Being a landlocked, mountainous country, Switzerland’s geographical position in central Europe and studied neutrality have given it the access and political stability to become one of the world’s wealthiest countries. Switzerland has for centuries been a neutral state, which means that it cannot take part in armed conflict unless it is attacked. Its forces can only be used for self-defence and internal security. The country forms a European cultural and linguistic crossroads, with about two-thirds of the population speaking German, around one-fifth French and about 7% Italian. Romansch, the fourth national language, is spoken by less than 1% of the population. The people are given a direct say in their own affairs under Switzerland’s system of direct democracy, which has no parallel in any other country.
Switzerland has approximately 7.100.000 inhabitants, of which almost 6.000.000 are Swiss citizen. The others are mostly migrant workers from Italy, Spain, Croatia, Bosnia, Germany and Turkey. They often have a contract for a limited time. In 1995 the amount of foreigners was 1.363.590. In the same year 541.000 Swiss lived abroad. Foreigners have always been of great importance to Swiss economy and they helped improving prosperity after World War II in an rapid pace. Apart from workers there always came a lot of intellectuals and refugees to neutral Switzerland. The population density is 174 inhabitants per square km. In the Alps this is 30 per square km. and on the Swiss tableau more than 250 per square km. More than 60% of the population lives in urban areas. These big differences are due to the geographical differences within Switzerland. The biggest cities are Zurich (338.000 inhabitants), Basel (166.000), Geneva (175.000), the capital Bern (122.500) and Lausanne (115.000).
Some of the most common questions regarding living in Switzerland (Tax, Education etc.) have been answered in Frequently Asked Questions. Alternatively further information can be found at About.ch and MySwitzerland.com