Federal President (rotating): Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (until 1 Jan 2013)
Population
3,316,328
7,925,517
Life Expectancy
76.410 years
81.170 years
Capital City
Montevideo
Bern
Largest city
Montevideo (population: 1,270,740)
Zurich (population: 341,730)
Human Development Index
0.859
0.955
GDP per capita
$15,300 US
$43,900 US
Literacy Rate
98%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
12.3%
27.2%
Wealthiest Citizens
NA
Ernesto Bertarelli ($8.2bn US)
Unemployment Rate
6.000%
3.100%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
constitutional republic
formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic
Independence date
25 August 1825 (from Brazil)
1 August 1291 (founding of the Swiss Confederation)
Religions
Roman Catholic 47.1%, non-Catholic Christians 11.1%, nondenominational 23.2%, Jewish 0.3%, atheist or agnostic 17.2%, other 1.1% (2006)
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
Spanish, Portunol, or Brazilero (Portuguese-Spanish mix on the Brazilian frontier)
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
