzerland date to about 150,000 years ago.[{{Cite web |title=History |url=http://www.swissworld.org/en/history/prehistory_to_romans/prehistoric_times/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100419174957/http://www.swissworld.org/en/history/prehistory_to_romans/prehistoric_times/ |archive-date=19 April 2010 |access-date=27 June 2009 |website=swissworld.org.}}] The oldest known farming settlements in Switzerland, which were found at [[Gächlingen]], date to around 5300 BC.[{{Cite web |date=11 September 2005 |title=Switzerland's Roman heritage comes to life |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland-s-roman-heritage-comes-to-life/4707054 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915103928/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland-s-roman-heritage-comes-to-life/4707054 |archive-date=15 September 2022 |access-date=15 September 2022 |website=swissinfo.ch}}]]]
The earliest known tribes formed the [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] and [[La Tène culture]]s, named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of [[Lake Neuchâtel]]. La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late [[Iron Age]] from around 450 BC,[{{Cite web |last=Trumm |first=Judith |title=Vindonissa |url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/012287/2015-04-22/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503210248/https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/012287/2015-04-22/ |archive-date=3 May 2022 |access-date=3 May 2022 |website=[[Historical Dictionary of Switzerland]] |language=de}}]
The first and second century AD was an age of prosperity on the Swiss Plateau. Towns such as [[Aventicum]], [[Iulia Equestris]] and [[Augusta Raurica]] reached a remarkable size, while hundreds of agricultural estates ([[Villae rusticae]]) were established in the countryside.[{{Cite book |last1=Zschokke |first1=Heinrich |url=http://archive.org/details/historyswitzerl00zschgoog |title=The history of Switzerland, for the Swiss people |last2=Zschokke |first2=Emil |last3=Shaw |first3=Francis George |date=1855 |publisher=New York, C. S. Francis & Co.; London, S. Low, Son & Co. |others=New York Public Library |pages=22–24 |language=English}}]
Around 260 AD, the fall of the [[Agri Decumates]] territory north of the [[Rhine]] transformed today's Switzerland into a frontier land of the Empire. Repeated raids by the [[Alamanni]] tribes provoked the ruin of the Roman towns and economy, forcing the population to shelter near Roman fortresses, like the [[Castrum Rauracense]] near Augusta Raurica. The Empire built another line of defence at the north border (the so-called Donau-Iller-Rhine-Limes). At the end of the fourth century, the increased Germanic pressure forced the Romans to abandon the linear defence concept. The Swiss Plateau was finally open to [[Germanic tribes]].{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
In the [[Early Middle Ages]], from the end of the fourth century, the western extent of modern-day Switzerland was part of the territory of the [[Kingdom of Burgundy|Kings of the Burgundians]], who introduced the French language to the area. The [[Alemanni]] settled the Swiss Plateau in the fifth century and the [[valleys of the Alps]] in the eighth century, forming [[Alemannia]]. Modern-day Switzerland was then divided between the kingdoms of Alemannia and [[Burgundy]].[{{Cite web |title=Switzerland history |url=http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Switzerland-HISTORY.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301050628/http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Switzerland-HISTORY.html |archive-date=1 March 2014 |access-date=27 November 2009 |website=Nations Encyclopedia}}][{{Cite web |title=Brief History of Switzerland |url=http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/History/Switzerland-history.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508043011/http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/History/Switzerland-history.htm |archive-date=8 May 2014 |access-date=27 November 2009 |website=Nations Online}}]
In the sixth to eighth centuries, Swiss regions continued under Frankish hegemony ([[Merovingian]] and [[Carolingian Empire|Carolingian]] dynasties) but after its extension under [[Charlemagne]], the [[Frankish Empire]] was divided by the [[Treaty of Verdun]] in 843.[{{Cite book |last=Greanias |first=Thomas |title=Geschichte der Schweiz und der Schweizer |publisher=Schwabe |year=2004 |isbn=978-3-7965-2067-9 |location=Basel |oclc=255970548}}]{{Page needed|date=April 2023}}[{{Cite web |title=A Brief Survey of Swiss History |url=http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/reps/ocea/vaus/infoch/chhist.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626222448/http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/reps/ocea/vaus/infoch/chhist.html |archive-date=26 June 2009 |access-date=22 June 2009 |publisher=Federal Department of Foreign Affairs}}]
By 1353, the three original [[Cantons of Switzerland|cantons]] had joined with the cantons of [[Canton of Glarus|Glarus]] and [[Canton of Zug|Zug]] and the [[Lucerne]], [[Zurich]] and [[Bern]] city-states to form the "Old Confederacy" of eight states that obtained through the end of the 15th century.[{{Cite web |title=Der Basler Bundesbrief vom 9. Juni 1501 |url=https://www.baselland.ch/themen/c_d/chronik-bl/chronik-1990er/chronik-1997/chronik-september-1997/downloads/bundesbrief-1501.pdf/@@download/file/bundesbrief-1501.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514022408/https://www.baselland.ch/themen/c_d/chronik-bl/chronik-1990er/chronik-1997/chronik-september-1997/downloads/bundesbrief-1501.pdf/@@download/file/bundesbrief-1501.pdf |archive-date=14 May 2022 |access-date=February 14, 2026}}] and Schaffhausen joined the Old Swiss Confederacy.[{{Cite web |last=E.Hofer |first=Roland |title=Schaffhausen (Kanton) |url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/007388/2017-05-11/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503210244/https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/007388/2017-05-11/ |archive-date=3 May 2022 |access-date=3 May 2022 |website=[[Historical Dictionary of Switzerland]] |language=de}}]
The Confederacy acquired a reputation of invincibility during these earlier wars, but [[Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy|expansion of the confederation]] suffered a setback in 1515 with the Swiss defeat in the [[Battle of Marignano]]. This ended the so-called "heroic" epoch of Swiss history.[{{Cite book |last1=Bertholet |first1=Auguste |url=https://www.sgeaj.ch/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/bertholet-kapossy-la-physiocratie-et-la-suisse-2023.pdf |title=La Physiocratie et la Suisse |last2=Kapossy |first2=Béla |publisher=Slatkine |year=2023 |isbn=9782051029391 |location=Geneva |language=fr}}] combined with a financial crisis in the wake of the [[Thirty Years' War]] led to the [[Swiss peasant war of 1653]]. In the background to this struggle, the conflict between [[Roman Catholicism in Switzerland|Catholic]] and [[Protestantism in Switzerland|Protestant]] cantons persisted, erupting in further violence at the [[First War of Villmergen]], in 1656, and the [[Toggenburg War]] (or Second War of Villmergen), in 1712.[{{Cite news |last=Schubiger |first=Benno |date=2023-12-22 |title=Vandalism as a political tool in the Helvetic period |url=https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/en/2023/12/vandalism-as-a-political-tool-in-the-helvetic-period/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250501002334/https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/en/2023/12/vandalism-as-a-political-tool-in-the-helvetic-period/ |archive-date=1 May 2025 |access-date=2025-11-13 |work=Swiss National Museum - Swiss history blog |language=de-DE |url-status=live }}]
When war broke out between France and its rivals, Russian and [[Habsburg monarchy|Austrian]] forces invaded Switzerland. The Swiss refused to fight alongside the French in the name of the Helvetic Republic. In 1803 [[Napoleon]] organised a meeting of the leading Swiss politicians from both sides in Paris. The [[Act of Mediation]] was the result, which largely restored Swiss autonomy and introduced a Confederation of 19 cantons.[{{Cite journal |last1=Linder |first1=Wolf |last2=Vatter |first2=Adrian |date=2001 |title=Institutions and outcomes of Swiss federalism: The role of the cantons in Swiss politics |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01402380108425435 |journal=[[West European Politics]] |language=en |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=95 |doi=10.1080/01402380108425435 |issn=0140-2382 |access-date=11 June 2024 |archive-date=22 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230622141822/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01402380108425435 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}]
In 1815, the [[Congress of Vienna]] fully re-established Swiss independence, and the European powers recognised permanent Swiss neutrality.[{{HDS|7841|Swiss border ("Les principales rectifications postérieures à 1815 concernent la vallée des Dappes en 1862 (frontière Vaud-France, env. 7,5 km2), la valle di Lei en 1952 (Grisons-Italie, 0,45 km2), l'Ellhorn en 1955 (colline revendiquée par la Suisse pour des raisons militaires, Grisons-Liechtenstein) et l'enclave allemande du Verenahof dans le canton de Schaffhouse en 1967.")}}. It should be noticed that in [[valle di Lei]], Italy got in exchange a territory of the same area. [http://www.admin.ch/opc/it/classified-compilation/19520241/196306260000/0.132.454.21.pdf See here] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521110525/http://www.admin.ch/opc/it/classified-compilation/19520241/196306260000/0.132.454.21.pdf |date=21 May 2014}}]
=== Federal state ===
{{Main|Restoration and Regeneration (Switzerland)|Switzerland as a federal state}}
[[File:Bern, Federal Palace, 1857.jpg|thumb|The first [[Federal Palace]] in Bern (1857). One of the three cantons presiding over the [[Tagsatzung]] (former legislative and executive council), Bern was chosen as the permanent seat of federal legislative and executive institutions in 1848, in part because of its closeness to the French-speaking area.[{{Cite web |date=2019-02-27 |title=A Very Civil War – Inside Switzerland's Astonishingly Polite Armed Conflict of 1847 |url=https://militaryhistorynow.com/2019/02/27/charm-offensive-switzerlands-polite-war-of-1847/ |access-date=2026-08-14 |website=MilitaryHistoryNow.com |language=en-US}}]
The war convinced most Swiss of the need for unity and strength. Swiss from all strata of society, whether Catholic or Protestant, from the liberal or conservative current, realised that the cantons would profit more from merging their economic and religious interests.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
Thus, while the rest of Europe saw [[revolutions of 1848|revolutionary uprisings]], the Swiss created a constitution that provided for a [[Swiss Federal Constitution|federal layout]], much of it inspired by the [[Constitution of the United States|United States Constitution]]. This new constitution provided central authority while leaving the cantons the right to self-government on local issues. Giving credit to those who favoured the power of the cantons (the Sonderbund Kantone), the national assembly was divided between an [[upper house]] (the [[Swiss Council of States|Council of States]], two representatives per canton) and a [[lower house]] (the [[National Council of Switzerland|National Council]], with representatives elected from across the country). [[Referendum]]s were made mandatory for any amendments.[{{Cite web |title=Noblesse en Suisse |url=http://www.diesbach.com/sghcf/n/noblesse.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192147/http://www.diesbach.com/sghcf/n/noblesse.html |archive-date=3 March 2016 |access-date=22 October 2015}}]
[[File:Gotthard Eröffnungszug Bellinzona.jpg|thumb|left|Inauguration in 1882 of the [[Gotthard rail tunnel]] connecting the southern canton of Ticino, the longest in the world at the time]]
A single system of weights and measures was introduced, and in 1850, the [[Swiss franc]] became the Swiss [[single currency]], complemented by the WIR franc in 1934.[{{Cite web |title=The WIR, the supplementary Swiss currency since 1934 |url=https://www.theeconomyjournal.eu/texto-diario/mostrar/758830/wir-moneda-complementaria-suiza-activo-desde-1934 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612070424/https://www.theeconomyjournal.eu/texto-diario/mostrar/758830/wir-moneda-complementaria-suiza-activo-desde-1934 |archive-date=12 June 2021 |access-date=12 June 2021 |website=The Economy Journal |language=en}}] Article 11 of the constitution forbade sending troops to serve abroad, marking the end of foreign service. It came with the exception of serving the [[Holy See]], and the Swiss were still obliged to serve [[Francis II of the Two Sicilies]], with Swiss Guards present at the [[Siege of Gaeta (1860)|siege of Gaeta in 1860]].{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
An important clause of the constitution was that it could be entirely rewritten, if necessary, thus enabling it to evolve as a whole rather than being modified one amendment at a time.[{{Cite book |last1=Ducrest |first1=Jean Pierre |title=Histoire de la Suisse |last2=Dorand |first2=Michel |publisher=Editions Fragnière |year=1987 |oclc=702317703}}]{{Page needed|date=April 2023}}
This need soon proved itself when the rise in population and the [[Industrial Revolution]] that followed led to calls to modify the constitution accordingly. The population rejected an early draft in 1872, but modifications led to its acceptance in 1874.[{{Cite web |date=19 May 2006 |title=Lenin and the Swiss non-revolution |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/vladimir-ilyich-ulyanov_lenin-and-the-swiss-non-revolution/12812 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208144512/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/vladimir-ilyich-ulyanov_lenin-and-the-swiss-non-revolution/12812 |archive-date=8 February 2023 |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch |language=en}}] Swiss neutrality was seriously questioned by the short-lived [[Grimm–Hoffmann affair]] in 1917. In 1920, Switzerland joined the [[League of Nations]], which was based in [[Geneva]], after it was exempted from military requirements.[{{Cite book |last=Urner |first=Klaus |title="Let's Swallow Switzerland": Hitler's Plans against the Swiss Confederation |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-7391-0255-8 |location=Lanham, Maryland |pages=4, 7 |oclc=46472272}}] but Switzerland was never attacked.[{{Cite web |title=Book Review: Halbrook, Stephen P. ''Target Switzerland: Swiss Armed Neutrality in World War II''. Rockville Centre, NY: Sarpedon, 1998 |url=http://stonebooks.com/archives/981111.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091201171926/http://stonebooks.com/archives/981111.shtml |archive-date=1 December 2009 |access-date=2 December 2009 |website=Stone & Stone}}] General [[Henri Guisan]], appointed the [[General (Switzerland)|commander-in-chief for the duration]] of the war, ordered a general mobilisation of the armed forces. The Swiss military strategy changed from static defence at the borders to organised long-term attrition and withdrawal to strong, well-stockpiled positions high in the Alps, known as the [[National Redoubt (Switzerland)|Reduit]]. Switzerland was an important base for espionage by both sides and often mediated communications between the [[Axis Powers|Axis]] and [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] powers.[{{HDS|10374|Asylum}}] aided by the [[International Red Cross]], based in Geneva. Strict immigration and [[Right of asylum|asylum]] policies and the financial relationships with Nazi Germany became controversial by the end of the 20th century.[{{Cite book |url=http://www.uek.ch/en/schlussbericht/synthesis/ueke.pdf |title=Final Report of the Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland |publisher=Pendo Verlag |year=2002 |isbn=978-3-85842-603-1 |location=Zurich |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530053737/http://www.uek.ch/en/schlussbericht/synthesis/ueke.pdf |archive-date=30 May 2009 |url-status=live}}]{{rp|521}}
During the war, the Swiss Air Force engaged aircraft of both sides, shooting down 11 intruding [[Luftwaffe]] planes in May and June 1940, then forcing down other intruders after a change of policy following threats from Germany. Over 100 Allied bombers and their crews were interned. Between 1940 and 1945, [[Bombings of Switzerland in World War II|Switzerland was bombed by the Allies]], causing fatalities and property damage.[{{Cite web |last=Helmreich |first=JE |title=Diplomacy of Apology |url=http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj00/sum00/helmreich.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070505083348/http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj00/sum00/helmreich.html |archive-date=5 May 2007 |access-date=5 May 2007}}] Court-martial proceedings took place in England. The US paid SFR 62M for reparations.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}
Switzerland's attitude towards [[Switzerland during the World Wars#Refugees|refugees]] was complicated and controversial; over the course of the war, it admitted as many as 300,000 refugees[{{Cite web |title=States Formerly Possessing or Pursuing Nuclear Weapons |url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq7-4.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150126234705/http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq7-4.html |archive-date=26 January 2015 |access-date=6 March 2014}}] Leading nuclear physicists at the [[Federal Institute of Technology Zurich]] such as [[Paul Scherrer]] made this a realistic possibility.[{{Cite news |last=Fischer |first=Patrick |date=8 April 2019 |title=Als die Schweiz eine Atombombe wollte |url=https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/2019/04/plaene-fuer-eine-schweizer-atombombe/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511180845/https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/2019/04/plaene-fuer-eine-schweizer-atombombe/ |archive-date=11 May 2022 |access-date=3 May 2022 |website=[[Swiss National Museum]] |language=de-DE}}] In 1988, the [[Paul Scherrer Institute]] was founded in his name to explore the therapeutic uses of [[neutron scattering]] technologies.[{{Cite web |last=Vuilleumier |first=Marie |date=15 October 2018 |title=Paul Scherrer Institut seit 30 Jahren im Dienst der Wissenschaft |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/wissen-technik/wissenschaftliche-forschung_paul-scherrer-institut-seit-30-jahren-im-dienst-der-wissenschaft/44475052 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503204037/https://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/wissen-technik/wissenschaftliche-forschung_paul-scherrer-institut-seit-30-jahren-im-dienst-der-wissenschaft/44475052 |archive-date=3 May 2022 |access-date=3 May 2022 |website=[[Swissinfo]] |language=de}}] Financial problems with the defence budget and ethical considerations prevented the substantial funds from being allocated, and the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]] of 1968 was seen as a valid alternative. Plans for building nuclear weapons were dropped by 1988.[{{Cite web |last=Westberg |first=Gunnar |date=9 October 2010 |title=Swiss Nuclear Bomb |url=http://peaceandhealthblog.com/2010/10/09/swiss-nuclear-bomb/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305115926/http://peaceandhealthblog.com/2010/10/09/swiss-nuclear-bomb/ |archive-date=5 March 2014 |access-date=6 March 2014 |publisher=[[International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War]]}}] Switzerland joined the [[Council of Europe]] in 1963.[{{HDS|010380|Women's suffrage|author=Yvonne Voegeli & Werner Seitz|date=4 April 2023}}] After obtaining suffrage at the federal level, women quickly rose in political significance. The first woman on the seven-member [[Federal Council (Switzerland)|Federal Council]] executive was [[Elisabeth Kopp]], who served from 1984 to 1989,[{{Cite web |title=Parlamentsgeschichte |url=https://www.parlament.ch/de/%C3%BCber-das-parlament/parlamentsgeschichte/parlamentsgeschichte-detail?historyId=353 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503205539/https://www.parlament.ch/de/%C3%BCber-das-parlament/parlamentsgeschichte/parlamentsgeschichte-detail?historyId=353 |archive-date=3 May 2022 |access-date=3 May 2022 |website=www.parlament.ch}}]
In 1979 areas from the canton of [[Bern]] attained independence from the Bernese, forming the new [[canton of Jura]]. On 18 April 1999, the Swiss population and the cantons voted in favour of a completely revised [[Swiss Federal Constitution|federal constitution]].[{{Cite book |last1=Thomas Fleiner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-S1fHJiawHUC&pg=PA28 |title=Swiss Constitutional Law |last2=Alexander Misic |last3=Nicole Töpperwien |date=5 August 2005 |publisher=Kluwer Law International |isbn=978-90-411-2404-3 |page=28 |access-date=25 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412045122/https://books.google.com/books?id=-S1fHJiawHUC&pg=PA28 |archive-date=12 April 2023 |url-status=live}}] Switzerland is a founding member of the [[EFTA]] but not the [[European Economic Area]] (EEA). An application for membership in the [[European Union]] was sent in May 1992, but did not advance since rejecting the EEA in December 1992[{{Cite web |last=Henley |first=Jon |date=25 September 2020 |title=Swiss to vote on whether to end free movement deal with EU |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/swiss-vote-whether-end-free-movement-deal-with-eu |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925042602/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/swiss-vote-whether-end-free-movement-deal-with-eu |archive-date=25 September 2020 |access-date=25 September 2020 |website=The Guardian}}] However, voters rejected the attempt to retake control of immigration, defeating the motion by a roughly 63%–37% margin.[{{Cite news |last=Chazan |first=David |date=27 September 2020 |title=Large majority of Swiss reject bid to rein in immigration from EU, says exit poll |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/27/large-majority-swiss-reject-bid-rein-immigration-eu-says-exit/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=27 September 2020 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/27/large-majority-swiss-reject-bid-rein-immigration-eu-says-exit/ |archive-date=10 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}]
On 9 February 2014, 50.3% of Swiss voters approved a ballot [[Popular initiative (Switzerland)|initiative]] launched by the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) to [[Federal popular initiative "Against mass immigration"|restrict immigration]]. This initiative was mostly backed by rural (57.6% approval) and suburban groups (51.2% approval), and isolated towns (51.3% approval) as well as by a strong majority (69.2% approval) in Ticino, while metropolitan centres (58.5% rejection) and the French-speaking part (58.5% rejection) rejected it.[{{Cite web |date=9 February 2014 |title=Abstimmungen – Indikatoren, Abstimmung vom 9. Februar 2014: Initiative 'Gegen Masseneinwanderung' |url=http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/17/03/blank/key/2014/013.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421050627/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/17/03/blank/key/2014/013.html |archive-date=21 April 2014 |access-date=20 April 2014 |publisher=Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Neuchâtel 2014 |language=de, fr}}] In December 2016, a political compromise with the EU was attained that eliminated quotas on EU citizens, but still allowed favourable treatment of Swiss-based job applicants.[{{Cite web |last=Maurice |first=Eric |date=22 December 2016 |title=EU and Switzerland agree on free movement |url=https://euobserver.com/rule-of-law/136398 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208144500/https://euobserver.com/rule-of-law/136398 |archive-date=8 February 2023 |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=EUobserver |language=en}}] On 27 September 2020, 62% of Swiss voters rejected the anti-free movement referendum by SVP.[{{Cite news |date=27 September 2020 |title=Switzerland referendum: Voters reject end to free movement with EU |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54316316 |url-status=live |access-date=8 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928032301/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54316316 |archive-date=28 September 2020}}]
== Geography ==
{{Main|Geography of Switzerland}}
[[File:Reliefkarte Schweiz.png|thumb|Physical map of Switzerland (in [[German language|German]])]]
Extending across the north and south side of the [[Alps]] in [[Western Europe|west]]-central Europe, Switzerland encompasses diverse landscapes and climates across its {{convert|41291|km2|sqmi}}.[{{Cite web |title=Swiss Geography |url=http://www.swissworld.org/en/geography/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008130616/http://www.swissworld.org/en/geography |archive-date=8 October 2014 |access-date=12 October 2014 |website=swissworld.org |publisher=Presence Switzerland, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs}}][{{Cite web |title=Map Gallery Switzerland: Physical Geography of Switzerland |url=http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/regionen/thematische_karten/maps/raum_und_umwelt/naturraum_schweiz.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013071837/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/regionen/thematische_karten/maps/raum_und_umwelt/naturraum_schweiz.html |archive-date=13 October 2014 |access-date=12 October 2014 |publisher=Swiss Federal Statistical Office |location=Neuchâtel, Switzerland}}] 90% of Switzerland's 65,000-kilometre-long network of rivers and streams have been straightened, dammed, canalized or channelled underground, in an effort to prevent natural disasters such as flooding, landslides, and avalanches.[{{Citation |last1=Mauch |first1=Corine |chapter=The Evolution of the Water Regime in Switzerland |date=2004 |title=The Evolution of National Water Regimes in Europe |pages=293–328 |chapter-url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2484-9_9 |access-date=2024-08-09 |place=Dordrecht |publisher=Springer Netherlands |isbn=978-90-481-6667-1 |last2=Reynard |first2=Emmanuel|doi=10.1007/978-1-4020-2484-9_9 |chapter-url-access=subscription }}] 80% of all Swiss drinking water comes from [[groundwater]] sources.[{{Cite journal |last1=Winstral |first1=Adam |last2=Jonas |first2=Tobias |last3=Helbig |first3=Nora |date=2017-01-13 |title=Statistical Downscaling of Gridded Wind Speed Data Using Local Topography |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/jhm-d-16-0054.1 |journal=Journal of Hydrometeorology |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=335–348 |doi=10.1175/jhm-d-16-0054.1 |bibcode=2017JHyMe..18..335W |issn=1525-755X}}]
{{Multiple image
| align = left
| direction = vertical
| width = 300
| image1 = Haute route, panorama version.jpg
| caption1 =
| image2 = View from Pilatus, retouched.jpg
| caption2 = Contrasted landscapes between the regions of the [[Matterhorn]] and [[Lake Lucerne]]
}}
Forty-eight mountains are {{convert|4000|m|ft}} or higher in height.[[http://enclaves.webs.com/westerneurope.htm Enclaves of the world] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918074336/http://enclaves.webs.com/westerneurope.htm |date=18 September 2009}} enclaves.webs.com. Retrieved on 15 December 2009] Switzerland has no exclaves.
