Federal President (rotating): Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (until 1 Jan 2013)
President: George Abela Prime minister: Lawrence Gonzi
Population
7,925,517
409,836
Life Expectancy
81.170 years
79.850 years
Capital City
Bern
Valletta
Largest city
Zurich (population: 341,730)
Birkirkara (population: 21,676)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.894
GDP per capita
$43,900 US
$25,800 US
Literacy Rate
99%
92.8%
Corruption Perception Index
9
5.8
Percentage of Women in Parliament
27.2%
8.7%
Wealthiest Citizens
Ernesto Bertarelli ($8.2bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
3.100%
6.400%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic
republic
Independence date
1 August 1291 (founding of the Swiss Confederation)
21 September 1964 (from UK)
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 98%
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
Maltese (official) 90.2%, English (official) 6%, multilingual 3%, other 0.8% (2005 census)
Swiss francs (CHF) per US dollar - 1.0774 (2008 est.), 1.1973 (2007), 1.2539 (2006), 1.2452 (2005), 1.2435 (2004)
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6494 (2008 est.), 0.6795 (January 2008), Maltese liri per US dollar - 0.3106 (2007), 0.37 (2006), 0.34578 (2005), 0.34466 (2004), 0.37723 (2003)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.000%
0.700%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
6
0
Location
Central Europe, east of France, north of Italy
Southern Europe, islands in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Sicily (Italy)
Area
41,277 km sq
316 km sq
Coastline
0 km
197 km
Climate
temperate, but varies with altitude; cold, cloudy, rainy/snowy winters; cool to warm, cloudy, humid summers with occasional showers
