Federal President (rotating): Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (until 1 Jan 2013)
Population
6,090,646
7,925,517
Life Expectancy
73.690 years
81.170 years
Capital City
San Salvador
Bern
Largest city
San Salvador (population: 525,990)
Zurich (population: 341,730)
Human Development Index
0.747
0.955
GDP per capita
$7,600 US
$43,900 US
Literacy Rate
80.2%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
3.9
9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
16.7%
27.2%
Wealthiest Citizens
NA
Ernesto Bertarelli ($8.2bn US)
Unemployment Rate
7.000%
3.100%
Death Penalty
Abolished except for special circumstances
Abolished
Political System
republic
formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic
Independence date
15 September 1821 (from Spain)
1 August 1291 (founding of the Swiss Confederation)
Religions
Roman Catholic 57.1%, Protestant 21.2%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.9%, Mormon 0.7%, other religions 2.3%, none 16.8% (2003 est.)
Roman Catholic 41.8%, Protestant 35.3%, Muslim 4.3%, Orthodox 1.8%, other Christian 0.4%, other 1%, unspecified 4.3%, none 11.1% (2000 census)
Languages
Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)
German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%, Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch (official) 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census) note: German, French, Italian, and Romansch are all national and official languages
