Switzerland

Switzerland is famous for its magnificent mountain scenery. Picturesque towns in the Swiss Alps, such as Arosa, are popular tourist centres that feature winter sports.

The Swiss flag was used in an earlier form in 1240 by the region of Schwyz. The cross represents Christianity.

The coat of arms of Switzer land, like the Swiss flag, was established with its present dimensions in 1889.

Switzerland lies in western Europe and is bordered by Ger­many, Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy, and France.

A cafe in Zurich includes outdoor tables where people can eat and drink in a charm­ing urban setting. Zurich is Switzerland's largest

Switzerland's watchmaking industry is world famous. Al­most all Swiss watches are exported to other countries.

The gross domestic product (GDP) of Switzerland totalled $226,000,000,000 in 1990. The GDP is the total value of goods and services produced within a country in a year. Services in­clude community, social, and personal services; finance, insur­ance, property, and business services; government; trade, res­taurants, and hotels; transportation and communication; utilities. Industry includes construction, manufacturing, and mining. Ag­riculture includes agriculture and forestry. (Industry =34%, Services = 62%, Agriculture = 4%)

Population and language - Switzerland's largest population centers. It also shows where the national languages are spoken. Most Swiss speak a form of German called Schwyzerdiitsch.

Ticino, the southernmost Swiss canton, is the warmest part of the country. It has hot summers and mild winters.

Cattle graze in high Swiss mountain pastures during the summer. They are brought down to the valleys for the winter. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity in Switzerland. Crop production is limited by the climate and a shortage of good farmland.

Tourists who enjoy skiing flock to the snowy Swiss Alps. Switzerland's economy depends heavily on tourism. Outstand­ing ski facilities contribute greatly to the tourist trade.

The Battle of Sempach was fought in 1386 against the Austrians during the Swiss wars of independence. That battle, won by the Swiss, is shown in a woodcut dating from 1548.

Expansion of Switzerland—1291 to 1815

In 1291, three Swiss cantons (states) allied to form the Swiss Confederation, shown at the centre of this map. Other cantons joined in the 130ffs, and still others from 1481 to 1513. Territory added in the 1800's brought the nation to its present size.

Important dates in Switzerland

58 B.C. Roman armies under Julius Caesar conquered Helvetia (now Switzerland).

D. 400's Germanic tribes occupied Helvetia.

962 Most of what is now Switzerland became part of the Holy Roman Empire.

1291 Three Swiss cantons (states) signed the Perpetual Cove­nant, a defence agreement that marked the start of the Swiss Confederation.

1315-1388 Switzerland defeated Austria in three wars of inde­pendence.

1470's Victories over Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, es­tablished Switzerland as a European power.

1515 The Swiss were defeated by the French in Italy and began their policy of permanent neutrality.

1648 The Holy Roman Empire recognized Switzerland's inde­pendence.

1798 French forces occupied Switzerland and established the Helvetic Republic under their control.

1815 The Congress of Vienna expanded Switzerland to 22 can­tons and restored the old confederation.

1848 Switzerland adopted a constitution that established fed­eral power over the confederation.

1863 The Red Cross was founded in Switzerland. Geneva be­came the seat of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

1874 Constitutional changes increased federal power.

1920 The League of Nations met at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, for its first session.

1958 Basel became the first Swiss city to let women vote in local elections.

1960 Switzerland helped form the European Free Trade Associ­ation.

1963 Switzerland joined the Council of Europe.

1971 Women won voting rights in national elections of Switzer­land.

1979 Jura was created as the 23rd canton of Switzerland.

1984 Elisabeth Kopp became the first woman to be elected to the Federal Council.

Fact in Brief About Switzerland

Capital: Bern.

Official languages: German, French, and Italian.

Official names: Schweiz (in German), Suisse (in French), and Svizzera (in Italian).

Area: 41,293 km^z, including 1,355 km² of inland water. Greatest distances— east-west, 343 km; north-south, 222 km.

Elevation: Highest— Dufourspitze of Monte Rosa, 4,634 m above sea level. Lowest— shore of Lake Maggiore, 193 m above sea level.

