urces:
hydropower potential, timber, salt
Land use:
arable land 10%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 40%; forest and
woodland 26%; other 23%; includes irrigated 1%
Environment:
dominated by Alps
Note:
landlocked; crossroads of northern and southern Europe

:Switzerland People

Population:
6,828,023 (July 1992), growth rate 0.6% (1992)
Birth rate:
12 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
9 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
3 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
6 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
76 years male, 83 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
1.6 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Swiss (singular and plural); adjective - Swiss
Ethnic divisions:
total population - German 65%, French 18%, Italian 10%, Romansch 1%, other
6%; Swiss nationals - German 74%, French 20%, Italian 4%, Romansch 1%, other
1%
Religions:
Roman Catholic 47.6%, Protestant 44.3%, other 8.1% (1980)
Languages:
total population - German 65%, French 18%, Italian 12%, Romansch 1%, other
4%; Swiss nationals - German 74%, French 20%, Italian 4%, Romansch 1%, other
1%
Literacy:
99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1980 est.)
Labor force:
3,310,000; 904,095 foreign workers, mostly Italian; services 50%, industry
and crafts 33%, government 10%, agriculture and forestry 6%, other 1% (1989)
Organized labor:
20% of labor force

:Switzerland Government

Long-form name:
Swiss Confederation
Type:
federal republic
Capital:
Bern
Administrative divisions:
26 cantons (cantons, singular - canton in French; cantoni, singular -
cantone in Italian; kantone, singular - kanton in German); Aargau,
Ausser-Rhoden, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Geneve,
Glarus, Graubunden, Inner-Rhoden, Jura, Luzern, Neuchatel, Nidwalden,
Obwalden, Sankt Gallen, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Thurgau, Ticino,
Uri, Valais, Vaud, Zug, Zurich
Independence:
1 August 1291
Constitution:
29 May 1874
Legal system:
civil law system influenced by customary law; judicial review of legislative
acts, except with respect to federal decrees of general obligatory
character; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday:
Anniversary of the Founding of the Swiss Conf