{"id":1606,"date":"2024-02-18T00:39:27","date_gmt":"2024-02-17T23:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestfreetour.com\/?page_id=1606"},"modified":"2024-03-16T02:09:27","modified_gmt":"2024-03-16T01:09:27","slug":"swizzerland","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bestfreetour.com\/es\/swizzerland\/","title":{"rendered":"Switzerland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swizerland Free Tour<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bern Free Tour<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

La<\/a>usanne Free Tour<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Montreux Free Tour<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zurich Free Tour<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lugano Free Tour<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geneva Free Tour<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Information:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switzerland<\/strong>, federated country<\/a> of central Europe<\/a>. Switzerland\u2019s administrative capital is Bern<\/a>, while Lausanne<\/a> serves as its judicial centre. Switzerland\u2019s small size\u2014its total area is about half that of Scotland<\/a>\u2014and its modest population give little indication of its international significance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Switzerland\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Switzerland<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A landlocked country<\/a> of towering mountains, deep Alpine lakes<\/a>, grassy valleys dotted with neat farms and small villages, and thriving cities that blend the old and the new, Switzerland is the nexus of the diverse<\/a> physical and cultural geography of western Europe, renowned for both its natural beauty and its way of life. Aspects of both have become bywords for the country, whose very name conjures images of the glacier-carved Alps<\/a> beloved of writers, artists, photographers, and outdoor sports enthusiasts from around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grindelwald, Switzerland<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restaurant in the Alpine village of Grindelwald, Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La Gruy\u00e8re district, Switzerland<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

La Gruy\u00e8re district, Fribourg canton, Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many outsiders, Switzerland also evokes a prosperous if rather staid and unexciting society, an image that is now dated. Switzerland remains wealthy and orderly, but its mountain-walled valleys are far more likely to echo the music of a local rock band than a yodel<\/a> or an alphorn<\/a>. Most Swiss<\/a> live in towns and cities, not in the idyllic<\/a> rural landscapes that captivated<\/a> the world through Johanna Spyri<\/a>\u2019s Heidi<\/em><\/a> (1880\u201381), the country\u2019s best-known literary work. Switzerland\u2019s cities have emerged as international centres of industry and commerce connected to the larger world, a very different tenor from Switzerland\u2019s isolated, more inward-looking past. As a consequence of its remarkably long-lived stability and carefully guarded neutrality, Switzerland\u2014Geneva<\/a>, in particular\u2014has been selected as headquarters for a wide array of governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including many associated with the United Nations<\/a> (UN)\u2014an organization the Swiss resisted joining until the early 21st century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switzerland: Alps<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Alps in Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Britannica Quiz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which Country Is Larger By Population? Quiz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switzerland was formed in 1291 by an alliance of cantons<\/a> against the Habsburg dynasty\u2014the Confoederatio Helvetica (or Swiss Confederation<\/a>), from which the abbreviation CH for Switzerland derives\u2014though only in 1848, when a new constitution<\/a> was adopted, was the present nation formed. Prior to 1848, internal conflict was quite common, but Switzerland has enjoyed relative domestic tranquility since the mid-19th century, and its organization has remained essentially the same: it is a union of more than 3,000 communes, or municipalities, situated in 26 cantons, 6 of which are traditionally referred to as demicantons (half cantons) but function as full cantons. Ordinary citizens are able to participate at every level of politics and regularly exercise their will in referenda and initiatives<\/a>, through which Swiss citizens directly make numerous policy decisions at the national and subnational level. Two effects of this popular involvement are evident: Swiss taxes are rather low by European standards, because voters are able to review and approve a broad range of expenditures, and political decision making<\/a> tends to be slow, because contending individual claims and opinions must be allowed