Today we will help you out to know about some awesome and interesting facts about Switzerland, you will be amazed after reading these facts about Switzerland.
Interesting facts about Switzerland
- Switzerland has a long and strong tradition of political and military neutrality. However, the country finally chose to join the United Nations in 2002 and the Schengen Agreement in 2005.
- Switzerland has been an independent country since 1499 (apart from a brief French occupation between 1798 and 1815).
- Switzerland is the first and for now the only country to have implemented a system of government based on the people’s administration, also known as direct democracy, which involves the constitutional initiative (public petitions) and the referendum organization.
- There are 26 cantons in Switzerland, each of which acts as a state, with its own constitution, parliament, government and courts.
- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was founded in 1863 in Geneva and still has its headquarters there. The flag of the Red Cross is the flag of Switzerland with inverted colors.
- The Niesenbahn in Kandertal Switzerland is the longest continuous cable funicular in Europe. Next to the Niesenbahn route is the longest staircase in the world, with 11,674 steps.
- The country code for Switzerland, usually displayed next to car plates, is CH. It means Confoederatio Helvetica , that is to say Swiss Confederation in Latin. Latin was chosen as a neutral alternative rather than using the first letters of one of the four official languages of the country.
- Geneva is the European headquarters of the United Nations and the global headquarters of many other intergovernmental organizations and international non-governmental organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Office of the High Commissioner the United Nations for Human Rights, the World Economic Forum (WEF), the International Airport Council (IAC), the International Organization for Standardization (IOM) and the World Wide Web Virtual Library.
Country & Population
- There are four official languages in Switzerland: Swiss German (spoken by 64% of the population, and including many dialects), French (20.4%), Italian (6.5%) and Romansh (<1%).
- Swiss cities regularly rank among the most liveable on earth. Zurich was ranked as the most liveable city in the world by Monocle Magazine’s Most Livable Cities Index 2012, and was ranked second in the Mercer Consulting’s 2010 survey of the Quality Consulting Firm’s Quality of Living Survey. Mercer ranked Geneva and Bern respectively 2nd and 8th in 2010 and 8th and 9th in 2012. The Economist Intelligence Unit calculated a quality of life index in 2005, for which Switzerland ranked second out of 111 countries.
- In 2012, Switzerland had the second highest life expectancy in the world (after Japan).
- There are 208 peaks over 3000 meters in Switzerland, including 24 over 4000 meters. The highest of them is Pointe Dufour (Monte Rosa) at 4634m, at the limit of Valais and Piedmont (Italy).
Business & Economics
- In 2013, Switzerland had the 4th highest nominal GDP per capita in the world (after Luxembourg, Qatar and Norway).
- The World Economic Forum ranked Switzerland first in its Global Competitiveness Index (2012-13), which includes 144 countries. Similarly, Switzerland also ranked at the top of the ranking (with considerable margin) of the World Innovation Index (2012) , calculated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
- Switzerland has the highest employment rate among the 36 OECD countries (2010 data).
- The Swiss have a long tradition of watchmaking and are the undisputed leaders in luxury watch manufacturing, with brands such as Audemars Piguet, Baume and Mercier, Breitling, Chopard, Franck Muller, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Longines, Patek Philippe, Piaget, Rado, Rolex, Tag Heuer, Tissot, or Vacheron Constantin.
- Vacheron Constantin was founded in Geneva in 1755 and is the oldest watch manufacturer in the world with an uninterrupted history.
- The wristwatch was invented by Patek Philippe in 1868.Some of the most famous companies in the world are Swiss, such as Adecco (human resources), Credit Suisse (bank), Lindt & Sprüngli (chocolate), Logitech (electronics), Mövenpick (hotels), Nestlé (food), Novartis (pharmacy) , Richemont (luxury products), Schindler (elevators), Securitas (security), Swatch (watches), UBS (bank) or Winterthur (insurance).
