Switzerland – a rich European country with one of the most stable and prosperous economies in the world. However, it was not always. In the XVIII century, a significant number of Swiss were forced to emigrate in order to survive. At the beginning of the XIX century, things went up and the country began to develop at a faster pace. Others you will learn in this article interesting facts about Switzerland.
The interesting facts about Switzerland
- 1. Country has a classical federal structure, but it has an official name “Swiss Confederation”. It remains from the time of XIII – XIX centuries, when Switzerland was really a confederation.
- 2. Administrative unit of the country is the canton, each of which is divided into communes. In total there are 26 cantons.
- 3. History of Switzerland has its origins after the merger of four cantons, the name of one of them (Schwyz) and gave the name to the entire country – an interesting fact.
- 4. Since 1499 Switzerland is a free and independent country (with the exception of 17-year-old occupation of the French in 1798).
- 5. The incredible fact about Switzerland: after serving in the army, every soldier can keep the service weapon!
- 6. State program to combat drug addiction envisages regular issuance of dose portion of food and a place to spend the night. According to expert estimates, it is more efficient and cheaper than to solve the problems that arise as a result of crimes of such persons.
- 7. Interesting fact: in Switzerland, instead of numbering the houses numbered entrances and on the flats just sign the names of tenants.
- 8. Special spartan hotel “0 star” was opened in the military bunker. There are no basic facilities, but there is only a place to sleep.
- 9. In Geneva, is the United Nations European headquarters, and dozens of other intergovernmental and international organizations.
- 10. In Switzerland there are four official languages: German (64% with a variety of dialects), French (20.4%), Italian (6.5%) and Romansh (1%).
- 11. In order not to be used immediately 4 languages on the official documents, the authorities decided to use the abbreviation “CH”, which stands for «Confoederatio Helvetica» – Latin spelling “Swiss Confederation”.
- 12. Switzerland has traditionally observes the political and military neutrality, but in 2002 still joined the UN in 2005 to the Schengen Agreement.
- 13. Swiss cities regularly occupy the first place in the ranking of the best places to live. Zurich, for example, regularly ranked first or second in the world rankings. Geneva and Bern in 2010, finished second and eighth place. And she Switzerland in 2005, ranked second in the ranking of the best countries to live from the 111 participating countries.
- 14. As for 2012, Switzerland ranks second in the world in terms of average life expectancy – 82.1 years! For men, the figure is 80.0 years and for women 84.2. Note that the world leaders in life expectancy are Japan with an average of 82.6 years – an interesting fact.
- 15. The surprising fact in Switzerland in Zurich, there are more than 1,200 fountains with crystal clear water.
- 16. The country’s highest point is the peak Dufour. Its height is more than 4634 meters above sea level.
- 17. In Switzerland, very strict rules for obtaining citizenship. In order to become a full and equal citizen, you have to live here for 12 years.
- 18. More than 60% of all electricity in Switzerland generate hydroelectric power.
- 19. The Swiss have a long tradition of watchmaking. Starting from 1755, in Geneva were the world’s first watch manufacturers, which are now recognized leaders in the production of branded models.
- 20. Swiss Patek Philippe invented the wristwatch in 1868.
- 21. In order to ride a bicycle on any public road, it is necessary to buy insurance.
- 22. On average, the annual inflation rate is only 1%! Switzerland.
- 23. Interesting Fact: Switzerland has given children from 4 years old to school. Children learn only 4 days a week, since the medium is also a public holiday.
- 24. Throughout the country after 21:00 alcoholic beverages are not sold.
- 25. Switzerland has compulsory service of 260 days for all male citizens. However, for service in the armed forces can not keep paying the state 3% of salary until you are under 30 years old.
- 26. The official currency is not the euro and the Swiss franc (0.8 ~ 1 franc dollar).
- 27. Switzerland has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. 100 000 people have been only 0.5 murders by firearms.
- 28. Foreigners accounted for about 23% of the country’s population.
- 29. The average birth rate is about 1.5 children per woman.
- 30. Women were not allowed to vote in federal elections until 1971 – an interesting fact.
- 31. More than 87% of the population are Christians (42% – Roman Catholics, 35% – Protestants).
- 32. A total of 18 Swiss chocolate company in 2012 made 172 thousand tons of chocolate!
The interesting facts about Switzerland
Today in this article we will try to learn all of the most interesting facts about Switzerland. We collected all the useful information in one article.
Interesting facts
Written by: inkas
Date Published: 04/15/2016