=== Climate ===
[[File:Switzerland Köppen.svg|thumb|[[Köppen climate classification|Köppen–Geiger climate classification]] map for Switzerland]]
The Swiss climate is generally [[temperate]], but can vary greatly across localities,[{{Cite web |title=Swiss Climate |url=http://www.meteoschweiz.admin.ch/web/en/climate.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629144859/http://www.meteoschweiz.admin.ch/web/en/climate.html |archive-date=29 June 2007 |access-date=12 October 2014 |publisher=Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, Swiss Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA, Swiss Confederation}}] from glacial conditions on the mountaintops to the near-[[Mediterranean climate]] at Switzerland's [[Ticino|southern tip]]. Some valley areas in the southern part of Switzerland offer cold-hardy palm trees, for example, the dwarf palm or the Chinese hemp palm. Summers tend to be warm and humid at times with periodic rainfall, ideal for pastures/grazing. The less humid winters in the mountains may see weeks-long intervals of stable conditions. At the same time, the lower lands tend to suffer from [[Inversion (meteorology)|inversion]] during such periods, hiding the sun.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
A weather phenomenon known as the [[föhn]] (with an identical effect to the [[chinook wind]]) can occur any time and is characterised by an unexpectedly warm wind, bringing low relative humidity air to the north of the Alps during rainfall periods south of the [[Main chain of the Alps|main Alpine ridge]]. This works both ways across the alps but is more efficient if blowing from the south due to the steeper step for oncoming wind. Valleys running south to north trigger the strongest effect. The driest conditions persist in all inner alpine valleys that receive less rain because arriving clouds lose a lot of their moisture content while crossing the mountains before reaching these areas. Large alpine areas such as [[Graubünden]] remain drier than pre-alpine areas, and as in the main valley of the [[Valais]], wine grapes are grown there.[{{Cite web |title=Swiss climate maps |url=http://www.meteoschweiz.admin.ch/web/en/climate/climate_today/swiss_climate_maps.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100223205106/http://www.meteoschweiz.admin.ch/web/en/climate/climate_today/swiss_climate_maps.html |archive-date=23 February 2010 |access-date=12 October 2014 |publisher=Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology [[MeteoSwiss]], Swiss Federal Department of Home Affairs [[FDHA]], Swiss Confederation}}]
The wettest conditions persist in the [[high Alps]] and in the [[Ticino]] canton, which has much sun yet heavy bursts of rain from time to time.[{{cite web|title=Average monthly Rainfall, Sunshine, Temperatures in Switzerland|url=https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-Sunshine-in-Switzerland|website=Weather and Climate|access-date=2026-05-27}}][{{cite web|title=Switzerland Monthly Weather|url=https://www.whereweather.com/de/blog/switzerland-monthly-weather|website=Where And Weather|access-date=2026-05-27}}{{Dead link|date=August 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}]
=== Climate change ===
[[Global warming]] has changed the climate in Switzerland,[{{Cite web|url=https://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/climate/climate-change/what-we-currently-know-about-global-climate-change.html|title=What we currently know about global climate change - MeteoSwiss|website=www.meteoswiss.admin.ch|accessdate=19 November 2025}}]
and [[extreme weather]] events, including heat waves and [[heavy rain]]fall, have become more frequent. Since the pre-industrial period of 1871–1900, the national average temperature has risen by 2.9 °C, more than twice the global average.[{{Cite web|url=https://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/climate/climate-change.html|title=Climate change - MeteoSwiss|website=www.meteoswiss.admin.ch|accessdate=19 November 2025}}]
Since 1971, warming has increased continuously every decade.
The nationwide average annual temperature in 2022 reached 7.4 °C (1.6 °C above the [[Climatological normal|1991–2020 norm]]), the highest value since measurements began in 1864.[{{Cite web|url=https://www.meteoschweiz.admin.ch/dam/jcr:9fb53d3a-64c3-48c8-92e9-a8d95da4c4c1/Klimabulletin_2022_ANN_de.pdf|title=Klimabulletin Jahr 2022|accessdate=19 November 2025}}]
The nine warmest years in Switzerland were all recorded after 2010, with [[2022 European heatwaves|2022 being the hottest year]], followed by [[2023 European heatwaves|2023]], [[2024 European heatwaves|2024]], [[2018 European heatwave|2018]] and [[2020 droughts and heat waves|2020]].
=== Environment ===
{{main|Geography of Switzerland#Environment|Environmental movement in Switzerland|Health in Switzerland#Environmental issues related to health}}
Switzerland contains two terrestrial ecoregions: [[Western European broadleaf forests]] and [[Alps conifer and mixed forests]].[{{Cite journal |last1=Dinerstein |first1=Eric |last2=Olson |first2=David |last3=Joshi |first3=Anup |last4=Vynne |first4=Carly |last5=Burgess |first5=Neil D. |last6=Wikramanayake |first6=Eric |last7=Hahn |first7=Nathan |last8=Palminteri |first8=Suzanne |last9=Hedao |first9=Prashant |last10=Noss |first10=Reed |last11=Hansen |first11=Matt |last12=Locke |first12=Harvey |last13=Ellis |first13=Erle C |last14=Jones |first14=Benjamin |last15=Barber |first15=Charles Victor |display-authors=1 |year=2017 |title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm |journal=BioScience |volume=67 |issue=6 |pages=534–545 |doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014 |issn=0006-3568 |pmc=5451287 |pmid=28608869 |last16=Hayes |first16=Randy |last17=Kormos |first17=Cyril |last18=Martin |first18=Vance |last19=Crist |first19=Eileen |last20=Sechrest |first20=Wes |last21=Price |first21=Lori |last22=Baillie |first22=Jonathan E. M. |last23=Weeden |first23=Don |last24=Suckling |first24=Kierán |last25=Davis |first25=Crystal |last26=Sizer |first26=Nigel |last27=Moore |first27=Rebecca |last28=Thau |first28=David |last29=Birch |first29=Tanya |last30=Potapov |first30=Peter |last31=Turubanova |first31=Svetlana |last32=Tyukavina |first32=Alexandra |last33=de Souza |first33=Nadia |last34=Pintea |first34=Lilian |last35=Brito |first35=José C. |last36=Llewellyn |first36=Othman A. |last37=Miller |first37=Anthony G. |last38=Patzelt |first38=Annette |last39=Ghazanfar |first39=Shahina A. |last40=Timberlake |first40=Jonathan |last41=Klöser |first41=Heinz |last42=Shennan-Farpón |first42=Yara |last43=Kindt |first43=Roeland |last44=Lillesø |first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow |last45=van Breugel |first45=Paulo |last46=Graudal |first46=Lars |last47=Voge |first47=Maianna |last48=Al-Shammari |first48=Khalaf F. |last49=Saleem |first49=Muhammad}}]
Switzerland's many small valleys separated by high mountains often host unique ecologies. The mountainous regions themselves offer a rich range of plants not found at other altitudes. The climatic, geological and topographical conditions of the alpine region make for a fragile ecosystem that is particularly sensitive to [[climate change]].[{{Cite web |title=Environment: Impact of climate change |url=http://www.swissworld.org/en/environment/climate_change/impact_of_climate_change/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115110407/http://www.swissworld.org/en/environment/climate_change/impact_of_climate_change/ |archive-date=15 November 2014 |access-date=12 October 2014 |website=swissworld.org |publisher=Presence Switzerland, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs}}] According to the [[Environmental Performance Index|2014 Environmental Performance Index]], Switzerland ranks first among 132 nations in safeguarding the environment, due to its high scores on environmental public health, its heavy reliance on renewable sources of energy ([[hydropower]] and [[Geothermal energy|geothermal]] energy), and its level of [[greenhouse gas emissions]].[{{Cite web |year=2014 |title=2014 Environmental Performance Index |url=http://epi.yale.edu/epi/country-rankings |access-date=12 October 2014 |website=epi.yale.edu/epi |publisher=Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, Yale University, and Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University |archive-date=15 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915110357/http://epi.yale.edu/epi/country-rankings |url-status=dead }}] In 2020 it was ranked third out of 180 countries.[{{Cite web |title=2020 EPI Results |url=https://epi.yale.edu/epi-results/2020/component/epi |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903071953/https://epi.yale.edu/epi-results/2020/component/epi |archive-date=3 September 2021 |access-date=20 November 2020 |website=Environmental Performance Index|date=3 June 2020 }}] The country pledged to cut [[GHG emissions]] by 50% by 2030 compared to the level of 1990 and plans to reach zero emissions by 2050.[{{Cite news |last=Farand |first=Chloé |date=25 February 2020 |title=Switzerland reaffirms 2030 climate plan to UN, works on net zero 2050 goal |agency=Climate Home News |url=https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/02/25/switzerland-joins-nations-confirming-un-will-enhance-climate-action-plans/#:~:text=Under%20the%202015%20plan%2C%20Switzerland,70%2D85%25%20by%202050. |url-status=live |access-date=20 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124144249/https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/02/25/switzerland-joins-nations-confirming-un-will-enhance-climate-action-plans/#:~:text=Under%20the%202015%20plan%2C%20Switzerland,70%2D85%25%20by%202050. |archive-date=24 November 2020}}]
However, access to [[biocapacity]] in Switzerland is far lower than the world average. In 2016, Switzerland had 1.0 hectares[{{Cite web |title=Country Trends |url=http://data.footprintnetwork.org/#/countryTrends?cn=211&type=BCpc,EFCpc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808050235/http://data.footprintnetwork.org/#/countryTrends?cn=211&type=BCpc,EFCpc |archive-date=8 August 2017 |access-date=17 October 2019 |publisher=Global Footprint Network}}] of biocapacity per person within its territory, 40 per cent less than world average of 1.6. In contrast, in 2016, Swiss consumption required 4.6 hectares of biocapacity – their [[ecological footprint]], 4.6 times as much as Swiss territory can support. The remainder comes from other countries and the shared resources (such as the atmosphere impacted by greenhouse gas emissions).[{{Cite journal |last1=Grantham |first1=H. S. |last2=Duncan |first2=A. |last3=Evans |first3=T. D. |last4=Jones |first4=K. R. |last5=Beyer |first5=H. L. |last6=Schuster |first6=R. |last7=Walston |first7=J. |last8=Ray |first8=J. C. |last9=Robinson |first9=J. G. |last10=Callow |first10=M. |last11=Clements |first11=T. |last12=Costa |first12=H. M. |last13=DeGemmis |first13=A. |last14=Elsen |first14=P. R. |last15=Ervin |first15=J. |display-authors=1 |year=2020 |title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material |journal=Nature Communications |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=5978 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3 |doi-access=free|issn=2041-1723 |pmc=7723057 |pmid=33293507 |last16=Franco |first16=P. |last17=Goldman |first17=E. |last18=Goetz |first18=S. |last19=Hansen |first19=A. |last20=Hofsvang |first20=E. |last21=Jantz |first21=P. |last22=Jupiter |first22=S. |last23=Kang |first23=A. |last24=Langhammer |first24=P. |last25=Laurance |first25=W. F. |last26=Lieberman |first26=S. |last27=Linkie |first27=M. |last28=Malhi |first28=Y. |last29=Maxwell |first29=S. |last30=Mendez |first30=M. |last31=Mittermeier |first31=R. |last32=Murray |first32=N. J. |last33=Possingham |first33=H. |last34=Radachowsky |first34=J. |last35=Saatchi |first35=S. |last36=Samper |first36=C. |last37=Silverman |first37=J. |last38=Shapiro |first38=A. |last39=Strassburg |first39=B. |last40=Stevens |first40=T. |last41=Stokes |first41=E. |last42=Taylor |first42=R. |last43=Tear |first43=T. |last44=Tizard |first44=R. |last45=Venter |first45=O. |last46=Visconti |first46=P. |last47=Wang |first47=S. |last48=Watson |first48=J. E. M.}}]
Switzerland ranked 9th in the [[Environmental Performance Index]] for 2024.[{{Cite web |title=2024 Environmental Performance Index |url=https://epi.yale.edu/measure/2024/EPI |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=Environmental Performance Index |language=en}}] It scored well in parameters including air pollution, sanitation and drinking water, waste management, and climate change mitigation.[{{Cite web |title=2024 Environmental Performance Index - Switzerland |url=https://epi.yale.edu/country/2024/CHE |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=Environmental Performance Index |language=en}}]
=== Urbanisation ===
{{Main|Cities of Switzerland{{!}}Towns of Switzerland}}
[[File:Sion de la Bisse de Clavau.jpg|thumb|Urbanisation in the [[Rhone]] Valley (outskirts of [[Sion, Switzerland|Sion]])]]
About 85% of the population live in urban areas.[{{Cite web |title=Population – facts and figures |url=https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/gesellschaft/bevoelkerung/die-bevoelkerung---fakten-und-zahlen.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417062719/https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/gesellschaft/bevoelkerung/die-bevoelkerung---fakten-und-zahlen.html |archive-date=17 April 2023 |access-date=17 March 2023 |website=Federal Department of Foreign Affairs |language=en}}][{{Cite web |title=Städte und Agglomerationen unter der Lupe |url=http://www.are.admin.ch/dokumentation/00121/00224/index.html?lang=de&msg-id=27412 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815054502/http://www.are.admin.ch/dokumentation/00121/00224/index.html?lang=de&msg-id=27412 |archive-date=15 August 2010 |access-date=26 June 2009 |website=Bundesamt für Raumentwicklung |language=de}}] Switzerland went from a largely rural country to an urban one from 1930 to 2000. After 1935 urban development claimed as much of the Swiss landscape as it did during the prior 2,000 years. [[Urban sprawl]] affects the plateau, the Jura and the Alpine foothills,[[http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/front/Swiss_countryside_succumbs_to_urban_sprawl.html?siteSect=106&sid=9823369&cKey=1223485367000&ty=st Swiss countryside succumbs to urban sprawl] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316174638/http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/front/Swiss_countryside_succumbs_to_urban_sprawl.html?siteSect=106&sid=9823369&cKey=1223485367000&ty=st |date=16 March 2012 }} swissinfo.ch. Retrieved on 30 June 2009] raising concerns about land use.[[http://www.gfs-zh.ch/content.php?pid=201%0A Enquête représentative sur l'urbanisation de la Suisse (Pronatura)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430115919/http://www.gfs-zh.ch/content.php?pid=201%0A|date=30 April 2011}} gfs-zh.ch. Retrieved on 30 June 2009.] During the 21st century, population growth in urban areas is higher than in the countryside.[{{Cite web |title=Urban and rural areas |url=https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/gesellschaft/bevoelkerung/stadt-und-land.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417064221/https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/gesellschaft/bevoelkerung/stadt-und-land.html |archive-date=17 April 2023 |access-date=17 March 2023 |website=Federal Department of Foreign Affairs |language=en}}] The weight of the largest metropolitan areas – [[Zurich]], Geneva–[[Lausanne]], [[Basel]] and [[Bern]] – tend to increase.[{{Cite web |title=Quality of Living City Ranking {{pipe}} Mercer |url=https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/Insights/quality-of-living-rankings |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418074611/https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/Insights/quality-of-living-rankings |archive-date=18 April 2018 |access-date=4 July 2020 |website=mobilityexchange.mercer.com}}]
The average population density in 2019 was {{convert|215.2|PD/km2|PD/sqmi}}.[{{Cite web |date=17 March 2021 |title=Regionalportraits 2021: Cantons |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfsstatic/dam/assets/15864449/master |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715183232/https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfsstatic/dam/assets/15864449/master |archive-date=15 July 2021 |access-date=15 July 2021 |website=Federal Statistical Office |publisher=Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA |page=79 (81 in PDF) |language=en}} ''Note: page number refers to report pagination; PDF viewer displays pages two numbers higher.'']{{rp|79}} In the largest canton by area, [[Graubünden]], lying entirely in the Alps, population density falls to {{convert|28.0|PD/km2|PD/sqmi}}.[{{Cite web |title=Switzerland {{!}} The Global State of Democracy |url=https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/country/switzerland |access-date=2025-10-06 |website=www.idea.int |language=en}}][{{Cite web |title=Global State of Democracy Indices {{!}} The Global State of Democracy |url=https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/gsod-indices |access-date=2025-10-06 |website=www.idea.int}}][{{Cite web |title=Home {{!}} The Global State of Democracy |url=https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/ |access-date=2025-10-06 |website=www.idea.int}}]
The [[Swiss Federal Constitution|Federal Constitution]] adopted in 1848 is the legal foundation of Switzerland's federal state.[{{Cite web |title=Switzerland's political system |url=https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/federal-council/political-system-of-switzerland.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620145907/https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/federal-council/political-system-of-switzerland.html |archive-date=20 June 2016 |access-date=24 June 2016 |publisher=The Federal Council |location=Bern, Switzerland}}] It is regularly modified by referendum and has been completely revised twice, in 1874 and 1999. The constitution outlines rights of individuals and citizen participation in public affairs, divides the powers between the confederation and the cantons and defines federal jurisdiction and authority. Three main bodies govern on the federal level: the [[Federal Assembly (Switzerland)|Federal Assembly]] (legislative), the [[Federal Council (Switzerland)|Federal Council]] (executive) and the [[Federal courts of Switzerland|federal courts]] (judicial).[{{Cite web |title=Federalism |url=https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/federal-council/political-system-of-switzerland/swiss-federalism.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714130916/https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/federal-council/political-system-of-switzerland/swiss-federalism.html |archive-date=14 July 2016 |access-date=24 June 2016 |publisher=The Federal Council |location=Bern, Switzerland}}]
=== Federal Assembly ===
The [[Federal Assembly (Switzerland)|Federal Assembly]] is the [[parliament]] of Switzerland. It consists of two houses: The [[Council of States (Switzerland)|Council of States]] has 46 members, two from each canton and one from each [[half-canton]]. The [[National Council (Switzerland)|National Council]] has 200 members, apportioned to reflect the population of each canton, and elected by [[Panachage|proportional representation]] within each canton. Members of both houses serve for four years and work part-time (''Milizsystem'').[{{Cite web |date=9 December 2009 |title=Die Legislative ist ein Miliz-Parlament – SWI swissinfo.ch |url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/die-legislative-ist-ein-miliz-parlament/162442 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220123831/http://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/die-legislative-ist-ein-miliz-parlament/162442 |archive-date=20 December 2016 |access-date=13 December 2016}}] When both houses are in joint session, they are known collectively as the [[Federal Assembly of Switzerland|Federal Assembly]]. Through [[optional referendum]]s, citizens may challenge any law passed by parliament.