Population: Estimated 1996 population—6,995,000; density, 168 people per km²; distribution, 64 per cent urban, 36 per cent rural. 1990 census— 6,873,687. Estimated 2001 population— 7,190,000.

Chief Products: Agriculture—dairy products, fruit, potatoes, sugar beet, wheat. Manufacturing— chemicals, drugs, electri­cal equipment, machine tools, precision instruments, proc­essed foods, textiles, watches, wine.

National Anthem: "Swiss Psalm."

National Holiday: Swiss National Day, August 1.

Money: Currency unit— franc. One franc = 100 centimes.

Government in brief

Political divisions: 23 cantons (states), 3 of which are divided into half-cantons.

Executive: Federal Council, a 7-member Cabinet elected by the legislature to 4-year terms. They serve in place of a single chief executive.

Head of state: President, elected to a 1-year term by the legisla­ture from among the members of the Federal Council. The president's duties are largely ceremonial. A person cannot be elected president two years in a row'.

Legislature: A two-house Federal Assembly. Council' of States— 46 members. Two members are elected from each canton (one is elected from each half-canton), either by the canton legislature or by the voters. Their terms range from 1 to 4 years. National Council—200 members, elected to 4-year terms from election districts based on population.

Courts: Highest court— the Federal Tribunal. It has 26 judges and 12 alternate judges, elected to 6-year terms by the Fed­eral Assembly. Various lower courts are in the cantons.

Switzerland is a small European country known for its beautiful, snow-capped mountains and freedom- loving people. The Alps and the Jura Mountains cover more than half of Switzerland. But most of the Swiss people live on a plateau that extends across the middle of the country between the two mountain ranges. In this region are most of Switzerland's industries and its rich­est farmlands. Switzerland's capital, Bern, and largest city, Zurich, are also there.

The Swiss have a long tradition of freedom. About 700 years ago, people in what is now central Switzer­land agreed to help each other stay free from foreign rule. Gradually, people in nearby areas joined them in what came to be known as the Swiss Confederation. Various Swiss groups speak different languages. Switz­erland has three official languages—German, French, and Italian. The Latin name for Switzerland, Helvetia, ap­pears on Swiss coins and postage stamps.

The Swiss show great pride in their long independence. Switzerland has no regular army, but almost all the men receive military training yearly. They keep their weapons and uniforms at home, and can be called up quickly in an emergency. Local marksmanship contests are held frequently.

In the early 1500's, Switzerland established a policy of not taking sides in the many wars that raged in Europe. During World Wars I and II, Switzerland remained an is­land of peace. Almost all the nations around it took part in the bloody struggles. Switzerland provided safety for thousands who fled from the fighting, or from political persecution. The nation's neutrality policy helped the Swiss develop valuable banking services to people of countries throughout the world, where banks are less safe. The League of Nations, the major world organiza­tion of the 1920's and 1930's, had its headquarters in the Swiss city of Geneva. Today, many international organi­zations, including various United Nations agencies, have headquarters in Geneva.

Switzerland has limited natural resources, but it is a thriving industrial nation. Using imported raw materials, the Swiss manufacture high-quality goods including electrical equipment, machine tools, and watches. They also produce chemicals, drugs, chocolate, and cheese and other dairy products.

Government

The government of Switzerland is based on the Swiss Constitution of 1848, which was changed greatly in 1874. The Constitution establishes a federal republic in which political powers are divided between the central gov­ernment and cantonal (state) governments.

In some ways, the Swiss government is one of the most democratic in the world. Swiss citizens enjoy close control over their laws through the rights of the referen­dum and the initiative.

The referendum allows the people to demand a pop­ular vote on laws passed by the legislature. A vote must be held if 50,000 people request it. The people can ac­cept or veto the law.

The initiative gives Swiss citizens the right to bring specific issues before the people for a vote. Such a vote may force a change in government policy or may amend the Constitution. An initiative requires a petition by at least 100,000 citizens. All voters must be at least 20 years old.

Cantonal and local government. Swiss voters election executive councils and legislatures in the cantons, half­-cantons, and cities. The country's six half-cantons were originally three undivided cantons. They split into sepa­rate political units with as much power of self-govern­ment as the full cantons. But each half-canton sends online representative to the national legislature's Council of States, instead of two.