to be expressed at every step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That high level of citizen involvement prompted the renowned 20th-century Swiss playwright and ironist Friedrich D\u00fcrrenmatt<\/a> to allegorize Switzerland as a prison in which each Swiss citizen was at the same time prisoner and guard. Even so, the Swiss blend of federalism<\/a> and direct democracy<\/a> is unique in the world and is considered central to the country\u2019s political and economic success. And Switzerland is indeed a major economic power, thanks to its long tradition of financial services and high-quality, specialized manufactures of items such as precision timepieces, optics, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals, as well as of specialty foodstuffs such as Emmentaler cheese<\/a> and milk chocolate. Switzerland is regularly judged to have among the world\u2019s highest standards of living<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Z\u00fcrich<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Z\u00fcrich, Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basel<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rhine River at Basel, Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bern<\/a> is a placid city whose name derives from the bear pits the canton\u2019s medieval<\/a> rulers established there as a heraldic symbol; the bear pits are now part of the city\u2019s popular zoo. A metropolis extending along a large lake where the mountains meet the plains, Z\u00fcrich<\/a> is by far the country\u2019s largest and most cosmopolitan<\/a> city, its famed Bahnhofstrasse rivaling shopping districts found in other leading cities in the world. Basel<\/a> and Lucerne<\/a> are major German-speaking cities, Geneva and Lausanne<\/a> the centres of the country\u2019s French-speaking cantons, and Bellinzona<\/a> and Lugano<\/a> the principal cities in the Italian-speaking Ticino<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switzerland has long been a model multiethnic, multilingual society, a place in which diverse peoples can live in social harmony and unite in common interest. The Swiss justifiably take great pride in this, and the point was encapsulated<\/a> in the early 21st century by Ruth Dreifuss<\/a>, who in 1999 became the country\u2019s first woman and first Jewish president (a post that rotates annually):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I may be a native speaker of French, but my parents originally came from German-speaking Switzerland and I myself worked in an Italian-speaking area for a while and enjoy travelling to all parts of the country\u2026. I live in a neighbourhood in which over 100 different nationalities live together in peace and harmony\u2026. I greatly appreciate this diversity<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Land<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Physical<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Physical features of Switzerland<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switzerland is bordered to the west by France<\/a>, to the north by Germany<\/a>, to the east by Austria<\/a> and Liechtenstein<\/a>, and to the south by Italy<\/a>. It extends about 135 miles (220 km) from north to south and 220 miles (350 km) at its widest extent from west to east. Switzerland\u2019s landscape is among the world\u2019s most unusual, and it has long had to contend with a variety of environmental problems that threaten its integrity<\/a>. Economic development and high population density have caused severe environmental stress, resulting in pollution and debates over the use of natural resources. During the 1970s and \u201980s, ambitious environmental policies were implemented<\/a> by the cantons and municipalities, and this led to impressive progress on pollution abatement. For example, air-pollution emissions in Switzerland are among the lowest in industrialized countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relief and drainage<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cliffs overlooking Lauterbrunnen, in the Mittelland region, Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behold the power of the Rhine River at Rhine Falls, near Schaffhausen, Switzerland<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn about the Rhine River and see the spectacular Rhine Falls, near Schaffhausen, Switzerland.See all videos for this article<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Situated at the hydrographic centre of Europe<\/a>, Switzerland is the source of many major rivers. The two most important are the Rh\u00f4ne<\/a>, which flows into the Mediterranean Sea<\/a>, and the Rhine<\/a>, which empties into the North Sea<\/a>. Switzerland\u2019s small area contains an unusual diversity<\/a> of topographic elements, which are divisible into three distinct regions: the Jura Mountains<\/a> in the northwest, the Alps<\/a> to the south and east, and the Mittelland, or central plateau, between the two mountain ranges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jura Mountains<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jura