Changes

|president =Alain Berset (2018)Karin Keller-Sutter

|pop =8,121700,830 000 (July 2015 est.2020)<ref name="CIA">[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sz.html Switzerland - The World Factbook]. ''CIA''. Retrieved August 16, 2016.</ref>

|gdp =$482.3 billion 700,000,000,000 (2015 est.2020)<ref name="CIA"/>

|gdp-pc =$5880,600 460 (2015 est.2020)<ref name="CIA"/>

'''Switzerland''' is a one of the wealthiest country in the world, located in [[Central Europe]] between [[Germany]], [[Italy]], [[France]], and [[Austria]]. Its capital is [[Bern]], and its largest city is [[Zurich]]. Four languages have been designated as official: [[German language|German]], [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]], and [[Romansh language|Romansh]] (a dialect spoken by a small minority, closely related to [[Latin]]). Switzerland was traditionally founded on [[Swiss National Day|August 1, 1291]], and it gained independence from the [[Holy Roman Empire]] in 1499. It is a confederation of 26 cantons with elements of direct democracy in that all laws passed by Parliament can be overturned by arranging a [[referendum]]. Switzerland is also well known for having strict [[Political neutrality|neutrality]]. In April 2023, Switzerland rescinded all recommendations for the [[COVID vaccine|Covid vaccine]].<ref>https://www.medicaldaily.com/switzerland-no-longer-recommends-covid-19-vaccination-heres-why-469321</ref>

Almost all Swiss are literate. Switzerland's 13 university institutes enrolled 111,100 students in the academic year of 2004-052004–05. About 25% of the adult population holds a diploma of higher learning.

The Swiss Federal Council, as of 20182020:

*Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications — Doris Leuthard (CVP)*Finance — Ueli Maurer (SVP) — Vice President for 2018*Justice Environment, Transport, Energy and Police Communications — Simonetta Sommaruga (SP)*Economic Affairs, Education and Research — Johann Schneider-Ammann (FDP)President for 2020*Home Affairs — Alain Berset (SP) — President for 2018*DefenceEconomic Affairs, Civil Protection Education and Sports Research — Guy Parmelin (SVP)— Vice President for 2020

The administration of justice is primarily a cantonal function. The Federal Tribunal is limited in its jurisdiction. Its principal function is to hear appeals of civil and criminal cases. It also hears complaints of violations of the constitutional rights of citizens and has authority to review cantonal court decisions involving federal law as well as certain administrative rulings of federal departments. However, it has no power to review federal legislation for constitutionality. The Tribunal's 30 full-time and 30 part-time judges are elected by the Federal Assembly for 6-year terms. The Federal Criminal Court is the court of first instance for criminal cases involving organized and white-collar crime, money laundering, and corruption, which are under federal jurisdiction. The Court’s Court's 11 judges are elected by the Federal Assembly for 6-year terms.

On December 10, 2003, [[Christoph Blocher]]—a self-made industrialist and main figure of the right-populist Swiss People's Party known for his strong opinions on asylum and migration and law and order issues—was elected to the cabinet by parliament, replacing the incumbent Christian Democrat Justice and Police Minister Ruth Metzler. The parliament also elected the Free Democrat Hans-Rudolf Merz to replace retiring Finance Minister Kaspar Villiger. Both Blocher and Merz were strong advocates of drastic public spending cuts in order to reduce the country's mounting $102 billion francs state deficit and staunch opponents to Switzerland's entering the European Union. On June 14, 2006, the Federal Council elected Doris Leuthard of the Christian Democratic Party. Leuthard replaced the retiring Joseph Deiss and has assumed the Economics and Trade portfolio that Deiss managed. Leuthard’s Leuthard's election and Deiss’ resignation did not change the dynamics of the Federal Council. Blocher was not re-elected in 2007.