In one canton and in four of the half-cantons, the people vote by a show of hands at an open-air meeting called a Landsgemeinde. Similar meetings of voters are held in the small towns and villages.

Politics. Switzerland has a wide range of political parties. However, there are few differences among the large ones. As a result, the parties cooperate easily. The three largest political parties have about an equal de­gree of strength. They are the Christian Democratic Party, the Radical Democratic Party, and the Social Democratic Party.

Defence. Switzerland has a militia (citizens' army) in­stead of regular armed forces. Swiss men are required to begin a series of military-training periods at the age of 20. They can be called into service until the age of 50. Men whose health or work makes them unable to serve in the militia and men who live out of the country must pay a special tax.

People

Even after the Swiss began to join forces about 700 years ago to defend themselves, people from different areas kept their own ways of life. They defended these ways of life in the same spirit of independence that has made Switzerland famous. As a result the Swiss still dif­fer greatly among themselves in language, customs, and traditions. These differences are apparent from region to region, and even among some small communities.

In the past, the local patriotism of the Swiss was so strong that most of them thought of themselves as part of their own local area more than of their country. They considered the Swiss of other areas almost as foreign ri­vals, and feuds among various areas lasted for hundreds of years. But at most times when their country faced danger, the Swiss stood together as one people. Today, local patriotism has largely been replaced by national patriotism.

Population. Switzerland has about 7 million people. About 1 million of the people are foreign-born. Nearly a third are from Italy. Large groups of people from France, Germany, and Spain also reside in Switzerland. Switzer­land has a higher percentage of foreign-born residents than any other European country. Foreign workers have been recruited to fill newly created jobs, because Switz­erland's economy has grown faster than its domestic population.

Switzerland has five cities of more than 100,000 peo­ple. They are, in order of size, Zurich, Basel, Geneva, Bern, and Lausanne. None has a population over 500,000. Almost 100 other cities have more than 10,000 people. About one-third of the Swiss people live in rural areas. See the articles on Swiss cities listed in the Re­lated articles at the end of this article.

Language. The Swiss Constitution provides for three official languages and four national languages. The offi­cial languages are German, French, and Italian. As a re­sult, Switzerland has three official names—Schweiz (in German), Suisse (in French), and Svizzera (in Italian). All national laws are published in each of these three lan­guages. The Federal Tribunal, Switzerland's highest court, must include judges who represent each lan­guage group.

The four national languages are the three official ones plus Romansh, which is closely related to Latin. Romansh is spoken only in the mountain valleys of the can­ton of Graubunden, by about 1 percent of the total Swiss population.

About 70 percent of the people speak a form of Ger­man called Schwyzerdiitsch (Swiss German). They live in the northern, eastern, and central parts of Switzerland. Schwyzerdiitsch is almost a separate language, and even people who speak German find it hard to under­stand. The language and its name vary from place to place. It is called Baseldutsch in Basel, and Zuridutsch in Zurich. But wherever Schwyzerdiitsch is spoken, stand­ard German is used in newspapers, books, television and radio programmes, plays, and church sermons.

French, spoken in western Switzerland, is the lan­guage of almost 20 percent of the people. Italian is used by nearly 10 percent of the people, in the south. Both

these languages, as spoken by the Swiss, are much like their standard forms in France or Italy.

One difficulty, especially for visitors, is that many place names in Switzerland vary by language. The most complicated example—the city known as Geneva to Eng­lish-speaking people—is called Genf in German, Geneve in French, and Ginevra in Italian. English-speaking peo­ple know almost all other Swiss cities and towns by their French or German name.

Religion. Switzerland has complete freedom of reli­gion. About half the people are Roman Catholics, and about 45 percent are Protestants. Of the 26 cantons and half-cantons in Switzerland, 15 have a Roman Catholic majority, and 11 are chiefly Protestant.

The Protestant Reformation took a special form in Switzerland. Calvinism developed there and spread to France and many other countries during the 1500s. As a result, the Protestant movement split into two major camps, Calvinists and Lutherans. See Calvin, John; Ref­ormation (Zwingli and the Anabaptists); Zwingli, Huldreich.

