SWITZERLAND
Introduction
Switzerland is a country crowded with beautiful scenery. This includes majestic mountains and miles and miles of fields, forests, and dynamic cities. The Swiss value nature and beauty and are very proud of their efforts to protect the environment. For such a small country it has a rich history that has shaped its wonderful heritage and matchless mixture of castles, churches, and old towns and villages. Switzerland is also renowned for its cheeses, chocolate, watch making and Swiss army knives. The excellent public transport and idyllic landscapes make for wonderfully scenic journeys through manicured fields and valleys. Its profusion of idyllic fields of flowers and pine forests draw you into its beautifully still landscape. While the natural beauty of its rolling hills, valleys, mountains, glaciers and lakes manage to entice visitors back again and again.
Location
The capital of Switzerland is Bern, which was founded in 1191.The country is situated in western Europe, where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria to the east. Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura. While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8 million people is concentrated mostly on the Plateau, where the largest cities are to be found.
Among them are the two global cities and economic centres – Zurich and Geneva. Switzerland is also the birthplace of the Red Cross and home to a large number of international organizations, including the second largest UN office. Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world by per capita gross domestic product, and has the highest wealth per adult (financial and non-financial assets) of any country in the world. Zurich and Geneva have respectively been ranked as the cities with the second and eighth highest quality of life in the world. It is the twentieth largest exporter and eighteenth largest importer of goods.
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Geography
Extending across the north and south side of the Alps in west-central Europe, Switzerland encompasses a great diversity of landscapes .The more mountainous southern half of the country is far more sparsely populated than the northern half. The Alps are a high mountain range running across the central-south of the country, comprising about 60% of the country’s total area. Among the high valleys of the Swiss Alps many glaciers are found, totalling an area of 1,063 square kilometres. From these originate the headwaters of several major rivers, such as the Rhine, Inn, Ticino and Rhone, which flow in the four cardinal directions into the whole of Europe. Switzerland has more than 1500 lakes, and contains 6% of Europe’s stock of fresh water. Lakes and glaciers cover about 6% of the national territory.
About a hundred of Switzerland’s mountain peaks are close to or higher than 4,000 metres (13,000 ft).At 4,634 m (15,203 ft), Monte Rosa is the highest, although the Matterhorn (4,478 m/14,692 ft) is probably the most famous. The more populous northern part of the country, comprising about 30% of the country’s total area, is called the Middle Land. It has greater open and hilly landscapes, partly forested, partly open pastures, usually with grazing herds, or vegetables and fruit fields, but it is still hilly. There are large lakes found here and the biggest Swiss cities are in this area of the country. The largest lake is Lake Geneva situated in western Switzerland. The Rhone River is both the main input and output of Lake Geneva.
Environment
Switzerland’s ecosystems can be particularly fragile, because of the many delicate valleys separated by high mountains, often forming unique ecologies. The mountainous regions themselves are also vulnerable, with a rich range of plants not found at other altitudes, and experience some pressure from visitors and grazing. The climatic, geological and topographical conditions of the alpine region make for a very fragile ecosystem that is particularly sensitive to climate change.
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Climate
The Swiss climate is generally temperate, but can vary greatly between the localities,from glacial conditions on the mountaintops to the often pleasant near Mediterranean climate at Switzerland’s southern tip. There are some valley areas in the southern part of Switzerland where some cold-hardy palm trees are found.Summers tend to be warm and humid at times with periodic rainfall so they are ideal for grazing. The less humid winters in the mountains may see long intervals of stable conditions for weeks, while the lower lands tend to suffer from inversion, during these periods, thus seeing no sun for weeks.
Economy
Switzerland has a stable, prosperous and high-tech economy. In 2011, it was ranked as being the wealthiest country in the world The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report currently ranks Switzerland’s economy as the most competitive in the world, while ranked by the European Union as Europe’s most innovative country.[Switzerland is home to several large multinational corporations. The largest Swiss companies by revenue are Glencore, Gunvor, Nestlé, Novartis, Hoffmann-La Roche, ABB, Mercuria Energy Group Switzerland’s most important economic sector is manufacturing. Manufacturing consists largely of the production of specialist chemicals, health and pharmaceutical goods, scientific and precision measuring instruments and musical instruments. The largest exported goods are chemicals (34%), machines/electronics(20.9%), and precision instruments/watches (16.9%).Exported services amount to a third of exports. The services sector – especially banking and insurance, tourism, and international organisations – is another important industry for Switzerland. Around 3.8 million people work in Switzerland. It has low tax rates by Western World standards. Chocolate had been made in Switzerland. The Swiss are the world’s largest consumers of chocolate. The most popular alcoholic drink in Switzerland is wine.
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Education and science
Education in Switzerland is very diverse. There are both public and private schools, including many private international schools. The minimum age for primary school is about six years. There are 12 universities. Switzerland has the second highest rate of foreign students in tertiary education, after Australia. The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, located in Geneva, is not only continental Europe’s oldest graduate school of international and development studies, but also widely believed to be one of its most prestigious. Many Nobel prizes were awarded to Swiss scientists, for example to the world-famous physicist Albert Einstein in the field of physics who developed his Special relativity while working in Bern. In total, 113 Nobel Prize winners in all fields stand in relation to Switzerland and the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded nine times to organisations residing in Switzerland.
Culture and Sports
Switzerland comprises three main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, and Italian, to which the Romansh-speaking valleys are added. The establishment of the Swiss Confederation is traditionally dated to 1 August 1291; Swiss National Day is celebrated on the anniversary. some concentrated mountain areas have a strong highly energetic ski resort culture in winter, and a hiking or Mountain biking culture in summer. Folk art is kept alive in organisations all over the country. In Switzerland it is mostly expressed in music, dance, poetry, wood carving and embroidery. Skiing, snowboarding and mountaineering are among the most popular sports in Switzerland. Many Swiss are fans of football and the national team or ‘Nati’ is widely supported. Many Swiss also follow ice hockey. Switzerland hosted the 2009 IIHF World Championship for the 10th time.. Tennis has become an increasingly popular sport, and Swiss players such as Martina Hingis and Roger Federer have won multiple Grand Slams.