In 2015 and 2016, gun sales in the country rose dramatically due to concerns about defense against ==== Motorways of Switzerland ==== ''See also:'' [[terrorismMotorways of Switzerland]] and crime, along with fears that EU regulations (that Switzerland is forced to adopt due to the  [[Globalism#Developments towards a one world government|globalisticEurope]] ’s best roads, those found in the [[Schengen AreaNetherlands]]) would reduce citizensand Switzerland, are also among the world' ability to purchase s finest. The Global Competitiveness Report 2019, published by the World Economic Forum ranked 141 countries based on their performance in a weaponvariety of different categories. Switzerland was ranked as having the second best roads in Eruope.<ref>[httphttps://wwwviborc.swissinfo.chcom/eng/selfroad-defencequality-_gunin-permitseurope-continuethe-tobest-rise/42809528 Strong demand seen for gun permits among Swiss]. ''Swissinfo''. January 4, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2017.</ref> Predictably, leftists voiced worries of this trend, even though they forget that the gun surge is a direct result to their failed policies concerning terrorism, crime, and European integration.<ref>[http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/arms-boomworst-_alarmroads-overin-rising-gun-saleseurope/42813194 Alarm over rising gun salesRoad quality in Europe: the best and worst roads in Europe]. ''Swissinfo''. January 5, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2017.</ref>

On September 10, 2002, Switzerland became a full member of the United Nations. Switzerland had previously been involved as party to the Statute of the International Court of Justice and member of most UN specialized agencies, as well as the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]]. Switzerland has long participated in many UN activities, including the Economic Commission for Europe, UN Environment Program, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UN Conference for Trade and Development, UN Industrial Development Organization, and the Universal Postal Union (UPU). Prior to its formal accession, Switzerland had maintained a permanent observer mission at UN Headquarters since 1948.

Switzerland has furnished military observers and medical teams to several UN operations. Switzerland is an active participant in the OSCE, its foreign minister serving as Chairman-in-Office for 1996. Switzerland also is an active participant in the major nonproliferation and export control regimes.

The Swiss Government on June 25, 2003, eased most of the [[UN sanctions |sanctions]] against the Republic of [[Iraq]] in accord with UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1483. The government lifted the trade embargo, flight restrictions, and financial sanctions in place since August 1990. The weapons embargo and the asset freeze, the scope of which was extended, remain in force, and restrictions on the trade in Iraqi cultural goods were newly imposed. Though not a member at the time, Switzerland had joined UN sanctions against Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait. Switzerland in recent years joined UN and EU economic sanctions imposed on Sierra Leone, UNITA (Angola), Liberia, Serbia and Montenegro, Burma, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Côte d'Ivoire. On October 15, 2003, the Federal Council ended the import restrictions on raw diamonds from Sierra Leone and lifted sanctions against Libya.

==DefenseMilitary==[[File:Swiss Army. Leopard 2-2A4 tank-Steel Parade 2006.jpg|thumb|200px|left|A Swiss [[Leopard 2]]-2A4 tank in a 2006 parade in the city of Thun.]]

In 2005, the dollar/Swiss franc exchange rate continued to be shaped by geopolitical tensions. The dollar depreciated further against the Swiss franc from SF 1.49 in October 2002 to SF 1.31 in 2003, to 1.28 in 2005 to 1.23 in July 2006, and 1.22 in January 2007. The strengthening of the Euro, however, helped Switzerland to minimize the pressure from a weakening dollar. The Swiss National Bank raised interest rates on June 15, 2006 , to 1.5%, the third increase since January 2006. The Swiss National Bank also said it expected economic growth to be a robust 2.5% in 2006 and 2007.

Switzerland was ranked as the most competitive economy in the World Economic Forum’s Forum's 2006 Global Competitiveness Report for the first time, reflecting the country’s country's sound institutional environment, excellent infrastructure, efficient markets, competent macroeconomic management, world-class educational attainment, and high levels of technological innovation, which boost Switzerland's competitiveness in the global economy. The country has a well-developed infrastructure for scientific research, companies spend generously on research and development, and intellectual property protection is strong. Business activity benefits from a well-developed institutional framework, characterized by the rule of law, an efficient judicial system, and high levels of transparency and accountability within public institutions. Higher education and training are rapidly growing in importance as engines of productivity growth.

Being a nation that depends upon exports for economic growth, and due to the fact that it is so closely linked to the economies of Western Europe and the United States, Switzerland was not able to escape recent slowdowns experienced in these countries. During most of the 1990s, the Swiss economy was Western Europe's weakest, with annual GDP growth averaging 0% between 1991 and 1997. Beginning in late 1997, the economy steadily gained momentum until peaking in 2000 with 3% growth in real terms. The economy returned to lackluster growth during 2001-20032001–2003, but has been growing at or above potential since 2004–2.5% per annum. The Swiss Economic Ministry reports that strong global demand, particularly in the U.S. and Asia, and better Euro zone growth has helped Switzerland’s Switzerland's economic recovery. Long-run economic growth, however, is predicated on structural reforms. In order to maximize its economic potential, Switzerland will need to push through difficult agrarian and competition policy reforms. These are essential if the government is to reduce its budget deficits and meet its 3% growth target.

