Switzerland has a long and strong tradition of political and military neutrality. However, the country finally opted to join the United Nations in 2002, and the Schengen Agreement in 2005.
Switzerland has been an independent country since 1499 (apart from a brief French occupation between 1798 and 1815).
Switzerland is the first and only country to implement a system of government based on the people's administration, also known as direct democracy, which involves the constitutional initiative (public petitions) and the referendum.
There are 26 cantons in Switzerland, each of which acts as a state, with its own constitution, legislature, government and courts.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was founded in 1863 in Geneva, Switzerland, and is still based there. The flag of the Red Cross is the flag of Switzerland with the colours inverted.
The Niesenbahn in the Swiss Kandertal is the longest continuous-cable funicular in Europe. Alongside the path of the Niesenbahn is the longest stairway in the world with 11,674 steps.
The country code for Switzerland, typically displayed next to car plates, is. It stands for Confoederatio Helvetica, the Latin for Swiss Confederation - a neutral alternative to using the first letters of one of the four official languages.
Geneva is the seat of the European headquarters of the United Nations and of many other inter-governmental organizations and international non-governmental organizations, including the World Health Organization , the World Trade Organization , the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Economic Forum , the Airports Council International , the International Organization for Standardization , and the World Wide Web Virtual Library.
Land & People
There are 4 official languages in Switzerland : Swiss German (64%, many dialects), French (20.4%), Italian (6.5%), and Romansh ( 1%).