An Introduction to Switzerland
The Alps make up most of the land of the Swiss Confederation, most of whose population live on the Swiss Plateau between them and the Jura mountains. Switzerland prides itself on neutrality - it has not been in a state of international war since 1815, did not join the UN until 2002, and is the birthplace of the Red Cross. Although not part of the EU, it is a major trading nation, both for import and exports, is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of GDP and has a high quality of life. Swiss neutrality has been controversial at times, with its banks providing no-questions-asked homes for Nazi gold and the riches of more recent dictators and fugitives. See full country profile.Latest Research News from Europe (Other)
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GOVERNMENT: Federal republic, with directorial system and direct democracy
AREA: 41,285 sq km
POPULATION: 7,952,600 (July 2011 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Official Languages: German (63.7%); French (20.4%); Italian (6.5%); and Romansh (0.5%)
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The Alps make up most of the land of the Swiss Confederation, most of whose population live on the Swiss Plateau between them and the Jura mountains. Switzerland prides itself on neutrality - it has not been in a state of international war since 1815, did not join the UN until 2002, and is the birthplace of the Red Cross. Although not part of the EU, it is a major trading nation, both for import and exports, is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of GDP and has a high quality of life. Swiss neutrality has been controversial at times, with its banks providing no-questions-asked homes for Nazi gold and the riches of more recent dictators and fugitives.
Predominantly German-speaking, the country also has major French- and Italian-speaking communities and a smaller community speaking another language, Romansh. It grew from a confederation of three states or cantons which formed a loose alliance for defence as long ago as 1291 - growing to eight the following century and cementing its independence with military victories over the Habsburgs, Burgundians and Holy Roman Empire. It has maintained its independence ever since, despite being often surrounded by hostile powers and sometimes suffering defeats in battle.Switzerland's famously beautiful mountain environment is more fragile and more sensitive to climate change than is commonly realised, with many small ecosystems within it.
GDP: $$339.9 bn (2010 est.); $43,369 per capita
Religions Roman Catholic 38.8%; Protestant 30.9%; No religion 20.1%; Islam 4.5%; Other 5.7%
Currency: Swiss franc (CHF); CHF 1 = c.$US 1
Telephone Code: + 41
MR Association(s):
Verband Schweizer Marketing -und Sozialforscher (VSMS)
Switzerland is the 17th largest research market in the world, and the 9th largest in Europe. 86 percent of MR turnover comes from domestic clients and 14 percent from international. According to the ESOMAR Global Prices Study 2012 the country was the 2nd most expensive for carrying out research.
Source: ESOMAR
Switzerland has a prosperous and stable hi-tech economy, and is by some rankings the wealthiest country in the world per capita, including financial and non-financial assets (rather a lot of countries seem to claim similar things - see Liechtenstein, Monaco, Bermuda etc..). With Europe's most free and the world's most competitive economy (World Economic Forum stats), low taxes and very strong exports, it also has strong public services and is home to many major global corporations.
Manufacturing is its single most important sector, with specialist chemicals, pharmaceutical goods and scientific and musical instruments all important. With all this, it's fair to say that growth was unusually slow in the 1990s and early 2000s, that home ownership is low and housing and food prices high - the latter influenced by the country's agricultural protectionism.
Exports were $308.3 bn in 2011 with Germany (19.2% in 2009), the US (10.2%), Italy (7.9%), France (7.7%) and the UK (5.9%) the main partners. Imports were $299.6bn in 2011 - Germany is again the biggest partner with 32% in 2009, with Italy (10.2%) and France (8.5%) also key. The major imports are vehicles and machinery, chemicals, metals, agricultural products and textiles.
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