[[Viktor Rossi]] ([[Chancellor of Switzerland|Federal chancellor]])
[[Beat Jans]]
[[Albert Rösti]]
[[Ignazio Cassis]] ([[President of the Swiss Confederation|Vice president]] in 2026)
[[Guy Parmelin]] ([[President of the Swiss Confederation|President]] in 2026)
[[Karin Keller-Sutter]]
[[Elisabeth Baume-Schneider]]
[[Martin Pfister]]]]
The Federal Council is the Swiss executive. It leads the [[Federal administration of Switzerland|federal administration]] and serves as a collective [[head of state]]. It is a [[collegial]] body of seven members, elected to four-year terms by the Federal Assembly, which oversees the council. Each member leads a department of the federal government. Each year, one member of the Council is elected [[President of the Confederation]] by the Assembly, with the presidency traditionally rotating between members. The President chairs and represents the government, but has [[Primus inter pares|no additional powers]] and remains the head of their department.[{{Cite web |title=The federal courts |url=https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/federal-council/political-system-of-switzerland/federal-courts.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714130829/https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/federal-council/political-system-of-switzerland/federal-courts.html |archive-date=14 July 2016 |access-date=24 June 2016 |publisher=The Federal Council |location=Bern, Switzerland}}]
=== Direct democracy ===
{{Main|Voting in Switzerland}}
[[File:Landsgemeinde Glarus 2006.jpg|thumb|The [[Landsgemeinde]] is an old form of [[direct democracy]], still in practice in two cantons.]]
[[Direct democracy]] and [[federalism]] are hallmarks of the Swiss political system defined in the Swiss constitution.[{{Cite book |url=http://www.nzz-libro.ch/handbuch-der-schweizer-politik-manuel-de-la-politique-suisse.html |title=Handbuch der Schweizer Politik – Manuel de la politique suisse |publisher=Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, NZZ libro |year=2014 |isbn=978-3-03823-866-9 |editor-last=Peter Knoepfel |edition=5 |location=Zurich, Switzerland |language=de, fr |access-date=24 June 2016 |editor-last2=Yannis Papadopoulos |editor-last3=Pascal Sciarini |editor-last4=Adrian Vatter |editor-last5=Silja Häusermann |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714131228/http://www.nzz-libro.ch/handbuch-der-schweizer-politik-manuel-de-la-politique-suisse.html |archive-date=14 July 2016 |url-status=dead}}] The Swiss people are subject to three legal jurisdictions: the municipal, cantonal and federal levels. At the federal level, popular rights{{efn|{{langx|de|link=no|Volksrechte}}; {{langx|fr|link=no|droits populaires}}; {{langx|it|diritti popolari}}|name=popular rights}} include the right to submit a federal initiative and a referendum, both of which may overturn parliamentary decisions.[{{HDS|48664|Popular rights|author=Andreas Gross|date=22 April 2015}}][{{Cite news |last=Kaufmann |first=Bruno |date=18 May 2007 |title=How direct democracy makes Switzerland a better place |work=The Telegraph |location=London, UK |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1435383/How-direct-democracy-makes-Switzerland-a-better-place.html |url-status=live |access-date=9 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091207063551/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1435383/How-direct-democracy-makes-Switzerland-a-better-place.html |archive-date=7 December 2009}}]
There are three types of federal referendum in Switzerland:
* An [[optional referendum]] challenges a law passed by parliament. It requires gathering 50,000 signatures or the objection of eight cantons within 100 days. Voters decide by a [[majority|simple majority]] whether to accept or reject the law.[{{Cite web |title=Popular initiatives |url=https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/political-rights/initiatives/what-is-a-federal-popular-initiative/ |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=www.ch.ch |language=en}}]
The Federal Council and the Federal Assembly can supplement a popular initiative with a counterproposal. Voters must then indicate their preference if both proposals are accepted.
=== Cantons ===
{{Main|Cantons of Switzerland}}
{{See also|Spatial planning in Switzerland}}
The Swiss Confederation consists of 26 cantons.[{{Cite web |title=Addresses of administrative authorities |url=https://www.ch.ch/en/addresses-administrative-authorities/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714131444/https://www.ch.ch/en/addresses-administrative-authorities/ |archive-date=14 July 2016 |access-date=24 June 2016 |publisher=ch.ch, A service of the Confederation, cantons and communes |location=Bern, Switzerland}}] The cantons are [[federated state]]s, with permanent constitutional status and a high degree of independence relative to the [[Administrative division|subnational]] divisions of most countries. Under the Federal Constitution, all 26 cantons are equal in status, except that six (referred to often as the [[half-cantons]]) are represented by one councillor instead of two in the [[Swiss Council of States|Council of States]] and have only half a cantonal vote with respect to the required cantonal majority in [[Voting in Switzerland#Constitutional referendums (Popular initiatives)|referendums on constitutional amendments]]. Each canton has its own constitution and its own parliament, government, police and courts.[{{Cite web |title=Institutionelle Gliederungen |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/content/bfs/de/home/statistiken/querschnittsthemen/raeumliche-analysen/raeumliche-gliederungen/Institutionelle-gliederungen.html |access-date=2026-04-09 |website=www.bfs.admin.ch |language=de}}]
=== Federal City ===
Until 1848, the loosely coupled Confederation did not have a central political organisation. Issues thought to affect the whole Confederation were the subject of periodic meetings in various locations.[{{HDS|10077|Confederal Diet|author=Andreas Würgler|date=25 September 2014}}]
[[File:Bern 007 (35250800705).jpg|thumb|The [[Old City of Bern]]]]
In 1848, the federal constitution provided that details concerning federal institutions, such as their locations, should be addressed by the [[Federal Assembly of Switzerland|Federal Assembly]] (BV 1848 Art. 108). Thus on 28 November 1848, the Federal Assembly voted in the majority to locate the seat of government in Bern and, as a prototypical federal compromise, to assign other federal institutions, such as the [[ETH Zurich|Federal Polytechnical School]] (1854, the later ETH) to Zurich, and other institutions to Lucerne, such as the later [[SUVA]] (1912) and the Federal Insurance Court (1917).[{{Cite web |date=13 July 2006 |title=Bundesstadtstatus Stadt Bern |url=https://www.bk.admin.ch/themen/gesetz/07212/07416/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20171010143933/https://www.bk.admin.ch/themen/gesetz/07212/07416/index.html |archive-date=10 October 2017 |access-date=11 May 2017 |publisher=Swiss Federal Chancellery |language=de, fr, it |type=official website |location=Bern, Switzerland}}] Thus no city in Switzerland has the ''official'' status either of capital or of Federal City. Nevertheless, Bern is commonly referred to as "Federal City" ({{langx|de|link=no|Bundesstadt}}, {{langx|fr|link=no|ville fédérale}}, {{langx|it|città federale}}). However the largest city, Zurich, is used when [[List of tz database time zones|selecting a time zone]] on [[computer]] systems.
=== Foreign relations ===
{{Main|Foreign relations of Switzerland}}
[[File:United Nations Flags - cropped.jpg|thumb|The [[Palace of Nations]], the European headquarters of the [[United Nations Office at Geneva|United Nations]] in Geneva]]
Traditionally, Switzerland avoids alliances that might entail military, political, or direct economic action and has been neutral since the end of its [[Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy|expansion]] in 1515. Its [[Swiss neutrality|policy of neutrality]] was internationally recognised at the [[Congress of Vienna]] in 1815.[{{Cite web |title=Neutrality |url=https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/politik-geschichte/die-schweiz-und-die-welt/neutralitaet.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324092218/https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/politik-geschichte/die-schweiz-und-die-welt/neutralitaet.html |archive-date=24 March 2023 |access-date=17 March 2023 |website=Federal Department of Foreign Affairs |language=en}}][{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Switzerland – Country history and economic development |encyclopedia=nationsencyclopedia.com |url=http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Europe/Switzerland-COUNTRY-HISTORY-AND-ECONOMIC-DEVELOPMENT.html |access-date=12 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206025947/http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Europe/Switzerland-COUNTRY-HISTORY-AND-ECONOMIC-DEVELOPMENT.html |archive-date=6 February 2010 |url-status=live}}] Swiss neutrality has been [[Swiss neutrality#Criticism|questioned at times]].[{{Cite web |last=Stephens |first=Thomas |date=12 February 2020 |title=Latest spy scandal 'shatters Swiss neutrality', say papers |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/press-review_latest-spy-scandal--shatters-swiss-neutrality---say-papers/45553888 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302121722/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/press-review_latest-spy-scandal--shatters-swiss-neutrality---say-papers/45553888 |archive-date=2 March 2020 |access-date=16 March 2020 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch}}][{{Cite web |title=ICRC in WW II: the Holocaust |url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/history-holocauste-020205.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904035727/http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/history-holocauste-020205.htm |archive-date=4 September 2012 |access-date=28 August 2012}}.] In 2002 Switzerland became a full member of the United Nations.[{{Cite web |title=Schengen Visa Countries List – Schengen Area |url=http://www.schengenvisainfo.com/schengen-visa-countries-list/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151204232612/http://www.schengenvisainfo.com/schengen-visa-countries-list/ |archive-date=4 December 2015 |access-date=4 December 2015 |website=Schengen VISA Information |language=en-US}}]
[[File:Flag of the Red Cross.svg|thumb|upright|left|The colour-reversed Swiss flag became the symbol of the Red Cross Movement, founded in 1863 by [[Henry Dunant]].[{{cite web |url=https://www.icrc.org/en/our-emblems |title=Our emblems |date= |website= |publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross |location=Geneva, Switzerland |access-date=2024-11-05 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240926233541/https://www.icrc.org/en/our-emblems |archive-date=2024-09-26 |quote=The governments attending the diplomatic conference, which adopted the original First Geneva Convention in 1864, decided that a clear neutral sign was needed on the battlefield to protect medical staff and facilities. They opted for a red cross on a white background, the exact reverse of the flag of neutral Switzerland.}}][{{cite web |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1901/dunant/biographical/ |title=Henry Dunant — Biographical |date= |website=NobelPrize.org |series=The Nobel Peace Prize 1901 |publisher=Nobel Foundation |access-date=2023-02-08 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208144501/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1901/dunant/biographical/ |archive-date=2023-02-08}} From {{cite book |editor-last=Haberman |editor-first=Frederick W. |year=1972 |title=Nobel Lectures, Peace |url=https://archive.org/details/peace0000unse_j9x3/ |url-access=registration |volume=1, 1901–1925 |location=Amsterdam, The Netherlands |publisher=Elsevier, for the Nobel Foundation |pages=5–8 |isbn=978-0-444-40853-2 |access-date=2024-11-05 |via=the Internet Archive}}]]]
Many international institutions have headquarters in Switzerland, in part because of its policy of neutrality. [[Geneva]] is the birthplace of the [[Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement]], the [[Geneva Conventions]] and, since 2006, hosts the [[United Nations Human Rights Council]]. Even though Switzerland is one of the most recent countries to join the United Nations, the [[Palace of Nations]] in Geneva is the second biggest centre for the United Nations after the [[Headquarters of the United Nations|headquarters]] in New York. Switzerland was a founding member and hosted the [[League of Nations]].[{{Cite book |last=van Ginneken |first=Anique H. M. |title=Historical Dictionary of the League of Nations |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=9780810865136 |pages=182 |language=en}}]
Apart from the United Nations headquarters, the Swiss Confederation is host to many UN agencies, including the World Health Organization ([[WHO]]), the International Labour Organization ([[ILO]]), the International Telecommunication Union ([[ITU]]), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ([[UNHCR]]) and about 200 other international organisations, including the [[World Trade Organization]] and the [[World Intellectual Property Organization]].[{{cite web |url= http://www.ifsports-guide.ch/english/navigation/annuaire_en.html |title= Sports Directory |author= |date= |page= |publisher= if-sportsguide.ch |access-date= 10 March 2026 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100503052352/http://www.ifsports-guide.ch/english/navigation/annuaire_en.html|archive-date= 3 May 2010 }}]
Switzerland became a member of the [[United Nations Security Council]] for the 2023–2024 period.[{{Cite web |date=9 June 2022 |title=Switzerland elected to UN Security Council |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/switzerland-elected-to-un-security-council/47661050 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220609162030/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/switzerland-elected-to-un-security-council/47661050 |archive-date=9 June 2022 |access-date=9 June 2022 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch}}] According to the 2024 [[Global Peace Index]], Switzerland is the 6th most peaceful country in the world.[{{Cite web|url=https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf|title=2024 Global Peace Index|accessdate=19 November 2025}}]
==== Switzerland and the European Union ====
{{Further|Switzerland–European Union relations}}
Although not a member, Switzerland maintains relationships with the EU and European countries through bilateral agreements. The Swiss have brought their economic practices largely into conformity with those of the EU, in an effort to compete internationally. [[Future enlargement of the European Union#States not on the agenda|EU membership]] faces considerable negative popular sentiment. It is opposed by the conservative [[Swiss People's Party|SVP]] party, the largest party in the National Council, and not advocated by several other political parties. The membership application was formally withdrawn in 2016. The western French-speaking areas and the urban regions of the rest of the country tend to be more pro-EU, but do not form a significant share of the population.[{{Cite web |date=13 February 2003 |title=Volksinitiative "Ja zu Europa!" |trans-title=Initiative "Yes to Europe!" |url=http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/17/03/blank/key/2001/01.Document.22675.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624200130/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/17/03/blank/key/2001/01.Document.22675.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2008 |access-date=15 June 2008 |publisher=BFS/OFS/UST |language=de}}][{{Cite web |date=16 January 2003 |title=Volksinitiative "Ja zu Europa!", nach Kantonen. (Initiative "Yes to Europe!" by Canton). |url=http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/17/03/blank/key/2001/01.Document.85488.xls |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501043932/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/17/03/blank/key/2001/01.Document.85488.xls |archive-date=1 May 2011 |access-date=15 June 2008 |publisher=BFS/OFS/UST |language=de |format=XLS}}]
[[File:EU and EFTA.svg|thumb|left|Members of the [[European Free Trade Association]] (green) participate in the [[European single market]] and are part of the [[Schengen Area]].]]
An Integration Office operates under the [[Federal Department of Foreign Affairs|Department of Foreign Affairs]] and the [[Federal Department of Economic Affairs|Department of Economic Affairs]]. Seven bilateral agreements liberalised trade ties, taking effect in 2001. This first series of bilateral agreements included the free movement of persons. A second series of agreements covering nine areas was signed in 2004, including the [[Schengen Treaty]] and the [[Dublin Convention]].[{{Cite web |title=Bilateral agreements Switzerland-EU |url=http://www.europa.admin.ch/themen/00500/index.html?lang=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140830131031/http://www.europa.admin.ch/themen/00500/index.html?lang=en |archive-date=30 August 2014 |access-date=8 May 2014 |website=www.europa.admin.ch |publisher=Swiss Directorate for European Affairs DEA, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA}}]
In 2006, a referendum approved 1 billion francs of supportive investment in Southern and Central European countries in support of positive ties to the EU as a whole. A further referendum will be needed to approve 300 million francs to support Romania and Bulgaria and their recent admission.
