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Revision as of 19:50, 5 January 2003
The Swiss Confederation, or Switzerland, is a small country in the center of Europe, with neighbors Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. Languages spoken are German, French, Italian and Romanche. The German spoken there is more accurately called Swiss German(Schwyzerdütsch), because it differs from German noticeably. In its various languages, Switzerland is called Schweiz (German), Suisse (French), Svizzera (Italian) and Svizra (Rumantsch/Romansh). It is also known as Confoederatio Helvetica (CH), Latin for Swiss Confederation.
The capital is Bern.
Other important cities include Zürich, Geneva, Basel, and Lausanne.
The Swiss are famous for their banks, their chocolate, their watches and their cheese.
An unusual, ancient feature of Swiss society is the army, organized as a militia of citizens. The country has a strong tradition of political and military neutrality backed up by its strong defenses; Switzerland fiercely maintained a neutral stance through two world wars, and did not become a full voting member of the United Nations until September 10, 2002.
The Swiss Confederation consists of 26 cantons:
- Aargau
- Appenzell A.Rh.
- Appenzell I.Rh.
- Basel-Landschaft
- Basel-Stadt
- Bern
- Freiburg/Fribourg
- Geneva
- Glarus
- Graubünden
- Jura
- Luzern
- Neuchatel
- Nidwalden
- Obwalden
- Schaffhausen
- Schwyz
- Solothurn
- St. Gallen
- Tessin
- Ticino (please verify)
- Thurgau
- Uri
- Vaud
- Valais (Wallis)
- Zug
- Zürich
From the CIA World Factbook 2000. Not Wikified.
- History of Switzerland
- Geography of Switzerland
- Demographics of Switzerland
- Language
- Politics of Switzerland
- Economy of Switzerland
- Communications in Switzerland
- Transportation in Switzerland
- Military of Switzerland
- Foreign relations of Switzerland
see also : List of swiss companies
International rankings
- world-wide press freedom index Rank 15 out of 139 countries (2 way tie)
External links
- Switzerland: a brief guide
- The Cantons Online
- Homepage of the Federal Authorities
- Statistics by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office
Switzerland is also the name of some places in the United States of America: