Switzerland

From Imakoopedia

Switzerland is a landlocked country in western Europe. It has borders with France to the west, Italy to the south, Austria and Liechtenstein to the east and Germany to the north.

The climate is temperate, but varies with altitude. Switzerland has cold, cloudy, rainy/snowy winters and cool to warm, cloudy, humid summers with occasional showers.

Switzerland is known for its mountains (Alps in south, Jura in northwest) but it also has a central plateau of rolling hills, plains, and large lakes. The highest point is Dufourspitze at 4,634 m while Lake Maggiore is only 195 m above sea level.

Table of contents

1 Regions 2 Cities 3 Understand 3.1 People 3.2 Government 3.3 Economy 3.4 Transportation 4 Talk 5 Get in 6 Get around 7 Buy 8 Learn 9 Work 10 Stay Safe 11 Respect 12 Contact 13 External Links

Regions

• Lake Geneva - A tourist region surrounding Lac Léman
• Jura Mountains and Fribourg - Hiking, lakes, watch-making
• Bernese Lowlands - The core region of Traditional Bernese influence
• Bernese Highlands - The Bern alps
• Central Switzerland - The Swiss homeland, William Tell, etc.
• Basel (Region) -- Industrial city, with countryside
• Zurich (Region) -- A tourist region in its own right
• Northeastern Switzerland -- not so mountainous, but it's nice
• Valais -- A skiing/hiking oriented tourist region
• Graubunden -- region which is the same as canton Graubunden
• Ticino -- region which is the same as canton Ticino

Cities

• Geneva
• Bern
• Zurich
• Lausanne
• Leysin
• Basel
• Fribourg
• Locarno
• Lugano
• Lucerne
• Interlaken
• Verbier
• Zermatt
• Saas-Fee
• Davos
• Winterthur

Understand

Switzerland's independence and neutrality have long been honored by the major European powers and Switzerland was not involved in either of the two World Wars. The political and economic integration of Europe over the past half century, as well as Switzerland's role in many UN and international organizations has strengthened Switzerland's ties with its neighbors. However, the country did not officially become a UN member until 2002. Switzerland remains active in many UN and international organizations, but retains a strong commitment to neutrality.

France might have the real Magic Kingdom, but the true Disneyland of Europe belongs to the Swiss. Switzerland is a natural theme park showcasing three of Europe's most distinct cultures. To the north is the beer-drinking, sausage-eating stepchild of Germany; to the south-west the wine drinking and shopping spills effortlessly into France; in the south-east the sun warms cappuccino-sippers loitering in Italian-style plazas. And binding it all together is a distinctly, and sometimes bizarrely, Swiss mentality.

Switzerland can be a glorious whirlwind trip whether you've packed your hiking boots, snowboard, or just a good book and a pair of sunglasses. A country that looks on a map like it could comfortably fit into a National Park, Switzerland packs into it a continent worth of natural wonders and a culture and history rich enough to provide five museums for every rainy day of the year.

People

Ethnic groups 

German 65%, French 18%, Italian 10%, Romansh 1%, other 6%

Government

Government type 

federal republic

Administrative 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, Neuchâtel, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Sankt Gallen, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Thurgau, Ticino, Uri, Valais, Vaud, Zug, Zürich

National holiday 

Founding of the Swiss Confederation, 1 August (1291)

Economy

Switzerland is a prosperous and stable modern market economy with low unemployment, a highly skilled labor force, and a per capita GDP larger than that of the big western European economies. The Swiss in recent years have brought their economic practices largely into conformity with the EU's to enhance their international competitiveness. Although the Swiss are not pursuing full EU membership in the near term, in 1999 Bern and Brussels signed agreements to further liberalize trade ties. They continue to discuss further areas for cooperation. Switzerland remains a safe haven for investors, because it has maintained a degree of bank secrecy and has kept up the franc's long-term external value. Reflecting the anemic economic conditions of Europe, GDP growth dropped in 2001 to about 0.8% and to about 0% in 2002.

Transportation

Ports and harbors 

Basel

Airports 

66 (2001)

Talk

No, there is no "Swiss Language" per se. Depending on where you are in the country (or what street you're on in some cities) the locals might sprechen Schwyzerdüütsch, parler le Français, parlare Italiano, or be confusing everyone with a little-known language called Romansh. English and German are your best bets for general use, but with a mostly multi-lingual population, it shouldn't be hard to find someone who can talk your talk.

