Languages: German 65%, French 18%, Italian 12%, Romansch 1%, other 4% note: figures for Swiss nationals only - German 74%, French 20%, Italian 4%, Romansch 1%, other 1%
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1980 est.) total population: 99%
Labor force: 3.48 million (900,000 foreign workers, mostly Italian) by occupation: services 50%, industry and crafts 34%, government 10%, agriculture and forestry 6% (1992)
@Switzerland:Government
Names:
conventional long form: Swiss Confederation
conventional short form: Switzerland
local long form: Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft (German)
Confederation Suisse (French) Confederazione Svizzera (Italian)
local short form: Schweiz (German) Suisse (French) Svizzera (Italian)
Digraph: SZ
Type: federal republic
Capital: Bern
Administrative divisions: 26 cantons (cantons, singular - canton in
French; cantoni, singular - cantone in Italian; kantone, singular -
kanton in German); Aargau, Ausser-Rhoden, Basel-Landschaft,
Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Geneve, Glarus, Graubunden, Inner-Rhoden,
Jura, Luzern, Neuchatel, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Sankt Gallen,
Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Thurgau, Ticino, Uri, Valais, Vaud,
Zug, Zurich
Independence: 1 August 1291