Education. Swiss children are required by canton law to go to school, but the age limits vary. In most can­tons, children must attend school from 6 to 14. Instruc­tion is held in the local national language, and each child also has the opportunity to learn one of the other national languages.

Students who plan to attend a university may go to one of three kinds of high schools. These schools spe­cialize in (1) Greek and Latin, (2) modern languages, or (3) mathematics and science. Other students go to trade or technical schools while serving an apprenticeship. An increasing number of people take adult education courses in order to achieve their career goals.

Switzerland has seven universities and various other schools of higher learning. The oldest, the University of Basel, was founded in 1460. The University of Zurich, with about 16,000 students, is the largest. All universities are public institutions. Their students pay no tuition.

Arts. Most Swiss literature has been written in Ger­man. Famous books include two children's classics, Heidi by Johanna Spyri and The Swiss Family Robinson by the Wyss family. Major Swiss authors of the 1800's were Jeremias Gotthelf, Gottfried Keller, and Conrad Ferdinand Meyer. Carl Spitteler won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1919 for his epic poetry and other writings. Later writers of the 1900's include Max Frisch and Frie­drich Diirrenmatt, whose plays have been performed in many countries. Charles Ferdinand Ramuz wrote novels in French.

The art movement called Dadaism was founded in Zu­rich in 1916 (see Dadaism). Outstanding Swiss artists of the 1900's include the painter Paul Klee and the sculp­tors Alberto Giacometti and Jean Tinguely. Le Corbusier won fame in modern architecture.

Several Swiss cities have symphony orchestras. The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande of Geneva became world famous under conductor Ernest Ansermet. An an­nual music festival in Lucerne attracts thousands of music lovers. Almost every town and village has a sing­ing group that practises weekly for local festivals, as well as for regional and national competitions. Band music and folk dancing in colourful costumes are also popular. Some mountaineers enjoy yodelling or playing a musical instrument known as the alphorn (see Al-phorn).

Sports. The mountains of Switzerland provide grand opportunities for a variety of sports. About a third of the nation's people ski. Many also enjoy bobsledding, camping, climbing, and hiking in the mountains. Target shooting, stressed by the Swiss military system, is ex­tremely popular. Shooting matches are held frequently. Other favourite sports of the Swiss include bicycling, boating, gymnastics, soccer, swimming, and wrestling. Hornussen, a game somewhat like baseball, is played by two teams. The batter hits a wooden disk with a wooden club 2.4 metres long. Fielders catch the disc with wooden rackets.

Land

Switzerland has three main land regions: (1) the Jura Mountains, (2) the Swiss Plateau, and (3) the Swiss Alps. The two mountain regions make up about 65 per cent of Switzerland's area. But the plateau between them has about four-fifths of the country's population.

The Jura Mountains consist of a series of parallel ridges that are separated by narrow valleys. These ridges extend along Switzerland's western border and into France. Within Switzerland, the highest mountain of the range is 1,682-metre Mont Tendre. The Jura Moun­tains are the home of Switzerland's important watchmak­ing industry. Other industries in the region include dairy farming, forestry, and the manufacture of electronics.

The Swiss Plateau is a hilly region with rolling plains. It lies from 366 to 671 metres above sea level. The movement of ancient glaciers formed many lakes, in­cluding Lake Constance and Lake Geneva. Switzerland's

richest farmland is in this region, as are most of the large cities and manufacturing industries. See Lake Con­stance; Lake Geneva.

The Swiss Alps are part of the mighty Alps, the larg­est mountain system in Europe. This region covers about 60 per cent of Switzerland, but less than a fifth of the people live there. There are glaciers as low as 1,070 metres above sea level, and snow forms a blanket over most of the region from three to five months a year. Much of the region is forested. The forests help prevent snow from sliding. However, avalanches sometimes occur.