The Swiss have faced EU and international pressure to reduce [[banking secrecy]] and raise tax rates to parity with the EU. Preparatory discussions involved four areas: the electricity market, participation in project [[Galileo positioning system|Galileo]], cooperating with the [[European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control]] and certificates of origin for food products.[[http://www.europa.admin.ch/themen/00499/00503/index.html?lang=en Switzerland and the European Union] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815075936/http://www.europa.admin.ch/themen/00499/00503/index.html?lang=en |date=15 August 2010}} europa.admin.ch. Retrieved on 25 January 2010.]{{Update inline|date=March 2023}}
Switzerland is a member of the Schengen passport-free zone. Land [[border checkpoint]]s monitor goods movements, but not people.[[http://www.euronews.net/2008/12/11/switzerland-in-schengen-end-to-passport-checks/ Switzerland in Schengen: end to passport checks] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523154739/http://www.euronews.net/2008/12/11/switzerland-in-schengen-end-to-passport-checks/ |date=23 May 2009}} euronews.net. Retrieved on 25 January 2010.]
=== Military ===
{{Main|Swiss Armed Forces|Pontifical Swiss Guard}}
[[File:Switzerland - Air Force McDonnell Douglas FA-18C Hornet - cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|A Swiss Air Force [[F/A-18 Hornet]] at [[Axalp Air Show]]]]
The [[Swiss Armed Forces]], including the [[Ground Forces|Land Forces]] and the [[Swiss Air Force|Air Force]], are [[Conscription in Switzerland|composed mostly of conscripts]], male citizens aged from 20 to 34 (in exceptional cases up to 50) years. Being a [[landlocked]] country, Switzerland has no navy; however, on lakes bordering neighbouring countries, armed boats patrol. Swiss citizens are prohibited from serving in foreign armies, except for the [[Pontifical Swiss Guard|Swiss Guards]] of the [[Vatican City|Vatican]], or if they are [[dual citizen]]s of a foreign country and reside there.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
The Swiss militia system stipulates that soldiers keep their army-issued equipment, including [[fully automatic]] personal weapons, at home.[{{Cite web |date=1 March 2009 |title=Volksinitiative "Für den Schutz vor Waffengewalt" Home |url=http://www.schutz-vor-waffengewalt.ch/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301042301/http://www.schutz-vor-waffengewalt.ch/ |archive-date=1 March 2009 |access-date=8 February 2023}}] Women can serve voluntarily. Men usually receive military conscription orders for training at the age of 18.[{{Cite web |title=Militärdiestpflicht |url=http://www.vtg.admin.ch/internet/vtg/de/home/militaerdienst/rekrut/wehrpflicht.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213031154/http://www.vtg.admin.ch/internet/vtg/de/home/militaerdienst/rekrut/wehrpflicht.html |archive-date=13 December 2013 |access-date=15 January 2014 |publisher=Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport |language=de, fr, it}}] About two-thirds of young Swiss are found suitable for service; for the others, various forms of alternative service are available.[{{Cite news |date=11 March 2008 |title=Zwei Drittel der Rekruten diensttauglich (Schweiz, NZZ Online) |work=Neue Zürcher Zeitung |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/schweiz/zwei_drittel_der_rekruten_diensttauglich_1.687233.html |url-status=live |access-date=23 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304185339/https://www.nzz.ch/zwei_drittel_der_rekruten_diensttauglich-1.687233?reduced=true |archive-date=4 March 2021}}] Annually, approximately 20,000 persons are trained in recruit centres for 18 to 21 weeks. The reform "Army XXI" was adopted by popular vote in 2003, replacing "Army 95", reducing the rolls from 400,000 to about 200,000. Of those, 120,000 are active in periodic Army training, and 80,000 are non-training reserves.[{{Cite web |title=VBS – Die Armee in Zahlen – Truppenbestände |url=http://www.vbs.admin.ch/internet/vbs/de/home/documentation/armeezahlen/eff.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090909112719/http://www.vbs.admin.ch/internet/vbs/de/home/documentation/armeezahlen/eff.html |archive-date=9 September 2009 |access-date=8 February 2023}}]
The newest reform of the military, {{lang|de|Weiterentwicklung der Armee}} (WEA; English: Further development of the Army), started in 2018 and was expected to reduce the number of army personnel to 100,000 by the end of 2022.[{{Cite web |title=Weiterentwicklung der Armee |url=https://www.vtg.admin.ch/de/aktuell/themen/wea.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420193059/https://www.vtg.admin.ch/de/aktuell/themen/wea.html |archive-date=20 April 2021 |access-date=30 April 2021 |publisher=[[Swiss Armed Forces]] |language=de}}][{{Cite news |title=Weiterentwicklung der Armee-FAQ (Politik) |url=https://www.vtg.admin.ch/de/aktuell/themen/wea/faq.html#ui-collapse-252 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230507053620/https://www.vtg.admin.ch/de/aktuell/themen/wea/faq.html#ui-collapse-252 |archive-date=7 May 2023 |access-date=17 April 2023 |website=Schweizer Armee |language=de |format=Click to expand the question 'Wie verändert sich der Sollbestand der Armee?'}}]
[[File:SKdt-Fahrzeug - Schweizer Armee - Steel Parade 2006.jpg|thumb|left|Swiss-built [[Mowag Eagle]]s of the land forces]]
Overall, three general mobilisations have been declared to ensure the integrity and neutrality of Switzerland. The first mobilisation was held in response to the [[Franco-Prussian War]] of 1870–71; while the second was in response to the [[First World War]] outbreak in August 1914; the third mobilisation took place in September 1939 in response to the [[German attack on Poland]].[{{Cite news |date=16 March 2020 |title=Swiss order biggest military mobilization since WWII to fight virus |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-swiss-idUSKBN2131D2 |access-date=22 October 2023 |archive-date=27 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127213032/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-swiss-idUSKBN2131D2/ |url-status=live }}]
Because of its neutrality policy, the Swiss army does not take part in armed conflicts in other countries but joins some peacekeeping missions. Since 2000 the armed force department has maintained the [[Onyx (interception system)|Onyx]] intelligence gathering system to monitor satellite communications.[{{Cite news |last=Chapin |first=Emerson |date=2 September 1990 |title=Edwin Reischauer, Diplomat and Scholar, Dies at 79 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/02/obituaries/edwin-reischauer-diplomat-and-scholar-dies-at-79.html |url-status=live |access-date=8 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200325053127/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/02/obituaries/edwin-reischauer-diplomat-and-scholar-dies-at-79.html |archive-date=25 March 2020 |issn=0362-4331}}]
[[Gun politics in Switzerland]] are unique in Europe in that 2–3.5 million guns are in the hands of civilians, giving the nation an estimate of 28–41 guns per 100 people.[{{Cite web |title=Guns in Switzerland – Firearms, gun law and gun control |url=https://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/switzerland |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424224143/https://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/switzerland |archive-date=24 April 2021 |access-date=30 April 2021 |website=www.gunpolicy.org}}] As per the Small Arms Survey, only 324,484 guns are owned by the military.[{{Cite web |date=June 2018 |title=Global Firearms Holdings Dynamic Map |url=http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/de/weapons-and-markets/tools/global-firearms-holdings.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710010411/http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/de/weapons-and-markets/tools/global-firearms-holdings.html |archive-date=10 July 2018 |access-date=9 July 2018 |website=smallarmssurvey.org |publisher=Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement |location=Geneva, Switzerland}}] Only 143,372 are in the hands of soldiers.[{{Cite web |title=Die Armee in Zahlen |url=https://www.vbs.admin.ch/de/vbs/zahlen-fakten/armee.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205163220/https://www.vbs.admin.ch/de/vbs/zahlen-fakten/armee.html |archive-date=5 February 2020 |access-date=30 April 2021 |publisher=The Swiss Federal Council |language=de, fr, it}}] However, ammunition is no longer issued.[{{Cite web |date=21 December 2007 |title=SR 514.101 Verordnung des VBS über die persönliche Ausrüstung der Armeeangehörigen (VPAA-VBS) vom 9. Dezember 2003 (Stand am 1. Januar 2015): Art. 7 Taschenmunition Ziff 1 |url=https://www.admin.ch/opc/de/classified-compilation/20031035/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228221111/https://www.admin.ch/opc/de/classified-compilation/20031035/index.html |archive-date=28 December 2016 |access-date=6 December 2016 |publisher=The Swiss Federal Council |language=de, fr, it}}][{{Cite web |date=27 September 2007 |title=Soldiers can keep guns at home but not ammo |url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/soldiers-can-keep-guns-at-home-but-not-ammo/970614 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207070323/http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/soldiers-can-keep-guns-at-home-but-not-ammo/970614 |archive-date=7 December 2016 |access-date=7 December 2016 |website=[[Swissinfo]]}}]
== Economy ==
{{Main|Economy of Switzerland|Economic history of Switzerland}}
{{See also|Banking in Switzerland|Federal budget of Switzerland}}
[[File:Aerial view of Zurich.JPG|thumb|right|upright|The Greater [[Zurich]] Area, home to 1.5 million inhabitants and 150,000 companies, is one of the most important economic centres in the world.[{{Cite web |title=City Mayors: World's most powerful cities |url=http://www.citymayors.com/economics/power-cities.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510153333/http://citymayors.com/economics/power-cities.html |archive-date=10 May 2012 |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=City Mayors}}]]]
Switzerland has a stable, prosperous and [[high-tech]] economy. It is frequently ranked among the world's wealthiest country per capita; for example in 2024 the [[CIA world factbook]] ranked Switzerland as having the 10th highest [[GDP per capita]] (at [[purchasing power parity]]) in the world.[{{cite web |title=Real GDP per capita Comparison |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/real-gdp-per-capita/country-comparison/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204222713/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/real-gdp-per-capita/country-comparison/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 February 2021 |website=www.cia.gov |publisher=CIA World Factbook |access-date=15 November 2025}}] The country ranks as one of the [[Corruption Perceptions Index|least corrupt countries in the world]],[{{Cite web |title=Credit Suisse: Global wealth has soared 14% since 2010 to USD 231 trillion with the strongest growth in emerging markets |url=https://www.credit-suisse.com/news/en/media_release.jsp?ns=41874 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724065751/https://www.credit-suisse.com/news/en/media_release.jsp?ns=41874 |archive-date=24 July 2014 |access-date=17 March 2023 |website=Credit Suisse |language=en}}][[https://www.credit-suisse.com/upload/news-live/000000022454.pdf Table 2: Top 10 countries with the highest average wealth per adult in 2011] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114023617/https://www.credit-suisse.com/upload/news-live/000000022454.pdf |date=14 November 2012}}. Credit Suisse.][{{Cite web |date=9 October 2013 |title=Global Wealth Reaches New All-Time High |url=http://www.thefinancialist.com/global-wealth-reaches-new-all-time-high/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729234134/https://www.thefinancialist.com/global-wealth-reaches-new-all-time-high/ |archive-date=29 July 2016 |access-date=10 October 2013 |website=The Financialist |publisher=Credit Suisse}}] while [[Banking in Switzerland|its banking sector]] was rated in 2018 as "[[Corruption in Switzerland#Banking|one of the most corrupt in the world]]".[{{Cite web |date=9 February 2018 |title=Switzerland, US 'The Most Corrupt' |url=https://wsimag.com/economy-and-politics/35987-switzerland-us-the-most-corrupt\ |website=Wall Street International Magazine}}{{Dead link|date=June 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}] It has the world's [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|twentieth largest economy]] by nominal GDP and the [[List of countries by GDP (PPP)|thirty-eighth largest]] by purchasing power parity. As of 2021, it is the [[List of countries by exports|thirteenth largest exporter]], and the [[List of countries by exports per capita|fifth largest]] per capita. Zurich and Geneva are regarded as [[global cities]], ranked as [[Globalization and World Cities Research Network|Alpha and Beta]] respectively. Basel is the capital of Switzerland's pharmaceutical industry, hosting [[Novartis]], [[Roche]], and many other players. It is one of the world's most important centres for the life sciences industry.[{{Cite news |last=Jörg |first=Aurel |date=7 February 2017 |title=Was wäre die Schweiz ohne die Pharma? {{pipe}} NZZ |newspaper=Neue Zürcher Zeitung |url=https://www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/starke-abhaengigkeit-von-einer-branche-was-waere-die-schweiz-ohne-die-pharma-ld.144096 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021212914/https://www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/starke-abhaengigkeit-von-einer-branche-was-waere-die-schweiz-ohne-die-pharma-ld.144096 |archive-date=21 October 2019 |access-date=29 July 2020}}]
Switzerland had the second-highest global rating in the [[Index of Economic Freedom]] 2023,[{{Cite web |title=Country Rankings: World & Global Economy Rankings on Economic Freedom |url=https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705085015/https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking |archive-date=5 July 2018 |access-date=29 July 2023 |website=www.heritage.org |language=en}}] while also providing significant public services.[{{Cite web |title=2023 Index of Economic Freedom: Switzerland |url=https://indexdotnet.azurewebsites.net/index/country/switzerland |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208144513/https://indexdotnet.azurewebsites.net/index/country/switzerland |archive-date=8 February 2023 |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=Index of Economic Freedom |publisher=The Heritage Foundation |language=en}}] On a per capita basis, nominal GDP is higher than those of the larger Western and Central European economies and Japan,[{{cite web |url=https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/BY-COUNTRY/StartYear/2015/EndYear/2022/Indicator/NY-GDP-PCAP-CD |url-access= |title=GDP per capita By Country, in current US$ 2015-2022 |date= |website=[[World Integrated Trade Solution]] |publisher=[[World Bank]] |access-date=2024-10-30}}] while [[List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita|adjusted for purchasing power]], Switzerland ranked 11th in 2017, fifth in 2018, and ninth in 2020.[{{cite web |url=https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/BY-COUNTRY/StartYear/2015/EndYear/2022/Indicator/NY-GDP-PCAP-PP-CD |title=GDP per capita, PPP By Country, in current international $ 2015-2022 |date= |website=[[World Integrated Trade Solution]] |publisher=[[World Bank]] |access-date=2024-10-30}}]
{{Pie chart
| caption= Origin of the capital at the 30 biggest Swiss corporations, 2018:[{{Cite news |date=4 April 2019 |title=Fewer Swiss shares: Foreign investors own 60% of Swiss corporations |publisher=swissinfo.ch – a SRG SSR Swiss Broadcasting Corporation |location=Bern, Switzerland |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/foreign-investors-own-60--of-swiss-corporations/44880256 |url-status=live |access-date=12 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002204326/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/foreign-investors-own-60--of-swiss-corporations/44880256 |archive-date=2 October 2020}}]{{efn|name=Rothschilds|Assumption made in the study: one third of the shares is "not allocable" and has been distributed equally among current regions.}}
| label1 = Switzerland
| value1 = 39
| color1 = red
| label2 = North America
| value2 = 33
| color2 = yellow
| label3 = Europe
| value3 = 24
| color3 = blue
| label4 = Rest of the world
| value4 = 4
| color4 = brown
}}
The [[European Union]] labelled Switzerland Europe's most innovative country.[{{Cite web |date=5 July 2016 |title=European Innovation Scoreboard – European Commission |url=http://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/innovation/facts-figures/scoreboards_en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220155451/http://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/innovation/facts-figures/scoreboards_en |archive-date=20 December 2016 |access-date=13 December 2016}}] Switzerland has been ranked the most innovative country in the [[Global Innovation Index]] in 2025, as it had done in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019.[{{Cite web |title=GII Innovation Ecosystems & Data Explorer 2025 |url=https://www.wipo.int/gii-ranking/en/switzerland |access-date=2025-10-16 |website=WIPO}}][{{Cite book |last1=Dutta |first1=Soumitra |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2025/en/index.html |title=Global Innovation Index 2025: Innovation at a Crossroads |last2=Lanvin |first2=Bruno |publisher=[[World Intellectual Property Organization]] |year=2025 |isbn=978-92-805-3797-0 |page=19 |language=en |doi=10.34667/tind.58864 |access-date=2025-10-17}}][{{Cite book |title=Global Innovation Index 2023, 15th Edition |url=https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2023/index.html |access-date=17 October 2023 |date=18 April 2024 |publisher=[[World Intellectual Property Organization]] |doi=10.34667/tind.46596 |isbn=978-92-805-3432-0 |language=en |archive-date=22 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022042128/https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2023/index.html |url-status=live |last1=Dutta |first1=Soumitra |last2=Lanvin |first2=Bruno |last3=Wunsch-Vincent |first3=Sacha |last4=León |first4=Lorena Rivera |last5=World Intellectual Property Organization }}][{{Cite book |url=https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo-pub-2000-2022-en-main-report-global-innovation-index-2022-15th-edition.pdf |title=Global Innovation Index 2022, 15th Edition |first4=Sacha |publisher=[[World Intellectual Property Organization]] |year=2022 |isbn=978-92-805-3432-0 |editor-last=Dutta |editor-first=Soumitra |language=en |doi=10.34667/tind.46596 |access-date=16 November 2022 |editor-last2=Lanvin |editor-first2=Bruno |editor-last3=León |editor-first3=Lorena Rivera |editor-last4=Wunsch-Vincent |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930033511/https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo-pub-2000-2022-en-main-report-global-innovation-index-2022-15th-edition.pdf |archive-date=30 September 2022 |url-status=live |doi-access=free}}][{{Cite web |first4=Sacha |title=Global Innovation Index 2021 |url=https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2021/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120103718/https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2021/ |archive-date=20 November 2021 |website=[[WIPO]] |language=en |editor-last1=Dutta |editor-first1=Soumitra |editor-last2=Lanvin |editor-first2=Bruno |editor-last3=León |editor-first3=Lorena Rivera |editor-last4=Wunsch-Vincent}}] It ranked 20th of 189 countries in the [[Ease of Doing Business Index]]. Switzerland's slow growth in the 1990s and the early 2000s increased support for economic reforms and harmonisation with the European Union.[{{Cite web |title=Policy Brief: Economic Survey of Switzerland, 2007 |url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/39/8/39539300.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624200128/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/39/8/39539300.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2008 |publisher=[[OECD]] |format=PDF; 326 [[KiB]]}}][[http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/29/49/40202407.pdf Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2008 – Switzerland Country Note] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624150623/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/29/49/40202407.pdf|date=24 June 2009}}. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2008, {{ISBN|978-92-64-04284-1}}] In 2020, [[International Institute for Management Development|IMD]] placed Switzerland first in attracting skilled workers.[{{Cite web |date=1 March 2021 |title=The IMD World Talent Ranking 2020 |url=https://www.imd.org/wcc/world-competitiveness-center-rankings/world-talent-ranking-2020/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308124452/https://www1.imd.org/wcc/world-competitiveness-center-rankings/world-talent-ranking-2020/ |archive-date=8 March 2021 |access-date=1 March 2021 |publisher=IMD International Institute for Management Development |location=Lausanne, Switzerland}}]
For much of the 20th century, Switzerland was the wealthiest country in Europe by a considerable margin (per capita GDP).[{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/westerneurope2000000unse/page/645/mode/2up |title=Western Europe |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-85743-152-0 |pages=645–646}}] Switzerland has one of the world's largest [[List of countries by current account balance as a percentage of GDP|account balances as a percentage of GDP]].[{{Cite news |last=Wong Sak Hoi |first=Geraldine |date=29 July 2019 |title=Fact check: Are most Swiss residents rich? |work=SWI swissinfo.ch |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/fact-check_are-most-swiss-residents-rich/45113786 |url-status=live |access-date=30 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240915041015/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/fact-check_are-most-swiss-residents-rich/45113786 |archive-date=15 September 2024}}] In 2018, the canton of Basel-City had the highest GDP per capita, ahead of Zug and Geneva.[{{Cite web |title=Schweiz – Bruttoinlandsprodukt (BIP) pro Kopf nach Kantonen 2017 |url=https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/442774/umfrage/bruttoinlandsprodukt-bip-pro-kopf-in-der-schweiz-nach-kantonen/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104170121/https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/442774/umfrage/bruttoinlandsprodukt-bip-pro-kopf-in-der-schweiz-nach-kantonen/ |archive-date=4 November 2018 |access-date=8 June 2020 |website=Statista}}] According to [[Credit Suisse]], only about 37% of residents own their own homes, one of the lowest rates of [[home ownership]] in Europe. Housing and food price levels were 171% and 145% of the [[EU-25]] index in 2007, compared to 113% and 104% in Germany.[Swiss Statistical Yearbook 2008 by [[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]]]
Switzerland is home to several large multinational corporations. The largest by revenue are [[Glencore]], [[Gunvor]], [[Nestlé]], [[Mediterranean Shipping Company]], [[Novartis]], [[Hoffmann-La Roche]], [[ABB]], [[Mercuria Energy Group]] and [[Adecco]].[{{Cite news |date=18 October 2008 |title=Six Swiss companies make European Top 100 |publisher=swissinfo.ch |url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/detail/Six_Swiss_companies_make_European_Top_100.html?siteSect=161&sid=7174196&cKey=1161172317000 |access-date=22 July 2008}}] Also, notable are [[UBS]], [[Zurich Insurance]], [[Richemont]], [[Credit Suisse]], [[Barry Callebaut]], [[Swiss Re]], [[Rolex]], [[Tetra Pak]], [[Swatch Group]] and [[Swiss International Air Lines]].