Mountains, Neuch\u00e2tel canton, Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jura<\/a> (Celtic: \u201cForest\u201d), a rolling mountain range in the northwest, occupies about one-eighth of the country<\/a>. The region was formed under the extended impact of the general Alpine folding, which created the folded Jura that abuts the Mittelland and the tabular plateau Jura that forms the northern edge of the range. Jurassic<\/a> limestone<\/a> and marl with rich fossil content are the characteristic<\/a> rocks that dip below the Mittelland and appear again in the pre-Alps. The limestone has been eroded in typical karst<\/a> fashion, with sinkholes, caves, and underground drainage common. The ridges, covered with meadows and only sparsely forested, receive more precipitation than do the valleys, the slopes of which are wooded. Between Saint-Imier Valley (Vallon St. Imier) and the Doubs, a river that forms part of the border with France<\/a>, the Jura has been reduced by denudation to form an undulating plateau that extends into France. Known as the Franches Montagnes (French: \u201cFree Mountains\u201d), a name acquired in 1384 when the bishop of Basel<\/a> freed the inhabitants from taxation to encourage settlement of the remote area, this tableland is characterized<\/a> by mixed agriculture and dairying. The highest point in the Jura, Monte Tendre<\/a>, at about 5,500 feet (1,700 metres), is well below the Alps; indeed, the Jura was not a significant barrier to surface movement even before modern railroads and highways were constructed. Entrenched transverse valleys known as cluses have been eroded across the Jura ridges, providing relatively easy routes for transportation. The climate of the Jura, which has abundant precipitation, is the most continental of Switzerland; cross-country skiing<\/a> is popular during the long winters. Switzerland\u2019s watchmaking industry had its beginning in these mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matterhorn<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The summit of the Matterhorn, in the Alps, Switzerland-Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Alps<\/a> were built of large complexes of massed overthrusts of extremely varied sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks that were shaped by glaciation. The canton of Valais<\/a> contains many striking Alpine peaks, including the Dufourspitze<\/a> on the Monte Rosa<\/a> massif, at 15,203 feet (4,634 metres) the highest point in Switzerland; the Weisshorn<\/a> (14,780 feet [4,405 metres]), overlooking the valley called the Mattertal; the Dom<\/a> (14,912 feet [4,545 metres]), above the village of Saas Fee; and the ice-sculpted Matterhorn<\/a> (14,691 feet [4,478 metres]), long a symbol of Switzerland. The northern and southern Swiss Alps are separated by the trough<\/a> formed by the Rh\u00f4ne and upper Rhine valleys, the narrowest portion being the Urseren valley, which lies between two crystalline central massifs, the Gotthard and the Aare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Alps\u2019 role as the European watershed is most apparent in the central Alpine region of Switzerland, where the different chains meet; from there the Rh\u00f4ne River flows west, the Rhine River east, the Ticino River<\/a> south to the Po River<\/a>, and the Reuss River north to the Aare. The fundamental Alpine source point, however, is located in the upper Engadin<\/a> valley at the Piz Lunghin, from which streams flow toward the North and Adriatic<\/a> seas and from which the headwaters of the Inn River<\/a> flow toward the Danube<\/a> and ultimately into the Black Sea<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Gotthard Pass<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Gotthard Pass through the Lepontine Alps, Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country\u2019s geographically destined role as guardian of Europe\u2019s natural trans-Alpine routes has been both a reason for and a basic tenet of its existence\u2014a role expressed in its traditional neutrality in times of war. In the central Alpine region lies the St. Gotthard route, the first and shortest north-south passage through the mountains and an important European linkage; it was opened in the early 13th century with the construction of a bridge in the Sch\u00f6llenen Gorge, which traverses<\/a> the northern chain, while the southern range is crossed by the St. Gotthard Pass<\/a> at an elevation of 6,916 feet (2,108 metres). The 9-mile (14-km) St. Gotthard rail tunnel<\/a> through the pass was opened in 1882; a twin 10.5-mile (17-km) road tunnel<\/a> was opened in 1980.