|
Essential Information
Area: 41,293 sq
km
Population:
7,581,520 (July 2008 est.)
Capital: Berne
Principal Towns:
Basel,
Geneva, Lausanne, Lucerne, Zurich, and
Winterthur with populations of over 100,000 inhabitants.
Languages:
German, French, Italian and Romansch are the official languages.
English is widely spoken, particularly in business and commerce.
Gross Domestic Product:
(purchasing power parity): $300.2 billion
(2007 est.)
GDP per capita:
(PPP): $41,100 (2007 est.)
International Reserves:
foreign exchange and gold: $64.5 billion
(2006 est.)
Climate:
Switzerland's climate is a mixture of the major European climatic
zones, due to the Alps, and is thus highly variable from place to
place. Generally the summers are mild, about 25°C, and the winters
cool at about 5°C.
Visa Requirements:
Most valid passports are recognized by the Swiss authorities for
business or leisure visits; for precise details one should consult a
Swiss consul or embassy before departing.
Travel to Switzerland:
From December 12, 2008
Switzerland is part of the Schengen Area, a zone covering 3.6
million square kilometres and offering unrestricted travel to 400
million Europeans. There will be no more passport checks at country
frontiers, but police checks in the border zones will be stepped up.
Goods traffic will still be subject to border searches, as
Switzerland is not part of the EU customs union.
|