If you should speak some German, don't be surprised if you don't understand Swiss Schwyzerdüütsch. There are a number of different Swiss German dialects, all of which are rather unique. But don't be worried, all German Swiss speak and write standard ("High") German (with a more or less strong accent), too.

See: French phrasebook, German phrasebook, Italian phrasebook, Romansh phrasebook

Get in

Major international airports are in Zurich and Geneva, with smaller airports in Lugano and Basel. Flying into nearby Lyon or even Paris, France are other options.

Trains arrive from all parts of Europe. Some major routs include:

• The TGV, with several trains daily from Paris, Avignon, Dijon, and Nice.
• The Thalys from Belgium several times a week.
• Almost hourly trains to/from Milan with connections to all parts of Italy.
• Hourly trains from Zurich to Munich and other parts of Germany.

Get around

The Swiss will ruin you with fantastic transportation - swift, disturbingly punctual trains, clean buses, and a half dozen different kinds of mountain transport systems. The Swiss rail system offers a multitude of discount options, from half fare cards to multi-day, multi-use tickets good for buses, boats, trains, and even bike rentals. More information can be found at www.rail.ch (for rail) and www.gare-routiere.ch (for buses).

Using the trains is quite easy, although the number of different kinds of trains can be a bit confusing unless you know that the schedules at a Swiss train station are color coded. The yellow sheet is for departures and the white sheet is for arrivals. Faster trains appear on both of these sheets in red, while the trains in black stop at more stations. If there is an ICN train for your destination it's a good choice because the dining cars have huge windows, and only require a second class ticket, and the purchase of a coffee or beer.

Buy

Switzerland is not part of the European Union and thus the Euro is not legal tender. However, many places - such as supermarkets and the railways - accept Euro and will give you change in Swiss Francs. Changing some money to Swiss Francs (CHF) is essential. Money can be exchanged at all train stations and most banks throughout the country. As the banking capital of the world, you can get by almost anywhere on credit cards but ATMs that accept foreign cards (even Visa and Mastercard) can be a little harder than you'd think.

Learn

Work

Stay Safe

Switzerland is not surprisingly one of the safest countries in Europe, but anywhere that attracts Rolex-wearing bankers and crowds of distracted tourists will also bring out a few pickpockets. Obviously, keep an eye on belongings, especially in the midst of summer crowds. In most cities the area around the train stations tend to be the seediest, and there is always some sort of 'red light district', though it may only be a block or two long.

Women travelling alone should have no problems, though the men in the Italian regions occasionally act a bit like, well, Italian men. The younger Swiss tend to be very open with public displays of affection - sometimes too open, and some women may find people getting too friendly especially in the wee hours of the club & bar scene. Usually the international language of brush-offs or just walking away is enough.

Respect

Learning the mother tongue of the area you will be staying in is a great sign of respect. English is widely spoken in Switzerland, but any attempt to speak the local language is always appreciated, even if you're replied to in English.

German, French, and Italian all have formal and informal forms of the word you, which changes the conjugation of verb you use, and sometimes phrases. For example, the informal phrase don't worry about it in French is ne t'en fais pas and the formal is ne vous en faites pas. The formal is used to show respect to someone who is older than you, who you consider to be a superior, someone who has a greater rank than you at work, or simply a stranger in the street. The informal is used with close friends, relatives, and peers.

As a general rule, you shouldn't use the informal with someone you don't know well, someone who is your superior in rank, or an elder.

Use the informal with your close friends and younger people. Peers can be a gray area, and it is advisable to use the formal at first until they ask you to use the informal.

Contact

The Swiss are surprisingly technophobic sometimes. The concept of 'cybercafes' hasn't quite caught on, but almost any video rental shop and most train stations will have a few internet terminals. The tourist office should be able to direct you to the nearest one. The going rate is 5 CHF for 20 minutes.

External Links

• Switzerland is Yours (http://switzerland.isyours.com/e/guide/roughguide.html) - A guide published by the relocation firm of Micheloud & Cie (http://switzerland.isyours.com/e/)
• Switzerland Tourism (http://www.myswitzerland.com/)