Switzerland's most important economic sector is manufacturing. Manufactured products include speciality [[chemical industry|chemicals]], [[Pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland|health and pharmaceutical]] goods, scientific and precision [[measuring instrument]]s and [[musical instrument]]s. The largest exported goods are chemicals (34% of exported goods), machines/electronics (20.9%), and precision instruments/[[Swiss watchmaking industry|watches]] (16.9%).[{{Cite web |last=von Wy |first=Benjamin |date=4 March 2023 |others=Illustration by Philip Schaufelberger |title=Switzerland: the land of cooperatives |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland--the-land-of-cooperatives/48325444 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305105640/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland--the-land-of-cooperatives/48325444 |archive-date=5 March 2023 |access-date=5 March 2023 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch}}]
=== Taxation and government spending ===
{{see also|Taxation in Switzerland}}
Switzerland is a [[tax haven]].[{{Cite web |last1=Gabriel Zucman |author-link=Gabriel Zucman |last2=Thomas Torslov |last3=Ludvig Wier |date=June 2018 |title=The Missing Profits of Nations |url=http://gabriel-zucman.eu/missingprofits/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402221958/http://gabriel-zucman.eu/missingprofits/ |archive-date=2 April 2019 |access-date=17 August 2018 |publisher=[[National Bureau of Economic Research]], Working Papers |page=31 |quote=Appendix Table 2: Tax Havens}}] The private sector economy dominates. It features low tax rates; [[List of countries by tax revenue to GDP ratio|tax revenue to GDP ratio is one of the smallest]] of [[developed countries]]. The [[Federal budget of Switzerland|Swiss Federal budget]] reached 62.8 billion Swiss francs in 2010, 11.35% of GDP; however, canton and municipality budgets are not counted as part of the federal budget. Total [[government spending]] is closer to 33.8% of GDP. The main sources of income for the federal government are the [[value-added tax]] (33% of tax revenue) and the direct federal tax (29%). The main areas of expenditure are in social welfare and finance/taxes. The expenditures of the Swiss Confederation have been growing from 7% of GDP in 1960 to 9.7% in 1990 and 10.7% in 2010. While the social welfare and finance sectors and tax grew from 35% in 1990 to 48.2% in 2010, a significant reduction of expenditures has been occurring in agriculture and national defence; from 26.5% to 12.4% (estimation for the year 2015).[Federal Department of Finance. (2012/1). p. 82.][{{Cite web |title=Voranschlag 2014 Finanzplan 2015–17 |url=http://www.efv.admin.ch/d/downloads/finanzberichterstattung/budget/kontext/Praes_Budget-2014_FP2015-17.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714115911/http://www.efv.admin.ch/d/downloads/finanzberichterstattung/budget/kontext/Praes_Budget-2014_FP2015-17.pdf |archive-date=14 July 2014 |access-date=14 June 2014}}]
=== Labour force ===
{{see also|Immigration to Switzerland}}
Slightly more than 5 million people work in Switzerland;[{{Cite web |title=Work and income |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/work-income.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312075052/https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/work-income.html |archive-date=12 March 2017 |access-date=13 March 2017}}] about 25% of employees belonged to a trade union in 2004.[{{Cite web |title=Trade Unions – Switzerland |url=http://www.swissworld.org/en/economy/workers_and_jobs/trade_unions |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116072616/http://www.swissworld.org/en/economy/workers_and_jobs/trade_unions |archive-date=16 January 2013 |access-date=17 December 2012}}] Switzerland has a more flexible [[labor market|labour market]] than neighbouring countries and the unemployment rate is consistently low.[{{cite web |url=https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2014/06/the-peculiar-swiss-unemployment-rate/ |title=The peculiar Swiss unemployment rate |last=Zimmerman |first=Christian |date=2 June 2014 |department=FRED Blog |website=[[Federal Reserve Economic Data|FRED]] |publisher=[[Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916150219/https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2014/06/the-peculiar-swiss-unemployment-rate/ |archive-date=2024-09-16}}] The unemployment rate increased from 1.7% in June 2000 to 4.4% in December 2009.[{{Cite web |date=8 January 2010 |title=Swiss jobless reach 12-year high – a mere 4.4 pct |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729195906/http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2010738861_apeuswitzerlandunemployment.html |archive-date=29 July 2013 |website=[[The Seattle Times]] |language=en-US |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}] It then decreased to 3.2% in 2014 and held steady for several years, before further dropping to 2.5% in 2018 and 2.3% in 2019; in 2023 it had reached a 20-year low of 2%.[{{cite web |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/swiss-unemployment-hits-twenty-year-low-is-it-all-good-news/49115172 |title=Swiss jobless rate hits 20-year low: all good news? |last1=O'Sullivan |first1=Domhnall |date=10 January 2024 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614133317/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/swiss-unemployment-hits-twenty-year-low-is-it-all-good-news/49115172 |archive-date=2024-06-14}}] Population growth (from net immigration) reached 0.52% of population in 2004, increased in the following years before falling to 0.54% again in 2017.[{{Cite news |date=31 August 2018 |title=Rückläufige Zuwanderung bremst Bevölkerungswachstum |work=[[Aargauer Zeitung]] |location=Aarau, Switzerland |url=https://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/schweiz/ruecklaeufige-zuwanderung-bremst-bevoelkerungswachstum-133017362 |url-status=live |access-date=12 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212221658/https://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/schweiz/ruecklaeufige-zuwanderung-bremst-bevoelkerungswachstum-133017362 |archive-date=12 February 2020}}] The [[List of countries by immigrant population|foreign citizen population]] was 28.9% in 2015, about the same as in Australia.[{{Cite web |date=January 2013 |title=The Conference Board Total Economy Database – Output, Labor, and Labor Productivity, 1950–2012 |url=http://www.conference-board.org/data/economydatabase/#GDP_perHourWorked |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100708232452/http://www.conference-board.org/data/economydatabase/#GDP_perHourWorked |archive-date=8 July 2010 |access-date=12 July 2013 |publisher=[[The Conference Board]] |at=GDP per Hour, in 2012 EKS$ |format=Excel}}]
In 2022, the median monthly gross income in Switzerland was 6,788 francs per month (equivalent to US$7,467 per month).[{{Cite web |title=Wages, income from employment and labour costs |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/work-income/wages-income-employment-labour-costs.html |access-date=7 June 2025 |website=bfs.admin.ch}}][{{Cite web |date=1 February 2016 |title=Inequality in Switzerland |url=https://lenews.ch/2016/02/01/inequality-in-switzerland/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223074827/https://lenews.ch/2016/02/01/inequality-in-switzerland/ |archive-date=23 December 2021 |access-date=23 December 2021 |website=Le News |language=en}}] Wealth inequality increased through 2019.[{{Cite web |date=24 September 2019 |title=Report warns of rising wealth inequality in Switzerland |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/-two-speed--society_report-warns-of-rising-wealth-inequality-in-switzerland/45248862 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223075301/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/-two-speed--society_report-warns-of-rising-wealth-inequality-in-switzerland/45248862 |archive-date=23 December 2021 |access-date=23 December 2021 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch |language=en |agency=Keystone-SDA}}]
About 8.2% of the population live below [[Poverty in Switzerland|the national poverty line]], defined in Switzerland as earning less than CHF 3,990 per month for a household of two adults and two children, and a further 15% are at risk of poverty. Single-parent families, those with no post-compulsory education and those out of work are among the most likely to live below the poverty line. Although work is considered a way out of poverty, some 4.3% are considered working poor. One in ten jobs in Switzerland is considered low-paid; roughly 12% of Swiss workers hold such jobs, many of them women and foreigners.[{{Cite book |last=Snygg |first=John |url={{GBurl|id=qlX3CqMUHpUC}} |title=A New Approach to Differential Geometry Using Clifford's Geometric Algebra |publisher=Springer |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-8176-8282-8 |page=38}}] who became a Swiss citizen in 1901 and developed his theory of [[special relativity]] in Bern. Among the Nobel laureates born or naturalised in Switzerland are [[Vladimir Prelog]], [[Heinrich Rohrer]], [[Richard R. Ernst|Richard Ernst]], [[Edmond Fischer]], [[Rolf Zinkernagel]], [[Kurt Wüthrich]] and [[Jacques Dubochet]]. Over 100 laureates across all fields have a relationship to Switzerland.[{{cite web |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/sci-tech/award-winners_what-s-behind-switzerland-s-star-studded-nobel-success/45286220 |title=What's behind Switzerland's star-studded Nobel success? |last=Stephens |first=Thomas |date=9 October 2019 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch }}]{{efn|name=nobel prize|Nobel prizes in [[non-science]] categories included}} The [[Nobel Peace Prize]] has been awarded nine times to organisations headquartered in Switzerland.[{{Cite web |url=http://www.muellerscience.com/SPEZIALITAETEN/Schweiz/SchweizerNobelpreistraeger.htm |title=Schweiz: Rund um die Nobelpreisträger |last=Müller |first=Roland |date= |website=Mueller Science |at=Friedenspreis für Organisationen, die in der Schweiz domiziliert sind |language=de |access-date=2024-10-30 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007161907/http://www.muellerscience.com/SPEZIALITAETEN/Schweiz/SchweizerNobelpreistraeger.htm |archive-date=2024-10-07}}]
[[File:LHC, CERN.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Large Hadron Collider|LHC]] tunnel. CERN is the world's largest laboratory and also the birthplace of the [[World Wide Web]].[{{Cite web |title=Welcome to info.cern.ch |url=http://info.cern.ch/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105103513/http://info.cern.ch/ |archive-date=5 January 2010 |website=CERN}}]]]
Geneva and the nearby French department of [[Ain]] co-host the world's largest laboratory, [[CERN]],[{{Cite web |title=CERN – the largest laboratory in the world |url=http://www.swissworld.org/en/switzerland/resources/story_switzerland/cern_the_largest_laboratory_in_the_world/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429221447/http://www.swissworld.org/en/switzerland/resources/story_switzerland/cern_the_largest_laboratory_in_the_world |archive-date=29 April 2010 |access-date=29 April 2010 |website=Swissworld.org}}] dedicated to [[particle physics]] research. Another important research centre is the [[Paul Scherrer Institute]], which conducts [[multi-disciplinary]] [[Research institute|research]] in the [[Natural science|natural]] and [[engineering sciences]].
Notable Swiss inventions include [[lysergic acid diethylamide]] (LSD), [[diazepam]] (Valium), [[Velcro]], and the [[scanning tunnelling microscope]], which earned inventors [[Gerd Binnig]] and [[Heinrich Rohrer]] the 1986 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]]. [[Auguste Piccard]] became the first person to enter the [[Stratosphere]] with his pressurised hydrogen ballon, while his son [[Jacques Piccard]] became one of the first people to explore the deepest known part of the world's [[ocean]] (along with American [[Don Walsh]]).
The [[Swiss Space Office]] has been involved in various space technologies and programmes. It was one of the 10 founders of the [[European Space Agency]] in 1975 and is the seventh largest contributor to the ESA budget. In the private sector, several companies participate in the space industry, such as [[Oerlikon Space]][{{Cite web |date=27 November 2009 |title=Oerlikon Components Space – Oerlikon Space at a Glance |url=http://www.oerlikon.com/ecomaXL/index.php?site=SPACE_EN_company_overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091127232253/http://www.oerlikon.com/ecomaXL/index.php?site=SPACE_EN_company_overview |archive-date=27 November 2009 |access-date=8 February 2023}}] and Maxon Motors.[{{Cite web |date=4 January 2004 |title=5 Years on Mars |url=http://www.maxonmotor.ch/ch/en/media_releases_5619.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430001717/http://www.maxonmotor.ch/ch/en/media_releases_5619.html |archive-date=30 April 2011 |website=Maxonmotor}}]
=== Energy ===
{{See also|Energy in Switzerland|||}}
[[File:Mauvoisin Dam.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Switzerland has the [[List of tallest dams in the world|tallest dams]] in Europe, among which the [[Mauvoisin Dam]], in the Alps. Hydroelectric power is the most important domestic source of energy in the country.]]
Electricity generated in Switzerland is 56% from [[hydroelectricity]] and 39% from [[nuclear power]], producing negligible CO2. On 18 May 2003, two [[anti-nuclear]] referendums were defeated: ''Moratorium Plus'', aimed at forbidding the building of new [[nuclear power plants]] (41.6% supported),[{{Cite web |date=18 May 2003 |title=Vorlage Nr. 502: Übersicht: Volksinitiative 'Moratorium Plus – Für die Verlängerung des Atomkraftwerk-Baustopps und die Begrenzung des Atomrisikos (MoratoriumPlus)' |url=http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/pore/va/20030518/det502.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228220425/https://www.admin.ch/ch/d/pore/va/20030518/det502.html |archive-date=28 December 2016 |access-date=6 December 2016 |publisher=Swiss Federal Chancellery |language=de, fr, it |type=official site |location=Bern, Switzerland}}] and Electricity Without Nuclear (33.7% supported) after a moratorium expired in 2000.[{{Cite web |date=18 May 2003 |title=Vorlage Nr. 501: Übersicht:Volksinitiative 'Strom ohne Atom – Für eine Energiewende und schrittweise Stilllegung der Atomkraftwerke (Strom ohne Atom)' |url=http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/pore/va/20030518/det501.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228220015/https://www.admin.ch/ch/d/pore/va/20030518/det501.html |archive-date=28 December 2016 |access-date=6 December 2016 |publisher=Swiss Federal Chancellery |language=de, fr, it |type=official site |location=Bern, Switzerland}}] After the [[Fukushima nuclear disaster]], in 2011 the government announced plans to end the use of nuclear energy in the following 20 to 30 years.[{{Cite news |last=Enserink |first=Martin |date=25 May 2011 |title=Switzerland to Phase Out Nuclear Energy; E.U. Strikes Deal on 'Stress Tests' |work=Science |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |location=Washington DC, U.S. |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/switzerland-phase-out-nuclear-energy-eu-strikes-deal-stress-tests |url-status=live |access-date=6 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201075935/http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2011/05/switzerland-phase-out-nuclear-energy-eu-strikes-deal-stress-tests |archive-date=1 December 2016}}] In November 2016, Swiss voters rejected a [[Green Party of Switzerland|Green Party]] referendum to accelerate the phaseout of nuclear power (45.8% supported).[{{Cite news |last=Geiser |first=Urs |title=Swiss nuclear plants to remain on grid |work=SWI swissinfo.ch – the international service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) |publisher=Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) |location=Zurich, Switzerland |url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/vote-november-27_power-on-or-off-for-swiss-nuclear-plants-/42703330 |url-status=live |access-date=28 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127231249/http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/vote-november-27_power-on-or-off-for-swiss-nuclear-plants-/42703330 |archive-date=27 November 2016}}] The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) is responsible for energy supply and energy use within the [[Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications]] (DETEC). The agency supports the [[2000-watt society]] initiative to cut the nation's energy use by more than half by 2050.[{{Cite web |date=16 January 2008 |title=Federal government energy research |url=http://www.bfe.admin.ch/forschungnetze/01223/index.html?lang=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224105623/http://www.bfe.admin.ch/forschungnetze/01223/index.html?lang=en |archive-date=24 February 2009}}]
=== Transport ===
{{Main|Transport in Switzerland}}
[[File:Lötschberg Tunnel.jpg|thumb|right|Entrance of the new [[Lötschberg Base Tunnel]], the third-longest railway tunnel in the world, under the old [[Lötschberg railway line]]. It was the first completed tunnel of the greater project [[NRLA]].]]
Switzerland had approximately 6,562,600 motor vehicles (excluding mopeds) in 2025.[{{cite web |title=Number of vehicles on Swiss roads increases | website=SWI swissinfo.ch | date=2025-10-17 | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/various/the-number-of-vehicles-on-swiss-roads-has-increased/90181485 | access-date=2025-10-25}}] The largest category was passenger cars with 4,829,500 units (58.7% running on petrol, 24% on diesel, 5.2% on electricity and 11.9% hybrid).[{{cite web |url=https://w3.unece.org/PXWeb/en/CountryRanking?IndicatorCode=47 |title=Railway density |year=2022 |website=UNECE Data Portal |publisher=United Nations Economic Commission for Europe |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706180506/https://w3.unece.org/PXWeb/en/CountryRanking?IndicatorCode=47 |archive-date=2024-07-06}}][{{Cite web |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/mobility-transport/cross-sectional-topics/public-transport.assetdetail.32252559.html |title=Public transport traffic volume by transport means |date=11 September 2024 |website= |publisher=Federal Statistical Office }}] In 2023, each Swiss resident travelled on average {{convert|2446|km}} by rail, more than any other European country.[{{Cite web |date=21 November 2024 |title=Swiss are champions of rail travel in Europe |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/aging-society/swiss-are-champions-of-rail-travel-in-europe/88266920 |access-date=7 June 2025 |website=swissinfo.ch}}][{{cite web |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/mobility-transport/cross-sectional-topics/public-transport-rail-freight.assetdetail.su-d-11-TP-ZR.html |title=Öffentlicher Verkehr (inkl. Schienengüterverkehr) – detaillierte Zeitreihen |date=15 December 2016 |website= |publisher=Federal Statistical Office |language=de |trans-title=Public transportation (incl. rail freight) – detailed time series |format=XLS |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220074207/https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/mobility-transport/cross-sectional-topics/public-transport-rail-freight.assetdetail.su-d-11-TP-ZR.html |archive-date=20 December 2016}}]{{Verify source|date=November 2024|reason=Cited XLS document is a workbook with many sheets; need more exact location for data on kilometres travelled via rail per resident in 2015.}} Virtually 100% of the network is electrified. 60% of the network is operated by the [[Swiss Federal Railways]] (SBB CFF FFS). Besides the second largest [[standard gauge]] railway company, [[BLS AG]], two railways companies operate on [[narrow gauge]] networks: the [[Rhaetian Railway]] (RhB) in Graubünden, which includes some World Heritage lines,[{{Cite web |title=Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1276/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503140944/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1276 |archive-date=3 May 2017 |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |language=en}}] and the [[Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn]] (MGB), which co-operates with RhB the [[Glacier Express]] between [[Zermatt]] and [[St. Moritz]]/[[Davos]]. Switzerland operates the [[List of longest tunnels|world's longest and deepest railway tunnel]] and the first flat, low-level route through the Alps, the {{convert|57.1|km|mi|adj=mid|-long}} [[Gotthard Base Tunnel]], the largest part of the [[NRLA|New Railway Link through the Alps (NRLA)]] project.
