French); Confederazione Svizzera (Italian)
local short form: Schweiz (German); Suisse (French); Svizzera
(Italian)

Government type:
formally a confederation, but similar in structure to a federal
republic

Capital:
name: Bern
geographic coordinates: 46 57 N, 7 26 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last
Sunday in October

Administrative divisions:
26 cantons (cantons, singular - canton in French; cantoni, singular
- cantone in Italian; kantone, singular - kanton in German); Aargau,
Appenzell Ausser-Rhoden, Appenzell Inner-Rhoden, Basel-Landschaft,
Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Geneve, Glarus, Graubunden, Jura,
Luzern, Neuchatel, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Sankt Gallen, Schaffhausen,
Schwyz, Solothurn, Thurgau, Ticino, Uri, Valais, Vaud, Zug, Zurich

Independence:
1 August 1291 (founding of the Swiss Confederation)

National holiday:
Founding of the Swiss Confederation, 1 August (1291)

Constitution:
revision of Constitution of 1874 approved by the Federal Parliament
18 December 1998, adopted by referendum 18 April 1999, officially
entered into force 1 January 2000

Legal system:
civil law system influenced by customary law; judicial review of
legislative acts, except with respect to federal decrees of general
obligatory character; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with
reservations

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Micheline CALMY-REY (since 1 January
2007); Vice President Pascal COUCHEPIN (since 1 January 2007); note
- the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Micheline CALMY-REY (since 1 January
2007); Vice President Pascal COUCHEPIN (since 1 January 2007)
cabinet: Federal Council or Bundesrat (in German), Conseil Federal
(in French), Consiglio Federale (in Italian) elected by the Federal
Assembly usually from among its own members for a four-year term
elections: president and vice president elected by the Federal
Assembly from among the members of the Federal Council for a
one-year term (they may not serve consecutive terms); election last
held 13 December 2006 (next to be held December 2007)
election results: Micheline CALMY-REY elected president; percent of
Federal Assembly vote - 76.5%; Pascal COUCHEPIN elected vic