Federal President (rotating): Ueli Maurer (until 1 Jan 2014)
Population
5,460,302
7,996,026
Life Expectancy
84.070 years
82.280 years
Capital City
Singapore
Bern
Largest city
Singapore (population: 3,547,810)
Zurich (population: 341,730)
Human Development Index
0.918
0.955
GDP per capita
$60,900 US
$54,600 US
Literacy Rate
92.5%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
9.2
9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
24.5%
27.2%
Wealthiest Citizens
Ng Teng Fong & family ($5.5bn US)
Ernesto Bertarelli ($8.2bn US)
Unemployment Rate
2.000%
2.900%
Death Penalty
Legal
Abolished
Political System
parliamentary republic
formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic
Independence date
9 August 1965 (from Malaysian Federation)
1 August 1291 (founding of the Swiss Confederation)
Religions
Buddhist 42.5%, Muslim 14.9%, Taoist 8.5%, Hindu 4%, Catholic 4.8%, other Christian 9.8%, other 0.7%, none 14.8% (2000 census)
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
Mandarin 35%, English 23%, Malay 14.1%, Hokkien 11.4%, Cantonese 5.7%, Teochew 4.9%, Tamil 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 1.8%, other 0.9% (2000 census)
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
Exports
machinery and equipment (including electronics), consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, mineral fuels
Singapore dollars (SGD) per US dollar - 1.415 (2008 est.), 1.507 (2007), 1.5889 (2006), 1.6644 (2005), 1.6902 (2004)
Swiss francs (CHF) per US dollar - 1.0774 (2008 est.), 1.1973 (2007), 1.2539 (2006), 1.2452 (2005), 1.2435 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
3.600%
1.000%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
1
6
Location
Southeastern Asia, islands between Malaysia and Indonesia
Central Europe, east of France, north of Italy
Area
697 km sq
41,277 km sq
Coastline
193 km
0 km
Climate
tropical; hot, humid, rainy; two distinct monsoon seasons - Northeastern monsoon (December to March) and Southwestern monsoon (June to September); inter-monsoon - frequent afternoon and early evening thunderstorms
temperate, but varies with altitude; cold, cloudy, rainy/snowy winters; cool to warm, cloudy, humid summers with occasional showers