[[Public transport]] is very popular. For example, a 2010 microcensus discovered that in [[Zurich]], Switzerland's largest city, 32% of its inhabitants use [[public transport in Zurich|the city's public transport]] regularly (trams or trolleybuses, of which 60% used at least those two modes), while 26% depended on a personal vehicle. Fewer than half the residents owned a car or a motorcycle.[{{Cite book |last=Schwartz |first=Samuel I. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cAIrCgAAQBAJ&dq=zurich+model+envy+of+the+world&pg=PA175 |title=Street Smart: The Rise of Cities and the Fall of Cars |date=2015-08-18 |publisher=PublicAffairs |isbn=978-1-61039-565-6 |pages=176 |language=en}}]
Switzerland has a publicly managed, toll-free road network financed by highway permits as well as vehicle and petrol taxes. The Swiss autobahn/autoroute system requires the annual purchase of a [[vignette (road tax)|vignette]] (toll sticker)—for 40 [[Swiss franc]]s—to use its roadways, including passenger cars and trucks. The Swiss autobahn/autoroute network stretches for {{convert|2259|km|mi|abbr=on}} and has one of the highest motorway densities in the world.[{{Cite web |title=Facts and figures 2023/2024 |url=https://www.astra.admin.ch/astra/en/home/documentation/facts-and-figures.html |access-date=7 June 2025 |website=astra.admin.ch |archive-date=13 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250613172851/https://www.astra.admin.ch/astra/en/home/documentation/facts-and-figures.html |url-status=dead }}][{{Cite news |date=1 April 2003 |title=Switzerland |work=Xinhua |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2003-04/01/content_809596.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129073327/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2003-04/01/content_809596.htm |archive-date=29 January 2017}}]
[[Zurich Airport]] is Switzerland's largest international flight gateway; it handled 31.2 million passengers in 2024.[{{Cite news |title=European Airport Traffic Trends |url=http://www.anna.aero/european-airport-traffic-trends/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209041654/http://www.anna.aero/european-airport-traffic-trends/ |archive-date=9 February 2014 |access-date=12 July 2013 |website=anna.aero |date=24 October 2008 |language=en-GB}}] The other international airports are [[Geneva Airport]] (13.9 million passengers in 2012),[[http://www.gva.ch/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-244/ Geneva Airport statistics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714130905/http://www.gva.ch/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-244/ |date=14 July 2016}} accessed 12 July 2013] [[EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg]] (located in France), [[Bern Airport]], [[Lugano Airport]], [[St. Gallen-Altenrhein Airport]] and [[Sion Airport]]. [[Swiss International Air Lines]] is the flag carrier. Its main hub is Zurich, but it is legally domiciled in Basel.
In November 2025, Switzerland's Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) granted [[WeRide]], a global leader in autonomous driving technology, a driverless permit which authorises it to operate autonomously on public roads in the Furttal region. This is the first driverless Robotaxi permit for passengers issued in Switzerland.[{{Cite web |date=20 November 2025 |title=WeRide's Robotaxi Receives Driverless Permit in Switzerland; Autonomous Vehicles Now Licensed in 8 Countries |url=https://ir.weride.ai/news-releases/news-release-details/werides-robotaxi-receives-driverless-permit-switzerland |website=WeRide |access-date=11 December 2025 |archive-date=11 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251211124451/https://ir.weride.ai/news-releases/news-release-details/werides-robotaxi-receives-driverless-permit-switzerland |url-status=dead }}]
=== Environment ===
{{Main|Environment of Switzerland|Waste management in Switzerland}}
Switzerland has one of the best environmental records among developed nations.[{{Cite web |date=23 January 2008 |title=Swiss sit atop ranking of greenest nations |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna22802081 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525122322/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/22802081 |archive-date=25 May 2018 |access-date=2 December 2009 |website=NBC News |language=en}}] It is a signatory to the [[Kyoto Protocol]]; alongside Mexico and South Korea, it was a founding member of the [[Environmental Integrity Group]] (EIG).[{{Cite journal |last=Nobs |first=Beat |date=June 2022 |title=Transparency and Participation for All: The founding of the Environmental Integrity Group |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2022-06/20-years-environmental-integrity-group-eig.pdf |journal=Earth Negotiations Bulletin}}]
The country is active in recycling and anti-littering programs and is one of the world's top recyclers, recovering 66% to 96% of recyclable materials, varying across the country.[{{Cite web |title=Sammelregeln und Recyclingzahlen |url=http://www.swissrecycling.ch/deutsch/wregel.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423183826/http://swissrecycling.ch/deutsch/wregel.htm |archive-date=23 April 2010 |access-date=29 April 2010 |website=Swiss Recycling |language=de}}] The 2014 Global Green Economy Index placed Switzerland among the top 10 green economies.[{{Cite web |title=2014 Global Green Economy Index |url=http://dualcitizeninc.com/GGEI-Report2014.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028201432/http://dualcitizeninc.com/GGEI-Report2014.pdf |archive-date=28 October 2014 |access-date=20 October 2014 |publisher=Dual Citizen LLC}}]
Switzerland has an economic system for garbage disposal, which is based mostly on recycling and energy-producing [[incinerator]]s.[{{Cite web |title=Topic Waste |url=https://www.bafu.admin.ch/bafu/de/home/themen/abfall.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429155125/https://www.bafu.admin.ch/bafu/de/home/themen/abfall.html |archive-date=29 April 2018 |access-date=29 April 2018 |publisher=Federal Office for the Environment FOEN |language=de, fr, it, en |type=official site |location=Ittigen, Switzerland}}] As in other European countries, the illegal disposal of garbage is heavily fined. In almost all Swiss municipalities, mandatory stickers or dedicated garbage bags allow the identification of disposable garbage.[{{Cite web |title=Abfall – Déchets – Rifiuti |url=https://www.preisueberwacher.admin.ch/pue/de/home/themen/infrastruktur/abfall.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429092904/https://www.preisueberwacher.admin.ch/pue/de/home/themen/infrastruktur/abfall.html |archive-date=29 April 2018 |access-date=29 April 2018 |publisher=Preisüberwachung, Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research |language=de, fr, it |type=official site |location=Bern, Switzerland}}]
==Demographics==
{{Main|Demographics of Switzerland|Swiss people|Crime in Switzerland}}
{{Further|List of Swiss people}}
[[File:Bevölkerungsdichte der Schweiz 2019.png|thumb|Population density in Switzerland (2019)]]
[[File:Ausländeranteil der Schweiz 2019.png|thumb|Percentage of foreigners in Switzerland (2019)]]
{{bar box
|float=right
|title=Permanent resident population aged 15 or over, by migration status, 2012/2024[{{cite web |title=Population by migration status |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/population/migration-integration/by-migration-status.html |website=Federal Statistical Office (FSO) |publisher=Swiss Confederation |access-date=16 November 2025}}]
|titlebar=#AAF
|left1={{small|'''Migration status'''}}
|left2={{small|'''Year'''}}
|right1={{small|'''pct.'''}}
|right2={{small|'''Change'''}}
|width=400px
|bars=
{{bar percent 2|Without migration background|2024|Orange|58|2012|#FED8B1|65| -7%}}
{{bar percent 2|[[Immigrant generations#First generation|Immigrants: First Generation]]|2024|#6BA4B8|33|2012|LightBlue|28|+5%}}
{{bar percent 2|[[Immigrant generations#Second generation|Immigrants: Second Generation]]|2024|#29AB87|8|2012|LightGreen|7|+1%}}
{{bar percent 2|Migration status unknown|2024|Grey|1|2012|LightGrey|0|+1%}}
}}
The Swiss population is about 9 million as of June 2024.[{{Cite web |title=Current situation and change |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistiken/bevoelkerung/stand-entwicklung.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711170449/https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistiken/bevoelkerung/stand-entwicklung.html |archive-date=11 July 2021 |access-date=15 July 2021 |website=Federal Statistical Office |language=en}}] Like other developed countries, Switzerland experienced rapid population growth during the [[industrial era]], with the number of inhabitants quadrupling between 1800 and 1990. Population growth is projected to continue to 2035, due mostly to immigration. Like [[Ageing of Europe|most of Europe]], Switzerland faces an [[ageing population]], with a fertility rate close to [[Replacement fertility rate|replacement level]].[{{Citation |title=Swiss population to grow 12.5 per cent by 2035 |date=29 March 2011 |url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-population-to-grow-12.5-per-cent-by-2035/29879180 |work=SWI |access-date=23 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160725184243/http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-population-to-grow-12.5-per-cent-by-2035/29879180 |url-status=live |archive-date=25 July 2016}}] Switzerland has one of the world's oldest populations, with an average age of 44.5 years.[{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/switzerland/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260118070006/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/switzerland/ |archive-date=18 January 2026 |title=Switzerland |date= |orig-date=last updated 23 October 2024 |website=[[The World Factbook]] |publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]] |url-status=dead}}]
According to the [[World Factbook]], as of 2020, the largest ethnic group in the country is [[Swiss people|Swiss]] (69.2%), which includes several ethno-linguistic groups, followed by German (4.2%), Italian (3.2%), Portuguese (2.5%), French (2.1%), Kosovan (1.1%), Turkish (1%), and other (16.7%).[{{cite web |url=https://minorityrights.org/country/switzerland/#:~:text=Switzerland%20has%20a%20high%20proportion,Montenegrins%20(106%2C900)%20and%20others. |title=Switzerland |date=2 November 2023 |access-date=10 May 2024 |archive-date=4 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230504081621/https://minorityrights.org/country/switzerland/#:~:text=Switzerland%20has%20a%20high%20proportion,Montenegrins%20(106%2C900)%20and%20others. |url-status=live}}]
===Largest cities===
{{Main|List of cities in Switzerland}}
{{Largest cities of Switzerland}}
===Immigration===
{{main|Immigration to Switzerland}}
In 2023, resident foreigners made up 26.3% of Switzerland's population.[{{Cite web |year=2022 |title=Ständige ausländische Wohnbevölkerung nach Staatsangehörigkeit, 1980–2020 |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/population/migration-integration/foreign.assetdetail.18344247.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808101002/https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/population/migration-integration/foreign.assetdetail.18344247.html |archive-date=8 August 2022 |access-date=8 August 2022 |publisher=Swiss Federal Statistical Office |format=XLSX |location=Neuchâtel, Switzerland}}]
2021 figures show that 39.5% (compared to 34.7% in 2012) of the permanent resident population aged 15 or over (around 2.89 million), had an immigrant background. 38% of the population with an immigrant background (1.1 million) held Swiss citizenship.[{{Cite web |title=Migration and integration – Data, indicators, Nationality, Population with an immigration background, Permanent resident population aged 15 or over, by migration status, 2nd quarter 2012 |url=http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/themen/01/07/blank/key/04.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115195408/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/themen/01/07/blank/key/04.html |archive-date=15 November 2013 |access-date=22 December 2013 |website=www.bfs.admin.ch |publisher=Swiss Federal Statistical Office, 2013 |language=en, de, fr, it |type=Statistics |location=Neuchâtel}}][{{Cite web |year=2022 |title=Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund im Jahr 2021 |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home.gnpdetail.2022-0549.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013104700/https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home.gnpdetail.2022-0549.html |archive-date=13 October 2022 |access-date=10 October 2022 |publisher=[[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]] |language=de, fr, it |location=Neuchâtel, Switzerland}}]
In the 2000s, domestic and international institutions expressed concern about what was perceived as an increase in [[xenophobia]]. In reply to one critical report, the Federal Council noted that "racism unfortunately is present in Switzerland", but stated that the high proportion of foreign citizens in the country, as well as the generally successful integration of foreigners, underlined Switzerland's openness.[{{Cite web |title=Definitive report on racism in Switzerland by UN expert |url=https://www.humanrights.ch/en/racism/definitive-report-racism-switzerland-expert |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415051310/http://www.humanrights.ch/en/Switzerland/Human-Rights-in-Internal-Affairs/Racism/Studies/idart_5119-content.html |archive-date=15 April 2012 |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=humanrights.ch |language=en}}] A follow-up study conducted in 2018 reported that 59% considered [[Immigration to Switzerland#Racism|racism a serious problem in Switzerland]].[{{Cite web |last=Kuenzi |first=Renat |date=4 June 2020 |title=How Swiss direct democracy deals with xenophobia |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/directdemocracy/foreigners-in-switzerland_how-swiss-direct-democracy-deals-with-xenophobia/45803622 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609211356/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/directdemocracy/foreigners-in-switzerland_how-swiss-direct-democracy-deals-with-xenophobia/45803622 |archive-date=9 June 2020 |access-date=9 June 2020 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch}}] The proportion of the population that claimed to have been targeted by racial discrimination increased from 10% in 2014 to almost 17% in 2018, according to the Federal Statistical Office.[{{Cite web |last=Turuban |first=Pauline |date=9 June 2020 |title=Is racism a problem in Switzerland? A look at the latest numbers |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/is-racism-a-problem-in-switzerland--a-look-at-the-2019-statistics/45824452 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609225525/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/is-racism-a-problem-in-switzerland--a-look-at-the-2019-statistics/45824452 |archive-date=9 June 2020 |access-date=9 June 2020 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch}}]
===Languages===
{{Main|Languages of Switzerland}}
[[File:Karte Schweizer Sprachgebiete 2026.png|thumb|National languages in Switzerland (2026):[{{Cite news |date=28 March 2018 |title=Sprachen / Lingue / Lingue |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/bevoelkerung/sprachen-religionen/sprachen.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114204354/https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/bevoelkerung/sprachen-religionen/sprachen.html |archive-date=14 November 2018 |access-date=5 December 2018 |publisher=Swiss Federal Statistical Office FSO |language=de, fr, it |type=official site |location=Neuchâtel, Switzerland |last1=Statistik |first1=Bundesamt für }}]
{{legend|#f7c5b4|German (62%)}}
{{legend|#d9d4e9|French (22.7%)}}
{{legend|#b6ddc7|Italian (8.2%)}}
{{legend|#fffcc8|[[Romansh language|Romansh]] (0.5%)}}]]
Switzerland has four [[national language]]s: mainly German (spoken natively by 62% of the population in 2026); French (22.7%) spoken natively in the west; and Italian (8.2%) spoken natively in the south.[{{Cite web |date=1 January 2018 |title=CC 101 Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation of 18 April 1999, Art. 4 National languages |url=https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classified-compilation/19995395/index.html#a4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160621000507/https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classified-compilation/19995395/index.html#a4 |archive-date=21 June 2016 |access-date=5 December 2018 |publisher=The federal Council |type=official site |location=Bern, Switzerland}}][{{Cite web |date=28 March 2018 |title=Die am häufigsten üblicherweise zu Hause gesprochenen Sprachen der ständigen Wohnbevölkerung ab 15 Jahren – 2012–2014, 2013–2015, 2014–2016 |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/kataloge-datenbanken/tabellen.assetdetail.4842942.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202070614/https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/kataloge-datenbanken/tabellen.assetdetail.4842942.html |archive-date=2 December 2018 |access-date=5 December 2018 |publisher=Swiss Federal Statistical Office FSO |language=de, fr, it |type=official site |format=XLS |location=Neuchâtel, Switzerland}}] In 2019 more than two-thirds (68%) of the permanent resident population indicated speaking more than one language regularly.[{{Cite web |date=25 January 2021 |title=Increase in multilingualism in Switzerland: 68% regularly use more than one language |url=https://www.news.admin.ch/en/nsb?id=82012 |access-date=7 June 2024 |website=news.admin.ch}}][{{Cite web |date=5 October 2016 |title=Personen nach Anzahl Sprachen, die sie regelmässig verwenden – 2014 |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/bevoelkerung/sprachen-religionen/sprachen.assetdetail.1902120.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202070626/https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/bevoelkerung/sprachen-religionen/sprachen.assetdetail.1902120.html |archive-date=2 December 2018 |access-date=5 December 2018 |publisher=Swiss Federal Statistical Office FSO |language=de, fr, it |type=official site |location=Neuchâtel, Switzerland}}]
The federal government is obliged to communicate in the official languages, and in the federal parliament simultaneous translation is provided from and into German, French and Italian.[{{Cite web |title=The Parliamentary Services |url=http://www.parlament.ch/e/service-presse/parlamentsdienste/aufgaben/Pages/default.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091113234418/http://www.parlament.ch/e/service-presse/parlamentsdienste/aufgaben/Pages/default.aspx |archive-date=13 November 2009 |access-date=29 July 2015 |publisher=The Federal Assembly |location=Bern, Switzerland}}]
Aside from the official forms of their respective languages, the four linguistic regions of Switzerland also have local dialectal forms. The role played by dialects in each linguistic region varies dramatically: in German-speaking regions, [[Swiss German]] dialects have become more prevalent since the second half of the 20th century, especially in the media, and are used as an everyday language for many, while the [[Swiss Standard German|Swiss variety of Standard German]] is almost always used instead of dialect for written communication (cf. [[Diglossia|diglossic usage of a language]]).[{{Cite web |title=Dialekte |url=http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D24595.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150613092220/http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D24595.php |archive-date=13 June 2015 |access-date=31 July 2015 |publisher=Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz |language=de |location=Bern, Switzerland}}] Conversely, in the French-speaking regions, local [[Franco-Provençal]] dialects have almost disappeared (only 6.3% of the population of Valais, 3.9% of Fribourg, and 3.1% of Jura still spoke dialects at the end of the 20th century), while in the Italian-speaking regions, the use of [[Lombard language|Lombard]] dialects is mostly limited to family settings and casual conversation.[{{Cite web |title=Billette Schweiz. |url=http://www.sbb.ch/abos-billette/billette-schweiz.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704011118/https://www.sbb.ch/abos-billette/billette-schweiz.html |archive-date=4 July 2015 |access-date=31 July 2015 |publisher=SBB CFF FFS Swiss Federal Railways |language=de |location=Bern, Switzerland}}] from French), from similar terms in another language (Italian ''azione'' used not only as ''act'' but also as ''discount'' from German ''Aktion'').[{{Cite book |url=http://www.duden.de/presse/weder-fisch-noch-vogel |title=Duden Schweizerhochdeutsch |publisher=Bibliographisches Institut GmbH |year=2012 |isbn=978-3-411-70417-0 |location=Berlin, Germany |language=de |access-date=31 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121000102/http://www.duden.de/presse/weder-fisch-noch-vogel |archive-date=21 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}] [[Swiss French]], while generally close to the French of France, also contains some Helvetisms. The most frequent characteristics of Helvetisms are in vocabulary, phrases, and pronunciation, although certain Helvetisms denote themselves as special in syntax and [[orthography]]. [[Duden]], the comprehensive German dictionary, contains about 3000 Helvetisms.[{{Cite book |last=Clyne |first=Michael G. |url={{GBurl|id=wawGFWNuHiwC|p=164}} |title=Pluricentric Languages: Differing Norms in Different Nations |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=1992 |isbn=978-3-11-012855-0 |location=Berlin, Germany |pages=164–165 |access-date=31 July 2015}}]
