Federal President (rotating): Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (until 1 Jan 2013)
Population
4,140,289
7,925,517
Life Expectancy
75.230 years
81.170 years
Capital City
Bern
Largest city
Beirut (population: 1,916,100)
Zurich (population: 341,730)
Human Development Index
0.796
0.955
GDP per capita
$43,900 US
Literacy Rate
87.4%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
3
9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
4.7%
27.2%
Wealthiest Citizens
Najib Mikati ($2.0bn US)
Ernesto Bertarelli ($8.2bn US)
Unemployment Rate
3.100%
Death Penalty
Legal
Abolished
Political System
republic
formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic
Independence date
1 August 1291 (founding of the Swiss Confederation)
Religions
Muslim 59.7% (Shia, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusayri), Christian 39% (Maronite Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Melkite Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Chaldean, Assyrian, Copt, Protestant), other 1.3% note: 17 religious sects recognized
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
Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian
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
