Switzerland

Official Name:

Swiss Confederation (Switzerland)

Area:

41.290 km ²

Population (2007):

7.554.661 inhabitants

Coastline:

0 km. None

Capital:

Bern

Maritime Ports and terminals:

Basel

Maritime claims:

• Territorial sea: None
• Exclusive economic zone: None
• Continental shelf: None

Political divisions:

26 cantons (cantons, singular - canton in French; cantoni, singular - cantone in Italian; kantone, singular - kanton in German); Aargau, Appenzell Ausser-Rhoden, Appenzell Inner-Rhoden, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Geneve, Glarus, Graubunden, Jura, Luzern, Neuchatel, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Sankt Gallen, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Thurgau, Ticino, Uri, Valais, Vaud, Zug, Zurich

Language(s):

German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%, Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census) Note: German, French, Italian, and Romansch are all national languages, but only the first three are official languages

National holiday:

Founding of the Swiss Confederation, 1 August (1291)

Nationality:

Swiss (singular and plural)

Official time:

UTC 1. Daylight saving time: 1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Member of:

ACCT, AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EFTA, ESA, FAO, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUC, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Internet country code:

.ch

Economic Profile

Currency:

Swiss franc (CHF)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

USD34.000 (2006 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

(2006 est.) USD 386.100.000.000

PIB (Real growth rate:

2,7% (2006 est.)

GDP (Composition by sector): (2003 est.)

• Agriculture: 1,5%
• Industry: 34%
• Services: 64,5%

Labor force:

3.810.000 (2006 est.)

Labor force - by occupation (1998):

• Agriculture 4,6%
• Industry: 26,3%
• Services 69,1%

Unemployment rate:

3,3% (2006 est.)

Inflation rate (Consumer prices):

1,2% (2006 est)

Investment (Gross Fixed):

21,8% del PIB (2006 est.)

Budget:

• Revenues: USD141.000.000.000
• Expenditures: USD139.100.000.000

Public debt:

51% of GDP (2006 est.)

Current account balance:

USD 50.440.000.000 (2006 est.)

Exports:

USD 166.300.000.000 FOB (2006 est.)

Exports - Commodities:

machinery, chemicals, metals, watches, agricultural products

Exports - Partners:

Germany 19,4%, US 10,9%, Italy 9,1%, France 8,7%, UK 5,4%, Spain 4,1% (2005)

Imports:

USD 162.300.000.000 FOB (2006 est.)

Imports - Commodities:

machinery, chemicals, vehicles, metals; agricultural products, textiles

Imports - partners:

Germany 31,6%, Italy 10,5%, France 10%, US 5,6%, Netherlands 4,8%, Austria 4,6%, UK 4,4% (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

USD 38.290.000.000 (2006 est.)

Debt - external:

USD 1.077.000.000.000 (2006)