Federal President (rotating): Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (until 1 Jan 2013)
President: Isaias Afewerki
Population
7,925,517
6,086,495
Life Expectancy
81.170 years
62.860 years
Capital City
Bern
Largest city
Zurich (population: 341,730)
Asmara (population: 563,930)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.442
GDP per capita
$43,900 US
Literacy Rate
99%
58.6%
Corruption Perception Index
9
2.6
Percentage of Women in Parliament
27.2%
22%
Wealthiest Citizens
Ernesto Bertarelli ($8.2bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
3.100%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished in practice
Political System
formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic
transitional government note: following a successful referendum on independence for the Autonomous Region of Eritrea on 23-25 April 1993, a National Assembly, composed entirely of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice or PFDJ, was established as a transitional legislature; a Constitutional Commission was also established to draft a constitution; ISAIAS Afworki was elected president by the transitional legislature; the constitution, ratified in May 1997, did not enter into effect, pending parliamentary and presidential elections; parliamentary elections were scheduled in December 2001, but were postponed indefinitely; currently the sole legal party is the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ)
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)
Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant
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
Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
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
Eastern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Djibouti and Sudan
Area
41,277 km sq
117,600 km sq
Coastline
0 km
2,234 km
Climate
temperate, but varies with altitude; cold, cloudy, rainy/snowy winters; cool to warm, cloudy, humid summers with occasional showers
hot, dry desert strip along Red Sea coast; cooler and wetter in the central highlands (up to 61 cm of rainfall annually, heaviest June to September); semiarid in western hills and lowlands