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gotthard Base Tunnel<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miners rejoicing after completing the drilling for the Gotthard Base Tunnel, October 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the tunnels, increasing rail and highway traffic often resulted in long delays through the mountains. For example, on weekends during the peak summer tourist season, cars and trucks were often backed up some 10 to 15 miles (16 to 25 km). To address this congestion, in 1992 Swiss<\/a> voters approved the construction of a massive 35-mile (57-km) rail tunnel well beneath the existing St. Gotthard tunnels. Primary excavation was completed in 2010, and upon its official opening in June 2016, the Gotthard Base Tunnel<\/a> was the longest and most deeply set rail tunnel in the world. Because the tunnel was excavated at virtually zero-grade, it could accommodate<\/a> high-speed trains that would slash travel times between northern and southern Europe and reduce traffic-choked-up Alpine roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Montreux, Switzerland<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shore of Lake Geneva in Montreux, Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between the Jura and main Alpine ranges lies the hilly Mittelland<\/a>, accounting for nearly one-fourth of the country and enclosed by the two mountain ranges and the two largest lakes, Lake Geneva<\/a> (Lac L\u00e9man) in the west and Lake Constance<\/a> (Bodensee) in the east. The fertile rolling land of the Mittelland is the agricultural heartland of the country and is where the majority of Swiss settlements, population, and industry are situated. Furthermore, vital east-west highway and rail routes bind the urban areas. As a result, the Mittelland is highly urbanized, with large chunks of land sterilized by shopping centres, housing estates, motorways, oil-storage tanks, container depots, warehouses, automobile distribution centres, and industrial complexes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soils<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Soil conditions and agriculture reflect the diversity of Switzerland\u2019s climate and geologic structure. The major soil groups consist of gray-brown podzolic soils and brown forest soils, loess, glacial drift, and alluvium in the Mittelland; brown forest soils, rendzinas, and the heavier glacial clays in the Jura valleys; and the lithosol and podzolized soils of the high Alps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate of Switzerland<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Four major European climates affect Switzerland. From the west, influenced by the North Atlantic Drift<\/a>, come mild and moist air masses; dry and cold air arrives from the North Arctic areas; continental air from the east brings dry colder air in winter and warmer air in summer; and relatively moist and warm air flows northward from the Mediterranean. The mixing of these air masses over Switzerland produces weather patterns that not only change according to which air masses are involved but also are characterized<\/a> by great variation in temperature and precipitation because of local relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wind systems<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Prevailing winds are mainly from the west, but in valleys air currents are channeled into particularly frequent or violent local winds such as the Bise, a cold northeast wind that sweeps across the Mittelland and funnels down Lake Geneva<\/a> to the city of Geneva<\/a>. Foehn<\/a> (German: F\u00f6hn<\/em>) winds, which are associated with the leading edge of a low-pressure system moving across Europe<\/a> north of Switzerland, often blow for one or two days; though they may occur anytime during the year, they are most frequent in spring. Sudden temperature increases occur because the foehn, which crosses the Alps<\/a> from south to north (it can also blow from north to south, affecting Ticino), cools at a slower rate rising over the mountains because of precipitation; it is then heated and dried as it descends<\/a> down the northern valleys, thereby moderating the climate on the northern slopes of the Alps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Precipitation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sankt Gallen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farms near Furkels, Sankt Gallen canton, Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since rainfall tends to increase in direct proportion to altitude, precipitation varies according to relief. Thus, because of the marked variation in relief that characterizes Switzerland, differences in precipitation within short linear distances are often very great. For example, Sankt Gallen<\/a> (St. Gall), at 2,556 feet (779 metres), has an average annual precipitation of about 50 inches (1,300 mm), while precipitation at S\u00e4ntis, at an elevation of 8,202 feet (2,500 metres) but only some 12 miles (20 km) away, is more than 110 inches (2,800 mm). The average annual precipitation of three-fourths of the country<\/a> exceeds<\/a> 40 inches (1,000 mm), varying amounts of which fall as snow. In Lugano<\/a> (at 896 feet [273 metres]), which is located in the canton of Ticino<\/a> in the southeast and has a modified Mediterranean climate<\/a>, little precipitation is in the form of snow; in Z\u00fcrich<\/a> (at 1,824 feet [556 metres]) about one-tenth is snow; and on the S\u00e4ntis nearly three-fourths is snow. At elevations above 11,500 feet (3,500 metres), all precipitation is in the form of snow, which compacts into perpetual snowfields and glaciers; the snow line<\/a> is at about 9,200 feet (2,800 metres) in the northern Alps and about 10,800 feet (3,300 metres) in the southern Alps of the Valais<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dry areas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Switzerland: Ganter Bridge<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ganter Bridge (Ganterbr\u00fccke), Simplon Pass, Valais, Switzerland, designed by Christian Menn, 1980.