United States
Switzerland Travel and Destination Guide
BACKGROUND INFO
Full Name
Swiss Confederation
Capital City
Bern
Area
41,290 sq km
Population
7,581,000
Time Zone
GMT/UTC +1
Weights Measures System
Metric
Languages
• German (official)
German (most commonly the dialect known as Schwyzertütsch) is spoken by about 63.7% of the population.
• French (official)
spoken by 19% of the population.
• Italian (official)
Spoken by 6.4% of the population.
• Raeto-Romance (other)
A national language, but not official in status, Raeto-Romance (Rumantsch) is spoken by under 1% of the population, mainly in the canton of Graubunden.
Religion
41.8% Roman Catholic, 35.3% Protestant, 4.3% Muslim, 1.8% Orthodox Christian, 11.1% no religion, 5.7% other.
Government Type
Confederation With Direct Democracy
Government Leaders
Pascal Couchepin
President (head of state and government)
Country Dialing Code
41
©2007 Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.
