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Switzerland
Cities
Famous Cities in Switzerland
Berne
Zurich, Geneve,
Basel, Lausanne
Swiss Cities
Winterthur, Sankt Gallen,
Luzern, Biel, Thun, Koniz, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Rapperswil,
Schaffhausen, Fribourg, Chur, Neuchatel, Vernier, Sion, Lancy,
Aussersihl, Emmen, Lugano, Kriens, Yverdon-les-Bains, Zug, Uster, Le
Chatelard, Montreux, Frauenfeld, Dietikon, Baar, Dubendorf, Meyrin,
Carouge, Wettingen, Allschwil, Renens, Kreuzlingen, Jona, Onex,
Gossau, Muttenz, Wil, Nyon, Bellinzona, Olten, Oberwinterthur,
Kloten, Pully, Stadt Winterthur, Winterthur, Littau, Baden, Horgen,
Grenchen, Vevey, Aarau, Herisau, Seen, Adliswil, Steffisburg,
Monthey, Pratteln, Solothurn,
Sierre, Burgdorf, Martigny-Ville, Locarno, Freienbach, Langenthal,
Schwyz, Binningen, Morges, Wohlen, Cham, Thalwil, Wadenswil, Bulach,
Einsiedeln, Thonex
Other
cities in the World
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Executive
branch:
chief of state: President Moritz LEUENBERGER
(since 8 January 2006); Vice President Micheline CALMY-REY
(since 8 January 2006); note - the president is both the chief
of state and head of government
head of government: President Moritz LEUENBERGER (since 8
January 2006); Vice President Micheline CALMY-REY (since 8
January 2006); note - the president is both the chief of state
and head of government
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 one-year terms that run concurrently; election last held 8
December 2004 (next to be held December 2005)
election results: Moritz LUENBERGER elected president;
percent of Federal Assembly vote - NA%; Micheline CALMY-REY
elected vice president; percent of legislative vote - NA%
Capital:
Bern
Population:
7,489,370 (July 2005 est.)
Languages:
German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%,
Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%,
Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch 0.5%, other
2.8% (2000 census)
note: German, French, Italian, and Romansch are all
national languages, but only the first three are official
languages
Location:
Central Europe, east of France, north of Italy
Climate:
temperate, but varies with altitude; cold, cloudy,
rainy/snowy winters; cool to warm, cloudy, humid summers with
occasional showers
Land boundaries:
total: 1,852 km
border countries: Austria 164 km, France 573 km, Italy
740 km, Liechtenstein 41 km, Germany 334 km
Background:
The Swiss Confederation was founded in 1291 as a
defensive alliance among three cantons. In succeeding years,
other localities joined the original three. The Swiss
Confederation secured its independence from the Holy Roman
Empire in 1499. Switzerland's sovereignty and neutrality have
long been honored by the major European powers, and the country
was not involved in either of the two World Wars. The political
and economic integration of Europe over the past half century,
as well as Switzerland's role in many UN and international
organizations, has strengthened Switzerland's ties with its
neighbors. However, the country did not officially become a UN
member until 2002. Switzerland remains active in many UN and
international organizations, but retains a strong commitment to
neutrality.
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
International organization participation:
ACCT, AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CE, CERN,
EAPC, EBRD, EFTA, ESA, FAO, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC,
ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUC, NAM
(guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club,
PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIS,
UNOMIG, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
GDP
(purchasing power parity):
$262.1
billion (2005 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing
power parity - $35,000 (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 1.5%
industry: 34%
services: 64.5% (2003 est.)
Agriculture
- products:
grains,
fruits, vegetables; meat, eggs
Industries:
machinery,
chemicals, watches, textiles, precision instruments
By
the
Courtesy of World
Fact Book - Switzerland and
Wikipedia
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