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are distinct dry pockets in the mountains of Switzerland\u2019s interior. The best-known dry area is the Rh\u00f4ne valley in the Valais, which is closely encircled by the highest (13,000 feet [4,000 metres]) mountain groups. Although precipitation is slight on the slopes near the cantonal capital of Sion<\/a> (at 1,581 feet [482 metres]), extensive<\/a> irrigation is possible, since the valley is surrounded by large snowfields and by glaciers that extend down the upper valleys. The rarefied and dry though somewhat polluted air of such high-altitude towns as Davos<\/a> (5,216 feet [1,590 metres]) and Arosa<\/a> (5,987 feet [1,825 metres]) permits a more intense, broader-spectrum solar irradiation and thus produces a climate famous in the past for tuberculosis cures. Today the climate attracts skiers as well as tourists seeking an escape from the polluted air of lowland Europe. At elevations of 13,000 feet (4,000 metres), precipitation levels rise to some 160 inches (4,000 mm), and the M\u00f6nch<\/a> (13,448 feet [4,099 metres]) in the Jungfrau<\/a> group of mountains has the highest average annual precipitation in Switzerland, 163 inches (4,140 mm), while Stalden in the entrenched Vispa valley, 4 miles (6 km) south of the main Rh\u00f4ne valley, has the lowest, 21 inches (533 mm). Britannica QuizGuess the Country by Its Neighbors Quiz<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skies and temperatures<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Jura Mountains, Switzerland<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panoramic view of the Jura Mountains in Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stable high-pressure weather conditions prevailing<\/a> over central Europe<\/a> and the Alps<\/a> during autumn and winter create cold air masses that result in lowland fog<\/a>, a climatic phenomenon with widely varying consequences. The mouths of the northern Alpine valleys, the basins of the Jura Mountains<\/a>, and the villages and cities of the low areas of the Mittelland are blanketed for days and often for weeks on end, while towns located at higher altitudes enjoy warm, brilliant, high-pressure conditions and the view of the glistening sea of fog below them. Temperature inversions<\/a> between mountain and valley locations in close proximity can be quite pronounced, with higher elevations having higher temperature readings. Frequent temperature inversion<\/a> has made Switzerland\u2019s high-altitude resorts healthful places even during winter and has helped the Alpine winter season gain popularity in Europe for sports; in addition, because of these inversions polluted air is much less common in areas of high elevation than in the lowlands. In fact, the temperature inversions that affect the Mittelland tend to trap polluted air for weeks when cyclonic activity stagnates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avalanches<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With the increase in winter tourism<\/a>, the study of avalanches<\/a> has developed as a branch of Alpine climatology, and in wintertime the research station near Davos<\/a> releases daily avalanche bulletins as a warning for villagers and tourists. The Alpine cantons have about 10,000 avalanches annually, with about four-fifths of them occurring in February, March, and April. For centuries, village communes have relied on forests on the mountain slopes for protection from these slides, because a 20- to 30-year-old forest can inhibit<\/a> or stop small avalanches. Villages, highways, and Alpine paths are also protected by costly artificial structures such as metal barriers, earthen walls, and concrete wedges and enclosures. However, in the late 20th century, acid rain<\/a> caused the illness and death of many trees in the mountain areas of Switzerland and posed a serious threat to their ability to act as barriers to avalanches. In the mountain forests, some two-fifths of the trees were classified as damaged, sick, or dying. Pollution-control<\/a> legislation across Europe did much to reduce the harmful effects of acid rain in Switzerland, and a concerted effort was made by Swiss<\/a> land managers to introduce healthy trees into unused Alpine pastureland and to increase the density<\/a> of existing Alpine forests. By the early 21st century, avalanche-control forests had become healthier and denser, especially at higher elevations and in steeper terrain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plant and animal life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Vegetation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