The upper valleys of the Rhine and Rhone rivers di­vide the Swiss Alps into a northern and a southern se­ries of ranges. These ranges include the Bernese, Le- pontine, Pennine, and Rhaetian Alps. Their sharp peaks, jagged ridges, and steep gorges create many scenic areas. Many mountain streams form plunging waterfalls. The highest waterfall is the 604-metre Giessbach Falls in the Bernese Alps. The Pennine Alps include Switzer­land's highest peak, the 4,634-metre Dufourspitze of Monte Rosa. The beauty of the Swiss Alps attracts tour­ists from around the world. See Alps.

Rivers. The Swiss Alps form part of Europe's main drainage divide. They are the source of rivers that flow in all directions. The Rhine and the Rhone rivers rise within 24 kilometres of each other in the Alps. The Rhine flows into the North Sea, and the Rhone into the Medi­terranean Sea. The Inn River winds into the Danube River, which goes into the Black Sea. The Ticino River is a tributary of the Po River, which flows into the Adriatic Sea. See Rhine River; Rhone River.

Climate

The climate of Switzerland varies greatly from area to area because of the wide variety in altitude. In general, temperatures decrease about 2 °C with each 300-metre increase in elevation, and higher areas of the country re­ceive more rain and snow. Atlantic air held up by the mountains often settles over lower areas, producing dampness and fog. Fog sometimes covers the entire Swiss Plateau like a sea of clouds. Some areas may be covered by fog for as many as 120 days a year.

January temperatures average from —2 ° to 1 °C on the central plateau and in the Swiss mountain valleys. During the winter, there is colder though drier and sun­nier weather above the layer of fog than below it.

In summer, the Swiss Plateau is warm and sunny. However, severe storms may occur there. July tempera­tures on the plateau average from 18 ° to 21 °C. Shel­tered valleys sometimes become uncomfortably hot. In summer, the higher slopes of the mountains are cool or even cold. The canton of Ticino, which extends south­ward to the Italian plains, has hot summers and mild winters.

The central plateau receives from 100 to 114 centime­tres of precipitation Irain, snow, and other forms of moisture) a year. Sheltered valleys usually have less. In some high areas, the yearly precipitation totals more than 250 centimetres. Above 1,800 metres, snow covers the ground at least six months a year.

A dry, warm southerly wind called the foehn some­times blows down the valleys of the Swiss Alps. It causes rapid changes in temperature and air pressure, which makes many people uncomfortable. The foehn melts mountain snows earlier than such snows would otherwise melt. The foehn can also cause dangerous av­alanches.

Economy

Switzerland is a prosperous country with one of the world's highest standards of living. The nation's highly specialized industries are extremely profitable. Switzer­land has more jobs than its own people can fill. Workers from other countries make up about a fifth of Switzer­land's labour force.

Switzerland trades with nations throughout the world, but chiefly with Western European countries and the United States. The Swiss import more goods than they export. They make up the difference with income from tourism and from banking, insurance, and trans­portation services to foreign people or firms.

Natural resources. Switzerland lacks important de­posits of coal, iron ore, petroleum, and other minerals on which heavy industry is based. Most of the land is too high or too rugged to be good farmland. In addi­tion, the climate is generally better for producing hay and other livestock feeds rather than such crops as wheat and fruit. Crops are raised on only about a tenth of Switzerland's total area, chiefly on the plateau. About 40 percent of the country consists of meadows or graz­ing land, much of which can be used only in summer. Forests cover about a quarter of Switzerland. But air pol­lution has damaged many trees in the forests. The gov­ernment has established strict pollution controls for cars in an effort to slow up forest damage.

Switzerland's rushing mountain rivers are its greatest natural resource. Much of the electric power produced in Switzerland is generated at hydroelectric power sta­tions on the rivers. However, five nuclear power plants supply an increasing amount of the country's energy.

Manufacturing. Switzerland is one of the most in­dustrialized countries in the world. Its manufacturing in­dustries are based on the processing of imported raw materials into high-quality products for export. To keep the cost of materials and transportation as low as possi­ble, these industries specialize in skilled, precision work on small, valuable items. In Switzerland's watchmaking industry, for example, the cost of materials is only about one-twentieth the cost of labour. More than 95 percent of the watches made in Switzerland are exported.

