Federal President (rotating): Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (until 1 Jan 2013)
President: Joseph Kabila
Population
7,925,517
73,599,190
Life Expectancy
81.170 years
55.740 years
Capital City
Bern
Largest city
Zurich (population: 341,730)
Kinshasa (population: 7,785,960)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.361
GDP per capita
$43,900 US
Literacy Rate
99%
67.2%
Corruption Perception Index
9
1.7
Percentage of Women in Parliament
27.2%
7.7%
Wealthiest Citizens
Ernesto Bertarelli ($8.2bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
3.100%
Death Penalty
Abolished
NA
Political System
formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic
republic
Independence date
1 August 1291 (founding of the Swiss Confederation)
Religions
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)
Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim 10%, other (includes syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs) 10%
Languages
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
French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba
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
1.000%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
6
0
Location
Central Europe, east of France, north of Italy
Central Africa, northeast of Angola
Area
41,277 km sq
2,344,858 km sq
Coastline
0 km
37 km
Climate
temperate, but varies with altitude; cold, cloudy, rainy/snowy winters; cool to warm, cloudy, humid summers with occasional showers
tropical; hot and humid in equatorial river basin; cooler and drier in southern highlands; cooler and wetter in eastern highlands; north of Equator - wet season (April to October), dry season (December to February); south of Equator - wet season (November to March), dry season (April to October)