larch<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

European larch (Larix decidua<\/em>) trees in Valais canton, Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vegetation in Switzerland is derived from that of the four European climatic regions that converge in the country<\/a> and has been influenced by the varied relief. It includes the beeches and oaks of the maritime west; hornbeam and larch trees in the more continental east, predominantly in the Engadin<\/a> and the dry Valais; extensive spruce forests in the northern subalpine region; and chestnut groves in the south. Differences in vegetation are evident in the Alpine valleys because of exposure to the sun. The vegetation boundaries are several hundred feet higher in the south of the country\u2014for example, in Valais\u2014than in the north because of the southern exposure. Alpine vegetation<\/a>, similar to that of Arctic tundra, prevails<\/a> above the tree line. It is very susceptible to erosion through skiing<\/a> impacts and as a result of paths or four-wheel-drive trails cut into the slopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Animal life<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Switzerland\u2019s animal life is primarily Alpine, but a mixture of species familiar to southern and north-central Europe<\/a> is also found. Animal life is protected, except during a brief annual hunting season. Alpine tourists may observe marmots, which live in the high meadows, and chamois. Large herds of the round ibex<\/a>, which had died out in the Swiss Alps and has since been reintroduced, populate several areas, especially in the Bernina region of Graub\u00fcnden<\/a> (canton) and in the Saastal of Valais<\/a>. In the forests there are deer, rabbits, foxes, badgers, squirrels, and many varieties of birds, including eagles, while lake and river trout may be found but are no longer as abundant as in the past. Snakes and lizards are concentrated in the south, but insects, in great variety, are diffused throughout the country<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bern, Switzerland<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Marktgasse in the Old Town of Bern, Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To survive as a cohesive<\/a> unit and to protect the neutrality that has been their safeguard, the disparate<\/a> elements of the Swiss<\/a> people have had to learn a mutual cooperation. Their outlook has been shaped largely by economic and political necessity, which has made the Swiss public realistic, cautious, and prudent in accepting innovation<\/a> and creative in the use of their resources. Switzerland\u2019s human resource has been effectively educated and efficiently utilized to transform what was a predominantly mountainous, rural, and landlocked country<\/a> with limited natural resources into one of the most diversified and important industrial and commercial countries in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ethnic groups and languages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most of the major cultural regions of western continental Europe\u2014German, French, and Italian\u2014come into contact in Switzerland. Thus, one of the country\u2019s distinctive features is the variety of its languages. The Swiss constitution<\/a> recognizes German<\/a>, French<\/a>, and Italian<\/a> as official languages. Since 1996 Romansh<\/a> (Rhaeto-Romance), a linguistic relic<\/a> preserved in the mountainous regions between the Gotthard massif and the eastern Alps<\/a>, has had official status at the federal level for communicating with Romansh-speaking persons (it had been designated as an official \u201cnational\u201d language in 1938). At the beginning of the 21st century, more than three-fifths of the total population spoke German, one-fifth French, about one-twelfth Italian, and less than 1 percent Romansh. Nearly one-tenth of the population spoke a nonofficial language, with people of Croatian, Portuguese, Serbian, and Spanish descent most prevalent in this category. The country\u2019s ethnic breakdown largely mirrors its linguistic divisions. Foreign residents make up about one-fifth of the country\u2019s total population, and in some cantons the proportion is considerably higher. For example, in Geneva<\/a> more than one-third of residents are foreigners. The foreign-born population in Switzerland increased substantially in the 1990s, when the country provided refuge to those fleeing the violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/a> and in Kosovo<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the information come from Encyclopedia Britannica<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Swizerland Free Tour Bern Free Tour Lausanne Free Tour Montreux Free Tour Zurich Free Tour Lugano Free Tour Geneva Free Tour Information: Switzerland, federated country of central Europe. Switzerland\u2019s administrative capital is Bern, while Lausanne serves as its judicial centre. 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