The Swiss make such engineering products as gener­ators and other electrical equipment, industrial machin­ery, machine tools, precision instruments, and transpor­tation equipment. Other major products are chemicals, paper, processed foods including cheese and choco­late, and silk and other textiles.

Most Swiss factories are small- or medium-sized be­cause of the stress on quality goods rather than mass production. There are factories in small towns and even in villages. The use of hydroelectricity to power the fac­tories and railways helps keep the busiest industrial centres almost free of smoke.

Agriculture in Switzerland supplies only about three-fifths of the people's needs. The rest of the nation's food must be imported. Livestock raising is the most im­portant agricultural activity because of the limited crop­land resources and the climate. It provides about 75 per­cent of Switzerland's farm income, largely through dairy farming. Most of the dairy cattle graze on the high mountain pastures in summer and are brought down to the valleys in winter. Much of the milk is used to make cheeses for export. These cheeses include Emmentaler, also known as Swiss cheese, and Gruyere. Farmers also raise pigs, goats, sheep, and chickens.

Swiss farms are small, averaging only 3 hectares. Farmers work the land carefully to make it as productive as possible. Crops include fruit, wheat and other grains, and potatoes. Grapes are grown near Lakes Geneva, Lu­gano, and Neuchatel, and in other sunny areas. Olive trees grow in the canton of Ticino.

Tourism. Since the early 1800's, large numbers of tourists have come to Switzerland. Today, more than 11 million tourists visit yearly. Switzerland has thousands of hotels and inns for tourists. Sports centres in the Alps, including Davos and St. Moritz, attract many holiday­makers. Skiing is especially popular. Most of the ski runs are free of trees because they are higher than the elevation at which trees stop growing. In summer, guides take tourists mountain climbing. Many visitors come for the healthy clear, dry, mountain air, as well as to enjoy the beauty of the Alps. Water sports on Lake Geneva and other lakes also attract tourists.

Banking also ranks as one of Switzerland's major in­dustries. Swiss banks attract deposits from people in many countries. The banks are probably the safest in the world, partly because of the nation's neutrality. Deposi­tors can choose to be identified by a number known only to themselves and a few bank officials. In this way, a private fortune can be kept secret. Under Swiss law, a bank employee who violates this secrecy may be fined and imprisoned. But the secrecy may be broken in the investigation of criminal cases.

Transportation. Switzerland has fine transportation systems in spite of the mountains, which make travel dif­ficult. The government owns and runs almost the entire railway network. Railway tunnels cut through the Alps, including the Lotschberg, St. Gotthard, and Simplon tun­nels. The 19.8-kilometre Simplon Tunnel is one of the world's longest railway tunnels.

Switzerland's paved roads and highways provide travel even to mountain areas. But roads that wind through the higher mountain passes are open only a few months of the year. Heavy snow makes them unus­able except in summer. The 5.6-kilometre Great St. Ber­nard Tunnel, opened in 1964, was the first road tunnel through the Alps. It links Switzerland and Italy. The 16.32-kilometre St. Gotthard Road Tunnel is the longest road tunnel in the world.

The Rhine River connects Basel, Switzerland's only port, with the North Sea. Large barges can reach Basel, which handles about 7.3 million metric tons of cargo a year.

Geneva and Zurich have international airports. The privately owned Swissair, Switzerland's only interna­tional airline, flies to about 40 countries.

Communication. Switzerland has about 90 daily newspapers. The largest newspapers include Der Blick, Tages Anzeiger Zurich, and Neue Ziircher Zeitung, all published in Zurich. Most of the country's newspapers are published in German, and some are published in French and Italian. A few of the nondaily newspapers are published in Romansh.

Government-controlled corporations operate a radio network and a television network in each of the three of­ficial languages. A few programmes are in Romansh. In addition, several privately owned radio stations broad­cast in Switzerland. Almost all Swiss families own at least one radio and one television set. The government operates the postal, telegraph, and telephone services.

History

Early days. Before the time of Christ, a Celtic people called the Helvetians lived in what is now Switzerland.

