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Switzerland sits at the crossroads of several major European cultures, which have heavily influenced the country's languages and cultural practices. Switzerland has four official languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansh . The German spoken here is predominantly a Swiss dialect, but newspapers and some broadcasts use High German as used in Germany. Many Swiss speak more than one language. English is widely known, especially among professionals.
More than 75% of the population live in the central plain, which stretches between the Alps and the Jura Mountains and from Geneva in the southwest to the Rhine River and Lake Constance in the northeast. Resident foreigners and temporary foreign workers make up about 20% of the population.
Almost all Swiss are literate. Switzerland's 13 institutes of higher learning enrolled 99,600 students in the academic year of 2001-02. About 25% of the adult population hold a diploma of higher learning.
The constitution guarantees freedom of worship and the different religious communities co-exist peacefully.
Switzerland consistently ranks high on quality of life indices, including per capita income, concentration of computer and internet usage per capita, insurance coverage per individual, and health care rates. For these and many other reasons, such as the four languages, it serves as an excellent test market for businesses hoping to introduce new products into Europe.
Population
7,261,200 (2001 est.)
Age structure | 0-14 years: | 17% (male 637,782; female 605,626) | | 15-64 years: | 68% (male 2,498,540; female 2,421,802) | | 65 years and over: | 15% (male 444,627; female 653,995) | Data (2000 est.)
Population growth rate 0.3% (2000 est.)
Birth rate 10.4 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Death rate 8.75 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Net migration rate 1.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Sex ratio | at birth: | 1.05 male(s)/female | | under 15 years: | 1.05 male(s)/female | | 15-64 years: | 1.03 male(s)/female | | 65 years and over: | 0.68 male(s)/female | | total population: | 0.97 male(s)/female | Data: (2000 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 4.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
| total population: | 79.6 years | | male: | 76.73 years | | female: | 82.63 years | Data: (2000 est.)
Total fertility rate 1.47 children born/woman (2000 est.)
Nationality noun: Swiss (singular and plural); adjective: Swiss
Religions Roman Catholic 46.1%, Protestant 40%, other 5%, none 8.9% (1990)
Languages German (64%), French (19%), Italian (8%), Romansh (less than 1%)
English is also learnt, as required by the education policy, although it's not official.
Literacy Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 99% (1980 est.) (no separate numbers for sexes)
- See also : Switzerland
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