Learning one of the other national languages is compulsory for all Swiss pupils, hence many Swiss are supposed to be at least [[bilingual]], especially those belonging to linguistic minority groups.[{{Cite web |title=Multilingualism |url=http://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/gesellschaft/sprachen/mehrsprachigkeit.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904015059/https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/gesellschaft/sprachen/mehrsprachigkeit.html |archive-date=4 September 2015 |access-date=31 July 2015 |publisher=Presence Switzerland, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA, The Federal Administration |location=Bern, Switzerland}}] Because the largest part of Switzerland is German-speaking, many French, Italian, and Romansh speakers migrating to the rest of Switzerland and the children of those non-German-speaking Swiss born within the rest of Switzerland speak German. While learning one of the other national languages at school is important, most Swiss learn English to communicate with Swiss speakers of other languages, as it is perceived as a neutral means of communication. English often functions as the ''de facto'' [[lingua franca]].[{{Cite web |last=Stephens |first=Thomas |date=4 April 2021 |title=English as a common language in Switzerland: a positive or a problem? |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/culture/english-as-a-common-language-in-switzerland--a-positive-or-a-problem-/46494332 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412050626/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/culture/english-as-a-common-language-in-switzerland--a-positive-or-a-problem-/46494332 |archive-date=12 April 2023 |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch |language=en}}]
=== Religion ===
{{Main|Religion in Switzerland}}
{{Pie chart
| thumb = right
| caption = Religion in Switzerland (age 15+, 2021–2023):[{{Cite web |title=Religions |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/population/languages-religions/religions.html |access-date=7 February 2026 |publisher=[[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]] |type=official statistics: population age 15+, observation period 2021–2023 |location=Neuchâtel, Switzerland}}]{{efn|name=national-survey}}
| label1 = [[Catholic Church in Switzerland|Catholicism]]
| value1 = 31.9
| color1 = Purple
| label2 = [[Protestant Church of Switzerland|Swiss Protestantism]]
| value2 = 20.4
| color2 = DodgerBlue
| label3 = [[Irreligion|Unaffiliated]]
| value3 = 33.8
| color3 = WhiteSmoke
| label4 = [[Islam in Switzerland|Islam]]
| value4 = 5.8
| color4 = Green
| label5 = Other religions
| value5 = 7.2
| color5 = Red
| label6 = Undetermined
| value6 = 0.9
| color6 = Black
}}
[[Christianity]] is the predominant religion according to national surveys of Swiss Federal Statistical Office,{{efn|name=national-survey|Since 2010, statistics of religious affiliation in Switzerland provided by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office are based on a national structural survey of 200,000 people aged 15 years and older (corresponding to 2.5% of the total resident population). Data are [[extrapolated]] to obtain statistical results for the whole population (aged 15 years and older). These results are estimates subject to some degree of uncertainty indicated by a [[confidence interval]], but by merging samples (pooling) from several years it is possible to get more accurate results, including total number of Protestants and information about minority religions. Note: The figures of the structural survey are not entirely comparable to data collection before 2010 based on census figures (counting every person living in Switzerland) or to annual official numbers of church members.[{{Cite web |title=Methodological basis for research and regional partners [Accuracy of results; Cumulated data-pooling] |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/population/surveys/se/methodological-basis-research-regional-partners.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518200712/https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/population/surveys/se/methodological-basis-research-regional-partners.html |archive-date=18 May 2022 |access-date=10 August 2022 |publisher=[[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]] |location=Neuchâtel, Switzerland}}]}} divided between the [[Catholic Church]] (31.9% of the population), the [[Swiss Reformed Church]] (20.4%) and other Christian denominations.[{{Cite web |year=2013 |title=Die Kirchensteuern August 2013 |url=http://www.estv.admin.ch/dokumentation/00079/00080/00736/index.html?lang=de&download=NHzLpZeg7t,lnp6I0NTU042l2Z6ln1acy4Zn4Z2qZpnO2Yuq2Z6gpJCDdYR6fGym162epYbg2c_JjKbNoKSn6A-- |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125112400/http://www.estv.admin.ch/dokumentation/00079/00080/00736/index.html?lang=de&download=NHzLpZeg7t%2Clnp6I0NTU042l2Z6ln1acy4Zn4Z2qZpnO2Yuq2Z6gpJCDdYR6fGym162epYbg2c_JjKbNoKSn6A-- |archive-date=25 January 2012 |access-date=5 April 2014 |website=www.estv.admin.ch |publisher=Schweizerische Steuerkonferenz SSK, Swiss Federal Tax Administration FTA, Federal Department of Finance FDF |language=de, fr, it |type=Document |format=PDF |location=Bern}}] In 2020, the Roman Catholic Church had 3,048,475 registered and [[church tax]] paying members (corresponding to 35.2% of the total population), while the Swiss Reformed Church had 2,015,816 members (23.3% of the total population).[{{Cite web |year=2022 |title=Kirchenmitgliedschaft in der römisch-katholischen und evangelisch-reformierten Kirche nach Kantonen (2020) |trans-title=Church membership in the Roman Catholic and Evangelical Reformed Churches by cantons (2020) |url=https://kirchenstatistik.spi-sg.ch/entwicklung-der-kirchenmitgliedschaft/#close |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429222506/https://kirchenstatistik.spi-sg.ch/entwicklung-der-kirchenmitgliedschaft/#close |archive-date=29 April 2020 |access-date=10 August 2022 |publisher=SPI |type=church statistics |location=St. Gallen}}]{{efn|name=church-membership|Precise statistics about the membership of churches among the total population in Switzerland is only available for officially registered and [[church tax]] paying members of the [[Catholic Church in Switzerland]] and the [[Protestant Church of Switzerland]] (''[[Landeskirche]]n'').}}
As of 2023, according to a national survey conducted by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office,{{efn|name=national-survey}} the next largest Christian groups are [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern]] and [[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Oriental Orthodoxy]] (2.8%), [[Reformed evangelical|Reformed Evangelicalism]] (1.1%), Neo-[[Pietism]] (0.4%), [[Pentecostalism]] and other [[Charismatic Christianity|Charismatic]] communities (0.4%, mostly incorporated in the [[Schweizer Pfingstmission]]), [[Adventism]] (0.4%), [[New Apostolic Church|Apostolic communities]] (0.2%), the [[Old Catholic Church]] (0.1%), and other Christian denominations (0.3%).
Non-Christian religions are [[Islam in Switzerland|Islam]] (5.8%), [[Hinduism]] (0.6%), [[Buddhism]] (0.5%), [[Judaism]] (0.2%) and others (0.2%).[{{Cite web |year=2014 |title=Ständige Wohnbevölkerung ab 15 Jahren nach Religions- / Konfessionszugehörigkeit, 2012 |url=http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/01/05/blank/key/religionen.Document.21757.xls |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106215454/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/01/05/blank/key/religionen.Document.21757.xls |archive-date=6 January 2012 |access-date=5 April 2014 |website=www.bfs.admin.ch |publisher=Swiss Federal Statistical Office |language=de, fr, it |type=Statistics |format=XLS |location=Neuchâtel}}]
By 2024, half the Swiss population never attended a religious event in the 12 months preceding, according to the Federal Statistical Office. More than a quarter who left their religion cite loss of faith or disagreement with their religious community.[{{cite web | title=Il y a de moins en moins de personnes croyantes en Suisse | website=rts.ch | date=2025-06-23 | url=https://www.rts.ch/info/suisse/2025/article/declin-de-la-foi-en-suisse-moins-de-croyants-surtout-chez-les-seniors-28922386.html | language=fr | access-date=2025-06-23}}]
=== Education ===
{{Main|Education in Switzerland}}
[[File:11-11-24-basel-by-ralfr-035.jpg|thumb|The [[University of Basel]] is Switzerland's oldest university (1460).]]
[[File:Swiss scientists.jpg|thumb|upright|220px|Some Swiss scientists who played a key role in their discipline (clockwise):
[[Leonhard Euler]] (mathematics)
[[Louis Agassiz]] (glaciology)
[[Auguste Piccard]] (aeronautics)
[[Albert Einstein]] (physics)]]
Education in Switzerland is diverse, because the [[constitution of Switzerland]] delegates the operation for the school system to the [[Canton of Switzerland|cantons]].[{{Cite web |title=Education |url=https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/bildung-wissenschaft/bildung.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322171159/https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/bildung-wissenschaft/bildung.html |archive-date=22 March 2023 |access-date=17 March 2023 |website=Federal Department of Foreign Affairs |language=en}}] Public and private schools are available, including many private international schools.
==== Primary education ====
The minimum age for primary school is about six years, but most cantons provide a free "children's school" starting at age four or five.[{{Cite web |title=University of Basel: Academic Ranking of World Universities – 2020|url=http://www.shanghairanking.com/World-University-Rankings/University-of-Basel.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150523190117/http://www.shanghairanking.com/World-University-Rankings/University-of-Basel.html |archive-date=23 May 2015 |access-date=25 May 2020 |website=www.shanghairanking.com}}] The largest is the [[University of Zurich]] with nearly 25,000 students.[{{Cite web |title=University of Zurich in Switzerland – US News Best Global Universities |url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/university-of-zurich-505287 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501211536/https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/university-of-zurich-505287 |archive-date=1 May 2021 |access-date=30 March 2023 |website=[[U.S. News & World Report]]}}] The [[Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich]] (ETHZ) and the University of Zurich are listed 20th and 54th respectively, on the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities.[[http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2015.html Academic Ranking of World Universities 2015] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030134046/http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2015.html |date=30 October 2015}} Academic Ranking of World Universities. ShanghaiRanking Consultancy. 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2016.]
The federal government sponsors two institutes: the [[Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich]] (ETHZ) in [[Zurich]], founded in 1855 and the {{Lang|fr|[[École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne]]|italic=no}} (EPFL) in [[Lausanne]], founded in 1969, formerly associated with the [[University of Lausanne]].{{efn|name=ETH ranking|In 2008, the ETH Zurich was ranked 15th in the field ''Natural Sciences and Mathematics'' by the [[Academic Ranking of World Universities|Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities]] and the EPFL in Lausanne was ranked 18th in the field ''Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences'' by the same ranking.}}[{{Cite web |title=Shanghai Ranking 2008 Top 100 world universities in Natural Sciences and Mathematics |url=http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/ARWU-FIELD2008/SCI2008.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012051101/http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/ARWU-FIELD2008/SCI2008.htm |archive-date=12 October 2009 |access-date=2 November 2010 |publisher=Ed.sjtu.edu.cn}}][{{Cite news |last=Thomas |first=Kim |date=1 October 2014 |title=Why does Switzerland do so well in university rankings? |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/oct/01/switzerland-university-rankings-invest-research-science |url-status=live |access-date=12 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003070806/http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/oct/01/switzerland-university-rankings-invest-research-science |archive-date=3 October 2014}}]
Eight of the world's ten best hotel schools are located in Switzerland.[{{Cite web |date=4 March 2021 |title=Swiss hospitality schools top global ranking |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/sci-tech/swiss-hospitality-schools-top-global-ranking/46421170 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309025416/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/sci-tech/swiss-hospitality-schools-top-global-ranking/46421170 |archive-date=9 March 2021 |access-date=9 March 2021 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch}}] In addition, various [[Universities of Applied Sciences|universities of applied sciences]] are available. In business and management studies, the [[University of St. Gallen]], (HSG) is ranked 436th in the world according to [[QS World University Rankings]][{{Cite web |date=16 July 2015 |title=University of St.Gallen (HSG) |url=https://www.topuniversities.com/universities/university-stgallen-hsg |website=Top Universities}}] and the [[International Institute for Management Development]] (IMD), was ranked first in open programmes worldwide''.''[[http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/executive-education-open-2015 Financial Times Executive Education Rankings – Open Programs – 2015] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816061403/http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/executive-education-open-2015 |date=16 August 2016}} Retrieved 8 July 2015] Switzerland has the second highest rate (almost 18% in 2003) of foreign students in tertiary education, after Australia (slightly over 18%).[{{Cite web |year=2005 |title=Chart C3.1. Percentage of foreign students in tertiary education (1998, 2003) in Education at a Glance, OECD indicators 2005 – Executive Summary |url=http://www.oecd.org/education/skills-beyond-school/35345692.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611100744/http://www.oecd.org/education/skills-beyond-school/35345692.pdf |archive-date=11 June 2016 |access-date=22 December 2013 |website=www.oecd.org/edu/eag2005 |publisher=OECD |page=44 |type=Study}}][[http://www.ecs.org/html/offsite.asp?document=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eoecd%2Eorg%2Fdataoecd%2F20%2F25%2F35345692%2Epdf Education at Glance 2005] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723201800/http://www.ecs.org/html/offsite.asp?document=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oecd.org%2Fdataoecd%2F20%2F25%2F35345692.pdf |date=23 July 2013}} by the [[OECD]]: Percentage of foreign students in tertiary education.]
The [[Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies]], located in [[Geneva]], is continental Europe's oldest graduate school of international and development studies. It is widely held to be one of its most prestigious.[{{Cite web |date=13 September 2010 |title=Graduate Institute of International Studies Geneva Overview |url=http://www.studyihub.com/the-graduate-institute-of-international-studies-geneva/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502042931/http://www.studyihub.com/the-graduate-institute-of-international-studies-geneva/ |archive-date=2 May 2013 |access-date=28 April 2013 |publisher=Studyihub.com}}][{{Cite web |title=e-Perspectives, Kendra Magraw ('10) Accepted at Geneva's Prestigious IHEID – U of MN Law School |url=http://www.law.umn.edu/eperspectives/summer2010/news-and-events/kendra-magraw-10-accepted-at-genevas-prestigious-iheid/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709041656/http://www.law.umn.edu/eperspectives/summer2010/news-and-events/kendra-magraw-10-accepted-at-genevas-prestigious-iheid |archive-date=9 July 2010 |access-date=28 April 2013 |publisher=Law.umn.edu}}]
=== Health ===
{{Main|Health in Switzerland|Healthcare in Switzerland}}
[[File:Life expectancy by WBG -Switzerland.png|thumb|Life expectancy at birth in Switzerland]]
In the 2023 [[OECD]] "Health at a Glance" report, Switzerland's health statistics indicate several advantages relative to the OECD averages. The country records a [[life expectancy]] of 83.9 years, which is 3.6 years higher than the OECD average. Its preventable [[mortality rate]] is 94 per 100,000 people, which is below the OECD average of 158 per 100,000. The treatable mortality rate in Switzerland, at 39 per 100,000, is also below the OECD average of 79 per 100,000. Additionally, 3.9% of the Swiss population reports their health as bad or very bad, less than the OECD average of 7.9%. The prevalence of [[diabetes]] in Switzerland is lower than the OECD average. Switzerland performs better than the OECD benchmarks on 95% of the health indicators analyzed.[{{Cite web |title=OECD Health at a Glance 2023 Country Note - Switzerland |url=https://www.oecd.org/switzerland/health-at-a-glance-Switzerland-EN.pdf |website=Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)}}]
A new measure of expected [[human capital]] calculated for 195 countries from 1990 to 2016 and defined for each birth cohort as the expected years lived from age 20 to 64 years and adjusted for educational attainment, learning or education quality, and functional health status was published by ''[[The Lancet]]'' in September 2018. Switzerland had the twelfth highest level of expected human capital with 25 health, education, and learning-adjusted expected years lived between age 20 and 64 years.[{{cite news |last1=Lim |first1=Stephen |last2=et |first2=al |title=Measuring human capital: a systematic analysis of 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016 |url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31941-X/fulltext |access-date=5 November 2018 |publisher=Lancet}}] According to a study conducted by Swiss insurance company [[CSS]] in 2023, about one third of the Swiss "feel unhealthy or ill".[{{cite web | title=After the Covid pandemic, more than one-third of Swiss report poor health | website=SWI swissinfo.ch | date=2023-09-18 | url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/after-the-covid-pandemic--more-than-one-third-of-swiss-report-poor-health/48821328 | access-date=2023-09-25}}]
== Culture ==
{{Main|Culture of Switzerland}}
{{See also|Music of Switzerland|Swiss folklore|Alpine culture}}
[[File:Vals06.JPG|thumb|[[Alphorn]] concert in [[Vals, Switzerland|Vals]]]]
Swiss culture is characterised by diversity, which is reflected in diverse traditional customs.[{{Cite web |title=Culture |url=https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/gesellschaft/kultur.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322171159/https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/gesellschaft/kultur.html |archive-date=22 March 2023 |access-date=17 March 2023 |website=Federal Department of Foreign Affairs |language=en}}] A region may be in some ways culturally connected to the neighbouring country that shares its language, all rooted in western [[European culture]].[{{Cite web |title=AFS Intercultural Programmes Käfigturm |url=http://delche.ec.europa.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/Homepage_Dokumente/Presse_und_Information/Reden/2008-11-13_European_Year_of_Intercultural_Dialogue_2008__AFS_Intercultural_Programmes_Kaefigturm.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221195550/http://delche.ec.europa.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/Homepage_Dokumente/Presse_und_Information/Reden/2008-11-13_European_Year_of_Intercultural_Dialogue_2008__AFS_Intercultural_Programmes_Kaefigturm.pdf |archive-date=21 February 2011}}] The linguistically isolated [[Romansh language|Romansh]] culture in [[Graubünden]] in eastern Switzerland constitutes an exception. It survives only in the upper valleys of the Rhine and the Inn and strives to maintain its rare linguistic tradition.
Switzerland is home to notable contributors to art, architecture, [[Swiss literature|literature]], [[Music of Switzerland|music]] and sciences. In addition, the country attracted creatives during times of unrest or war.[{{Cite web |title=Switzerland Culture |url=http://www.traveldocs.com/ch/culture.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505140718/http://www.traveldocs.com/ch/culture.htm |archive-date=5 May 2010 |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=Travel Document Systems |language=en}}] Some [[List of museums in Switzerland|1000 museums]] are found in the country.[{{Cite news |title=Lucerne Festival |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/l/lucerne_festival/index.html |access-date=15 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304111649/http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/l/lucerne_festival/index.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |issn=0362-4331}}] the [[Montreux Jazz Festival]],[{{Cite web |title=Montreux Jazz Festival |url=http://www.montreuxjazz.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041224131448/http://www.montreuxjazz.com/ |archive-date=24 December 2004 |access-date=26 August 2013 |website=Montreux Jazz Festival |language=fr}}] the [[Locarno International Film Festival]] and [[Art Basel]].[{{Cite web |title=Festivals |url=https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/gesellschaft/grossanlaesse/festivals.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417092823/https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/gesellschaft/grossanlaesse/festivals.html |archive-date=17 April 2023 |access-date=17 March 2023 |website=Federal Department of Foreign Affairs |language=en}}] In addition, Switzerland has hosted the [[Eurovision Song Contest]] thrice, in 1956 (the inaugural edition, held in Lugano), 1989 (Lausanne), and 2025 (Basel), and won three times, through [[Lys Assia]] in 1956, [[Celine Dion]] in 1988, and [[Nemo (singer)|Nemo]] in 2024.