They were conquered in 58 B.C. by Roman armies led by Julius Caesar. The region, known as Helvetia, became a Roman province. By the A.D. 400's, two Germanic tribes, the Alemannians and the Burgundians, settled there. An­other Germanic people, the Franks, defeated these tribes by the early 500's. The Frankish kingdom later ex­panded and became powerful under Charlemagne, but it broke apart during the 800's. See Franks.

Most of present-day Switzerland became part of the Holy Roman Empire in 962, when the empire began, and the rest was part of the kingdom of Burgundy. That part came into the empire in 1033. Switzerland consisted of many territories, towns, and villages ruled by local lords, and some communities directly under the em­peror. See Holy Roman Empire.

The struggle for freedom. By the 1200"s, the Habs- burg family had gained control over much of Switzer­land. The free men of what are now the cantons (states) of Schwyz and Uri feared the growth of the Habsburgs' power. In 1273, Rudolf I became the first Habsburg to rule the Holy Roman Empire. He began to take control of the two regions. In 1291, Schwyz and Uri decided to de­fend their freedom. They invited the nearby region of Unterwalden to join them.

Leaders of the three regions met in August 1291, and signed the Perpetual Covenant, a defence agreement. They declared their freedom and promised to aid each other against any foreign ruler. The Perpetual Covenant was the start of the Swiss Confederation. The confedera­tion came to be known as Switzerland. It took its name from the canton of Schwyz.

The Habsburgs ruled Austria, and the Swiss fought several wars of independence against Austrian forces. In 1315, at Morgarten, Swiss peasants trapped and de­feated an Austrian army 10 times their strength. Between

1332 and 1353, five more cantons joined the Swiss Con­federation. The Swiss again defeated the Austrians at Sempach in 1386 and at Nafels in 1388. See Habsburg, House of.

The wars with Austria were full of dramatic incidents, and many famous stories have been told about Swiss heroes. For two exciting tales, see the articles on Tell, William and Winkelried, Arnold von.

Independence and expansion. Switzerland became a strong military power during the 140ffs. The Swiss en­tered several wars to gain land, and won many territo­ries. In three battles in 1476 and 1477, the Swiss de­feated Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. In 1499, they crushed the forces of Maximilian I, the Habsburg ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. Switzerland won complete independence, though the empire did not officially rec­ognize it until 1648. In 1512 and 1513, the Swiss drove French armies out of northern Italy. Almost all the lands won in these wars of expansion remained under Swiss control for nearly 300 years, and then were admitted into the confederation as cantons.

In 1515, the French defeated the Swiss at Marignano in Italy. The Swiss suffered great losses, and began to question their policy of expansion. Switzerland soon adopted a policy of neutrality, and has stayed out of for­eign wars ever since.

Five more cantons joined the Swiss Confederation between 1481 and 1513, making atotal of 13. Each can­ton governed itself as it chose, almost like a separate country. Some cantons were peasant democracies, and others were governed by powerful families or by crafts­men's groups called Zunfte (guilds). Many cantons owned nearby territories either by themselves or with other cantons. The confederation had no central govern­ment. Delegates from each canton occasionally met in an assembly called Tagsatzung to discuss various mat­ters. But this assembly had no real power.

Religious civil wars. The Reformation spread quickly in Switzerland during the early 1500's. Huldreich Zwingli, one of the great leaders of the Protestant move­ment, preached in Zurich. John Calvin, another great Protestant leader, made Geneva an international centre of Protestantism (see Reformation). The Reformation split Switzerland into two armed camps, Protestant and Roman Catholic. The two groups fought in 1529,1531, 1656, and 1712, without either side gaining control.

French control. In 1798, during the French Revolu­tion, French armies swept into Switzerland and quickly occupied the country. The French set up the Helvetic Republic and gave the new Swiss government strong central power. The Swiss cantons became merely ad­ministrative districts of the government.

The great political change caused much confusion and dissatisfaction among the Swiss. As a result, Napo­leon of France reestablished the 13 Swiss cantons in 1803 and created 6 new ones from their territories. Fie reduced the power of the central government and re­stored much of the cantons' self-government.

