Federal President (rotating): Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (until 1 Jan 2013)
Prime minister: John Key
Population
7,925,517
4,327,944
Life Expectancy
81.170 years
80.710 years
Capital City
Bern
Wellington
Largest city
Zurich (population: 341,730)
Auckland (population: 417,910)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.944
GDP per capita
$43,900 US
$28,000 US
Literacy Rate
99%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
9
9.3
Percentage of Women in Parliament
27.2%
33.1%
Wealthiest Citizens
Ernesto Bertarelli ($8.2bn US)
Graeme Hart ($4.5bn US)
Unemployment Rate
3.100%
6.500%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic
parliamentary democracy
Independence date
1 August 1291 (founding of the Swiss Confederation)
26 September 1907 (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)
Anglican 14.9%, Roman Catholic 12.4%, Presbyterian 10.9%, Methodist 2.9%, Pentecostal 1.7%, Baptist 1.3%, other Christian 9.4%, other 3.3%, unspecified 17.2%, none 26% (2001 census)
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
English (official), Maori (official), Sign Language (official)
