SwitzerlandBy: Hannah Kofron and Shae Casey

Flag

The flag was adopted December 12, 1889.

White cross on red base is a sign of Christian faith and how they separate themselves from their enemies.

Culture

Influences: Germans, French, and Italians.

Physical Characteristics

Most mountainous country in Europe

Alps, Jura Mountains, and Swiss Plateau- Alps cover 3/5 of the country

Most of population lives on rolling hills, valleys and plains

History

Founded in 1291 by Three Cantons. the Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden.

Constitution created in 1848.

1798 Invaded by Napoleon.

1815 Borders set.

Population

7,639,961 people make up Switzerland

Birth Rate- 9.53 births/1,000 population

Death Rate- 8.72 deaths /1,000 population

See picture above. Population 2010

Government Is a confederation.

Capital in Bern.

Chief of State and Head of Government is Micheline Calmy-Rey.

Vice President is Eveline Wider-Schlumpf.

Council member rotate being president.

Bicameral Federal Assembly

46 seats in Council of states

200 seats in National Council

Judicial branch is their federal supreme court.

Language

4 main languages-German, French, Italian and Romanic

60% of people speak German

French -second most spoken language. Approximately 20% of people use French as their first language.

Italian - mostly spoken in the south and about 6% of the population speaks Italian as their first language.

Lastly Romanic -only used as the first language by 1% of the population

MOST RECOGNIZED!

Economic Structure

Service economy 72% services

24% Industry

4% Farming

Religion

Catholicism-dominant religion in cities that experienced wave of immigration. 3 million people

Protestantism-second largest group. 2.7 million people

Orthodox Church-tripled in last 20 years by 1%

Judaism-most big cities have large Jewish population

Islam-about 150,000 belong to this swiss-muslim community

Buddhism- .5% of the Swedish population.

Tourism

Natural beauty of the land is what brings in the tourists

Tourism has increased the hotel industry in Switzerland by 2.7 percent making last year its best year ever for Hotels.

Sources

A Brief History of Switzerland. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2011.

Switzerland. MEME Organization, 2010. Web. 16 Mar. 2011.

Allen, Matthew. Swiss Info.ch. SRG SSR, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2011.

CIA The World Factbook. CIA, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2011.

"Switzerland Flag - World Flags 101 - Switzerland Flags." Flags of the World. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <http://www.worldflags101.com/s/switzerland-flag.aspx>.

"CIA - The World Factbook." Welcome to the CIA Web Site — Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sz.html>.

 "Languages in Switzerland." Professional Translation Services | Interpreters | Intercultural Communication & Training. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/articles/article/Switzerland/Languages-in-Switzerland/223>.