After Napoleon's final defeat in 1815, the Congress of Vienna gave Switzerland three more cantons that had been under French control (see Vienna, Congress of). The old confederation system was largely restored, with the central government having little power. The Con­gress of Vienna also guaranteed Swiss neutrality. The European powers at the congress recognized Swiss neutrality as being for the good of all Europe. The neu­trality of Switzerland has never since been broken.

The Constitution of 1848. By 1830, many Swiss had begun to demand political reforms—including individ­ual rights and freedom of the press—and greater na­tional unity. Governments were overthrown peaceably in some cantons, but rioting occurred in others. The re­form movement grew in strength. Seven cantons banded together to oppose the changes, but were de­feated in a three-week civil war in 1847.

Switzerland adopted a new Constitution in 1848. This Constitution set up a federal democracy with a two- house legislature. It established federal power over the confederation and guaranteed religious freedom and other individual rights. The Constitution was changed in 1874 to increase the government's powers, especially in military and court matters.

In 1863, Jean Henri Dunant, a Swiss businessman and writer, founded the Red Cross in Geneva. The Red Cross flag was copied from that of Switzerland, with the two colours reversed. See Red Cross.

Neutrality in the world wars. World War I began in 1914, and Switzerland immediately declared its neutral­ity. The fighting nations respected this policy because Switzerland acted in a strictly neutral manner through­out the war. Food imports decreased during the four years of fighting, but farmers in Switzerland increased their grain production to feed the people. In 1920, Ge­neva became the headquarters of the newly created League of Nations, an association of countries organized to prevent war. Switzerland was one of the original members of the League. See League of Nations.

AfterWorld War II began in 1939, Switzerland again declared its neutrality. German forces did not invade Switzerland. They feared the Swiss would blow up transportation tunnels in the Alps if they did. Switzer­land became a major supply link between Germany and its ally Italy. It also represented the United States and other Allied nations in enemy countries. During the war, Switzerland cared for more than 100,000 refugees from a number of countries.

Switzerland did not join the United Nations (UN), which was founded after World War II ended in 1945. The Swiss felt that UN membership, which requires pos­sible military action by member nations, would violate their neutrality policy. But the UN made Geneva its Euro­pean headquarters, and Switzerland joined most of the UN's specialized agencies.

Switzerland today still avoids membership in inter­national organizations that might endanger its neutrality. In 1986, three-quarters of the Swiss people who went to the polls voted against joining the UN. However, Switz­erland is willing to participate in international organiza­tions when there is no danger of losing any of its inde­pendence. In 1960, the Swiss helped form the European Free Trade Association, an economic organization of Eu­ropean nations. Switzerland joined the Council of Eu­rope in 1963. This organization of European countries seeks to promote closer unity among its members for human rights and social progress, but it has no real power.

In 1979, Switzerland increased its number of cantons from 22 to 23. It created a new canton called Jura from territory that was part of the canton of Bern. In most of Bern, the majority of people are German-speaking Prot­estants. But in the part of Bern that became Jura, most people are French-speaking Roman Catholics. Jura was created to give the French-speaking Catholics their own canton.

Switzerland was the last major European country to grant women political equality. In 1958, Basel became the first Swiss city to allow women to vote in local elec­tions. In 1971, women in Switzerland were given the right to vote in national elections. They are represented in the legislatures and other government bodies of many towns and cantons, as well as at the federal level. Swiss voters approved an equal rights amendment in 1981. In October 1984, Elisabeth Kopp became the first woman to be elected to the Federal Council.

Outline

Government

Cantonal and local government, Politics, and Defence

People

Population, Language, and Religion

Land

The Jura Mountains, The Swiss Plateau,  The Swiss Alps, and Rivers

Climate

Economy

Natural resources, Manufacturing, Agriculture, and Tourism

History

Questions

When did women in Switzerland gain the right to vote in na­tional elections?

What are the three official languages of Switzerland?

Where does the name Switzerland come from?

How much of Switzerland do the Alps cover?

What was the first road tunnel through the Alps?

Why has Switzerland not joined the United Nations?

How did the Swiss Confederation start?

Why do Swiss banks attract deposits from people throughout the world?

In what region do about two-thirds of the Swiss live?

How does Switzerland keep itself prepared for military defence?

Why are Swiss industrial areas almost free of smoke?