Alpine symbolism played an essential role in shaping Swiss history and the Swiss national identity.[{{Cite web |title=The Alps |url=https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/umwelt/geografie/alpen.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323164907/https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/umwelt/geografie/alpen.html |archive-date=23 March 2023 |access-date=17 March 2023 |website=Federal Department of Foreign Affairs |language=en}}] Many alpine areas and [[ski resort]]s attract visitors for [[winter sports]] as well as hiking and [[mountain biking]] in summer. The quieter seasons are spring and autumn. A traditional pastoral culture predominates in many areas, and small farms are omnipresent in rural areas. Folk art is nurtured in organisations across the country. Switzerland most directly in appears in music, dance, poetry, wood carving, and embroidery. The [[alphorn]], a trumpet-like musical instrument made of wood has joined [[yodel]]ling and the accordion as epitomes of traditional [[Swiss music]].[{{Cite web |title=Cultural creativity in Switzerland |url=https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/gesellschaft/kultur/kulturschaffen-schweiz.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324100137/https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/gesellschaft/kultur/kulturschaffen-schweiz.html |archive-date=24 March 2023 |access-date=17 March 2023 |website=Federal Department of Foreign Affairs |language=en}}][[http://www.europe-cities.com/en/648/switzerland/culture/ Culture of Switzerland] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130054142/http://www.europe-cities.com/en/648/switzerland/culture/ |date=30 January 2009}}. europe-cities.com. Retrieved on 14 December 2009.]
=== Literature ===
{{Main|Swiss literature}}
[[File:Jean-Jacques Rousseau (painted portrait).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] was not only a writer but also an influential philosopher of the eighteenth century.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023|reason=Certainly true, but the source we had for this statement is no longer available.}}]]
The earliest forms of literature were in German, reflecting the language's early predominance. In the 18th century, French became fashionable in Bern and elsewhere, while the influence of the French-speaking allies and subject lands increased.[{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Switzerland/Literature|display=Switzerland § Literature|volume=26|page=263|first=William Augustus Brevoort|last=Coolidge|author-link=W. A. B. Coolidge}}]
Among the classic authors of Swiss literature are [[Jeremias Gotthelf]] (1797–1854) and [[Gottfried Keller]] (1819–1890); later writers are [[Max Frisch]] (1911–1991) and [[Friedrich Dürrenmatt]] (1921–1990), whose {{lang|de|Das Versprechen}} (''[[The Pledge: Requiem for the Detective Novel|The Pledge]]'') was released as a Hollywood film in 2001, starring Jack Nicholson.[{{Cite web |title=Discover Switzerland |url=http://www.swissworld.org/en/culture/literature/german_speaking_authors/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611004600/http://www.swissworld.org/en/culture/literature/german_speaking_authors/ |archive-date=11 June 2009 |access-date=23 June 2009 |website=www.eda.admin.ch |language=en}}]
Famous French-speaking writers were [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] (1712–1778) and [[Germaine de Staël]] (1766–1817). More recent authors include [[Charles Ferdinand Ramuz]] (1878–1947), whose novels describe the lives of peasants and mountain dwellers, set in a harsh environment, and [[Blaise Cendrars]] (born Frédéric Sauser, 1887–1961).[[http://www.ch.ch/private/00085/00090/00479/00480/index.html?lang=en Press and the media] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204150520/http://www.ch.ch/private/00085/00090/00479/00480/index.html?lang=en |date=4 December 2008}} ch.ch. Retrieved on 25 June 2009] The [[Schweizerische Depeschenagentur|Swiss News Agency]] (SNA) broadcasts information in three of the four national languages—on politics, economics, society and culture. The SNA supplies almost all Swiss media and foreign media with its reporting.[{{Cite web |date=2023-12-28 |title=Media |url=https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/wirtschaft/taetigkeitsgebiete/medien.html |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=www.eda.admin.ch |language=en |archive-date=30 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240530183516/https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/wirtschaft/taetigkeitsgebiete/medien.html |url-status=live }}][{{Cite news |date=2012-05-07 |title=Switzerland media guide |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17982246 |access-date=2024-05-30 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB |archive-date=30 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240530183516/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17982246 |url-status=live }}]
The government exerts greater control over broadcast media than print media, especially due to financing and licensing.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, an [[EBU]] member, whose name was recently changed to [[SRG SSR]], is charged with the production and distribution of radio and television content. SRG SSR studios are distributed across the various language regions. Radio content is produced in six central and four regional studios while video media are produced in [[Geneva]], [[Zurich]], [[Basel]], and [[Lugano]]. An extensive cable network allows most Swiss to access content from neighbouring countries.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}
=== Cuisine ===
{{Main|Swiss cuisine}}
{{See also|Culinary Heritage of Switzerland}}
[[File:Full cheese fondue set - in Switzerland.JPG|thumb|right|[[Fondue]] is melted cheese, into which bread is dipped.]]
The cuisine is multifaceted. While dishes such as [[fondue]], [[raclette]] or [[rösti]] are omnipresent, each region developed its gastronomy according to the varieties of climate and language, for example, {{lang|de|[[Zürcher Geschnetzeltes]]}}, engl.: sliced meat Zurich style.[{{Cite web |title=Flavors of Switzerland |url=http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/countries/flavors-of-switzerland/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090720054343/http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/countries/flavors-of-switzerland/ |archive-date=20 July 2009 |access-date=24 June 2009 |website=The Worldwide Gourmet |language=en}}] Traditional Swiss cuisine uses ingredients similar to those in other European countries, as well as unique [[dairy product]]s and cheeses such as [[Gruyère]] or [[Emmental (cheese)|Emmental]], produced in the valleys of [[Gruyères]] and [[Emmental]]. The number of fine-dining establishments is high, particularly in western Switzerland.[[http://servicesv2.webmichelin.com/frontnews/servlet/GetElement?elementCode=56670 Michelin Guide Switzerland 2010 attests to the high quality of gourmet cooking with one new 2 star restaurant and 8 new one star] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427033455/http://servicesv2.webmichelin.com/frontnews/servlet/GetElement?elementCode=56670 |date=27 April 2011}} Press information, Michelin. Retrieved on 14 December 2009][Shriver, Jerry. [https://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2005-04-26-swiss-food_x.htm Swiss region serves up food with star power] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918070817/http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2005-04-26-swiss-food_x.htm |date=18 September 2012}} usatoday.com. Retrieved on 14 December 2009.]
[[Swiss chocolate|Chocolate]] has been made in Switzerland since the 18th century. Its reputation grew at the end of the 19th century with the invention of modern techniques such as [[conching]] and [[Tempering chocolate|tempering]], which enabled higher quality. Another breakthrough was the invention of solid milk chocolate in 1875 by [[Daniel Peter]]. The Swiss are the world's largest chocolate consumers.[{{Cite web |title=Discover Switzerland |url=https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home.html/en/switzerland/swiss_specials/swiss_chocolate/swiss_breakthroughs/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208144506/https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home.html/en/switzerland/swiss_specials/swiss_chocolate/swiss_breakthroughs/ |archive-date=8 February 2023 |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=www.eda.admin.ch |language=en}}][{{Cite web |date=4 January 2010 |title=Swiss Chocolate : German WorldMagazine |url=http://www.germanworldonline.com/index.php/swisschocolatehistory/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104115936/http://www.germanworldonline.com/index.php/swisschocolatehistory/ |archive-date=4 January 2010 |access-date=8 February 2023}}]
The most popular alcoholic drink is wine. Switzerland is notable for its variety of grape varieties, reflecting the large variations in [[terroir]]s. [[Swiss wine]] is produced mainly in [[Valais]], [[Vaud]] ([[Lavaux]]), [[Geneva (wine region)|Geneva]] and Ticino, with a small majority of white wines. Vineyards have been cultivated in Switzerland since the Roman era, even though traces of a more ancient origin can be found. The most widespread varieties are the [[Chasselas]] (called [[Fendant]] in Valais) and [[Pinot Noir]]. [[Merlot]] is the main variety produced in Ticino.[[http://www.swisswine.ch/english/bienv/main.asp Wine-producing Switzerland in short] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090409084726/http://www.swisswine.ch/english/bienv/main.asp |date=9 April 2009}} swisswine.ch. Retrieved on 24 June 2009][[http://www.winebiz.com.au/statistics/world.asp Table 38. Top wine consuming nations per capita, 2006] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100818001813/http://www.winebiz.com.au/statistics/world.asp |date=18 August 2010}} winebiz.com. Retrieved on 14 June 2010] Eighty-two percent of the population regularly [[Health in Switzerland#Alcoholism|drinks alcoholic beverages]].[{{Cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/national-survey_how-healthy-are-the-swiss-/44508626|title = How healthy are the Swiss?| date=30 October 2018 }}]
=== Sports ===
{{Main|Sport in Switzerland}}
[[File:Allalinhorn 4027 2007 04 17.JPG|thumb|right|Ski area over the glaciers of [[Saas-Fee]]]]
[[Skiing]], [[snowboarding]] and [[mountaineering]] are among the most popular sports, reflecting the nature of the country.[[http://www.europe-cities.com/en/672/switzerland/sport/ Sport in Switzerland] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100916001155/http://www.europe-cities.com/en/672/switzerland/sport/ |date=16 September 2010}} europe-cities.com. Retrieved on 14 December 2009] Winter sports are practised by natives and visitors. The [[bobsleigh]] was invented in [[St. Moritz]].[[http://www.fibt.com/index.php?id=39 A brief history of bobsleigh] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513011356/http://www.fibt.com/index.php?id=39 |date=13 May 2011}} fibt.com. Retrieved on 2 November 2009] The first [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships|world ski championships]] were held in [[Mürren]] (1931) and St. Moritz (1934). The latter town hosted the [[1928 Winter Olympics|second Winter Olympic Games]] in 1928 and the [[1948 Winter Olympics|fifth edition]] in 1948. Among its most successful skiers and world champions are [[Pirmin Zurbriggen]] and [[Didier Cuche]].
The most prominently watched sports in Switzerland are [[Football in Switzerland|football]] and [[Schweizerischer Eishockeyverband|ice hockey]].[{{Cite web |date=1 July 2014 |title=Meist gesehene Sendungen SRF seit 2011 |url=http://www.srf.ch/medien/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Hitliste_seit_2011.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714130318/http://www.srf.ch/medien/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Hitliste_seit_2011.pdf |archive-date=14 July 2016 |access-date=13 June 2016 |publisher=[[Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen|SRF]] |language=de}}]
The headquarters of the international football's and ice hockey's governing bodies, the [[International Federation of Association Football]] (FIFA) and [[International Ice Hockey Federation]] (IIHF) are located in Zurich. Many other headquarters of international sports federations are located in Switzerland. For example, the [[International Olympic Committee]] (IOC), IOC's [[Olympic Museum]] and the [[Court of Arbitration for Sport]] (CAS) are located in [[Lausanne]].
Switzerland hosted the [[1954 FIFA World Cup]] and was the joint host, with Austria, of the [[UEFA Euro 2008]] tournament. The [[Swiss Super League]] is the nation's professional football club league, with clubs including [[BSC Young Boys]] performing consistently in European club competitions. Europe's highest football pitch, at {{convert|2000|m|ft}} above sea level, is located in Switzerland, the ''Ottmar Hitzfeld Stadium''.[{{Cite news |last=Gilbert |first=Sarah |date=8 June 2014 |title=The world's most amazing football pitches – in pictures |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/gallery/2014/jun/08/the-worlds-most-amazing-football-pitches-in-pictures?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2 |url-status=live |access-date=9 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714190244/http://www.theguardian.com/travel/gallery/2014/jun/08/the-worlds-most-amazing-football-pitches-in-pictures?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2 |archive-date=14 July 2014}}]
Many Swiss follow [[ice hockey]] and support one of the 14 teams of the [[National League (ice hockey)|National League]], which is the most attended league in Europe.[{{Cite web |title=Hockeyarenas.net |url=http://www.hockeyarenas.net/index.php3?ctID=ch&size=0&page=0701&c=eu&ctID=eu&atType=0&show=25&tdSaison=2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114160452/http://www.hockeyarenas.net/index.php3?ctID=ch&size=0&page=0701&c=eu&ctID=eu&atType=0&show=25&tdSaison=2011 |archive-date=14 January 2012 |access-date=3 November 2011 |publisher=Hockeyarenas.net}}] In 2009, Switzerland hosted the [[2009 IIHF World Championship|IIHF World Championship]] for the tenth time.[{{Cite web |date=10 May 2009 |title=IIHF World Championships 2009 official website |url=http://www.iihf.com/channels/iihf-world-championship-oc09/home-oc/tournament-information.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227112635/http://www.iihf.com/channels/iihf-world-championship-oc09/home-oc/tournament-information.html |archive-date=27 December 2010 |access-date=29 April 2010 |publisher=Iihf.com}}] It also became [[2013 IIHF World Championship|World Vice-Champion]] in 2013, 2018 and 2024. Its numerous lakes make Switzerland an attractive sailing destination. The largest, [[Lake Geneva]], is the home of the sailing team [[Alinghi]] which was the first European team to win the [[America's Cup]] in 2003 and which successfully defended the title in 2007.
[[File:Roger Federer (26 June 2009, Wimbledon) 2 new.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Roger Federer]] has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, making him among the most successful men's tennis players ever.[[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1157546/1/index.htm Roger Federer's Grand Slam Titles] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127223246/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1157546/1/index.htm |date=27 January 2010}} sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Retrieved on 14 June 2010]]]Swiss tennis player [[Roger Federer]] is widely regarded as among the sport's greatest players. He won 20 [[Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam]] tournaments overall including a record 8 [[The Championships, Wimbledon|Wimbledon]] titles. He won six [[ATP Finals]].[{{Cite news |title=Roger Federer wins sixth Australian Open and 20th Grand Slam title |work=BBC Sport |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/42851064 |url-status=live |access-date=24 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131051812/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/42851064 |archive-date=31 January 2021}}] He was ranked no. 1 in the [[ATP rankings]] for a record 237 consecutive weeks. He ended 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and [[2009 ATP World Tour|2009]] ranked no. 1. Fellow Swiss players [[Martina Hingis]] and [[Stan Wawrinka]] also won multiple Grand Slam titles. Switzerland won the [[Davis Cup]] title in 2014.
[[Motorsport]] racecourses and events were banned in Switzerland following the [[1955 Le Mans disaster]] with exceptions for events such as [[hillclimbing]]. The country continued to produce successful racing drivers such as [[Clay Regazzoni]], [[Sébastien Buemi]], [[Jo Siffert]], [[Dominique Aegerter]], successful [[World Touring Car Championship]] driver [[Alain Menu]], [[2014 24 Hours of Le Mans]] winner [[Marcel Fässler (racing driver)|Marcel Fässler]] and 2015 [[24 Hours Nürburgring]] winner [[Nico Müller]]. [[A1 Team Switzerland|Switzerland]] also won the [[A1 Grand Prix|A1GP World Cup of Motorsport]] in [[2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season|2007–08]] with driver [[Neel Jani]]. Swiss [[motorcycle racer]] [[Thomas Lüthi]] won the 2005 [[MotoGP]] World Championship in the 125cc category. The ban was ultimately lifted in May 2022, on the grounds that safety in motorsport had vastly improved since the ban was first imposed. However, despite the ban being lifted in 2022, Motorsport will officially be legalised on June 1, 2026, meaning Motorsport will be legal for the first time in 71 years.[{{cite web |last1=Punsalang |first1=Enrico |title=Switzerland Officially Lifts 67-Year Ban On Circuit Racing |url=https://www.rideapart.com/news/591644/switzerland-lift-ban-circuit-racing-67-years/ |website=Ride Apart |date=13 June 2022 |access-date=28 July 2025}}]
[[File:Turnerundsennenschwinger.jpg|thumb|Traditional wrestling]]
Traditional sports include Swiss wrestling or {{lang|de|Schwingen}}, a tradition from the rural central cantons and considered the national sport by some. [[Hornussen]] is another indigenous Swiss sport, which is like a cross between baseball and golf.[{{Cite web |title=Hornussen Baseball Swissstyle |url=http://www.swissroots.org/swissroots/en/stories/heritage/Heritage/Swiss%20Customs/Hornussen%20Baseball%20Swissstyle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629151434/http://www.swissroots.org/swissroots/en/stories/heritage/Heritage/Swiss%2520Customs/Hornussen%2520Baseball%2520Swissstyle |archive-date=29 June 2009 |access-date=25 January 2010 |website=Swiss Roots}}] {{lang|de|[[Steinstossen]]}} is the Swiss variant of [[stone put]], a competition in throwing a heavy stone. Practised only among the alpine population since [[prehistoric times]], it is recorded to have taken place in [[Basel]] in the 13th century. It is central to the [[Unspunnenfest]], first held in 1805, with its symbol the 83.5 stone named {{lang|de|Unspunnenstein}}.[{{Cite web |date=6 July 2011 |title=Tradition and History |url=http://www.interlaken.ch/erlebnisse/sommer/festivals/unspunnenfest/tradition-und-geschichte.html?L=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706234615/http://www.interlaken.ch/erlebnisse/sommer/festivals/unspunnenfest/tradition-und-geschichte.html?L=3 |archive-date=6 July 2011 |access-date=8 February 2023}}]
{{Clear}}
== See also ==
{{Portal|Switzerland|Europe}}
* [[Outline of Switzerland]]
{{Clear}}
== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note}}
{{notelist}}
== References ==
{{Duplicated citations|reason=DuplicateReferences script detected:
* https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/population/languages-religions/religions.html (refs: 5, 245)
|date=August 2026}}
{{Reflist}}
== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin}}
* Church, Clive H. (2004) ''The Politics and Government of Switzerland''. Palgrave Macmillan. {{ISBN|978-0-333-69277-6}}.
* Fahrni, Dieter. (2003) ''An Outline History of Switzerland. From the Origins to the Present Day''. 8th enlarged edition. Pro Helvetia, Zurich. {{ISBN|978-3-908102-61-8}}.
* ''[[Historical Dictionary of Switzerland]]''. Published electronically (1998–) and in print (2002–) simultaneously in three of the national languages of Switzerland: [http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/ DHS/HLS/DSS] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205103158/http://hls-dhs-dss.ch/ |date=5 December 2006}}): online edition in German, French and Italian.
* von Matt, Peter: ''Das Kalb vor der Gotthardpost. Zur Literatur und Politik in der Schweiz''. Carl Hanser Verlag, München, 2012, {{ISBN|978-3-446-23880-0}}, S. 127–138.
{{Refend}}
== External links ==
{{Sister project links|Switzerland|voy=Switzerland}}
* [https://admin.ch/ The Federal Authorities of the Swiss Confederation]
* [http://myswitzerland.com/en/accueil.html Tourism — Switzerland]
{{coord|46|50|N|8|20|E|region:CH_type:country_scale:2000000|display=title}}{{Switzerland topics}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Articles related to Switzerland
|list =
{{Sovereign states of Europe}}
{{Council of Europe}}
{{European Free Trade Association (EFTA)}}
{{La Francophonie}}
{{OSCE}}}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Switzerland| ]]
[[Category:Federal republics]]
[[Category:Countries and territories where French is an official language]]
[[Category:Countries and territories where German is an official language]]
[[Category:Countries and territories where Italian is an official language]]
[[Category:Landlocked countries]]
[[Category:Member states of the Council of Europe]]
[[Category:Member states of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie]]
[[Category:Member states of the United Nations]]
[[Category:Member states of the European Free Trade Association]]
[[Category:OECD members]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1848]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1291]]
[[Category:Countries in Europe]]