The Swiss Government embarked in July 2001 on a second round of bilateral negotiations with the EU known as “Bilaterals II”. Talks focused on customs fraud, environment, statistics, trade in processed agricultural goods, media, the taxation of savings, and police/judicial cooperation (dubbed the Schengen-Dublin accords). Amid a fierce political debate over the essence of Swiss-EU relations and populist warnings against EU workers and criminals entering Switzerland, the Schengen-Dublin package was approved on June 5, 2005 , by a referendum of 54.6%. Fears of cheap labor coming from new EU member states have prompted the government to provide for tripartite surveillance committees to ensure that decent wages are enforced. The EU has still to ratify the extension of Schengen to Switzerland, and implement the bilateral agreements on research and development and media cooperation.

On November 26, 2006, the Swiss electorate approved a government bill to contribute 1 billion Swiss francs (about $800 million) to the 10 new EU member states. In a nationwide referendum, 53.4% of voters accepted the “Eastern Europe Cooperation Act,” which entitles the government to spend 1 billion Swiss francs on projects in primarily [[Central Europe]]an states over the next 10 years. Switzerland had pledged this contribution to share the burden of the EU’s EU's eastern expansion in order to facilitate the conclusion of the second set of bilateral negotiations with the EU. The right-populist Swiss People’s People's Party (SVP), which prompted the referendum, was disappointed, but pleased that it mobilized a 47% opposition. The Eastern Europe Cooperation Act gives a new legal basis for Swiss aid to countries in Eastern Europe. The act has a 10-year term and replaces the former federal Law on Aid to Eastern Europe, which came into force in 1995. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Switzerland has spent SF 3.5 billion on about 1,000 aid projects in East-[[Central Europe]] to help countries in the region transform into market economies. Sixty percent of the SF 1 billion is to come from the budget of the departments of foreign and economic affairs, mainly from cuts in aid programs to other parts of the world. The remaining 40% will be taken from the regular budget of the federal administration. The funds are to be used on projects chosen by Switzerland and focused on education, trade promotion, environment, and internal security. The money is paid directly to the projects and does not go the EU cohesion fund in Brussels. Switzerland has no formal agreement with the European Union concerning these contributions. Instead, there is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that sets out the general conditions of the Swiss commitment to the ten new EU member states. Under the MOU, almost half of the funding will go to Poland. Hungary's benefit will be SF 131 million, while the Czech Republic will receive SF 110 million.

Switzerland nevertheless expressed interest in reaching a third layer of bilateral agreements that would involve energy, the Galileo satellite navigation system, health, and agriculture. But recent harsh criticism by the European Commission against preferential cantonal tax treatment for foreign holdings cooled the political climate surrounding the EU. [[Unilateral ]] trade retaliation—as threatened by the EU if the Swiss cantons do not change their cantonal tax regimes—has not occurred, but the political damage is done, including greater anti-EU feelings among the population. The pressure to [[negotiate ]] with the EU could turn sour as the EU has already asked Switzerland to pay another SF 300-350 million ($240–280 million, on top of the SF 1 billion cohesion fund) to provide further financial aid to Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU on January 1, 2007. Unlike the November 2006 referendum, the newly enacted Eastern Europe Cooperation Act does not provide for an automatic referendum on further payments. The parliament will decide on the additional aid request.

The government also decided in November 2006 to once more consider adoption of the EU “Cassis-de-Dijon” principle for trade after a first setback in 2004. If adopted, EU products could be imported in Switzerland without having to go through the burdensome Swiss certification and Swiss language requirement process. Currently, Swiss retail prices are on average 20-40% higher than in the EU. If parallel imports are allowed under adoption of the Cassis-de-Dijion principle, prices could drop by 10%. Possible exceptions have been reduced from 129 products to 40, but hurdles remain on the labeling of alcohol contained in Alcopops, the Swiss ban of phosphates in washing machine powders, the real origin of “EU meat”, and on the stringent Swiss generic food production requirements. The “Cassis de Dijon principle” will not apply to the many farming and industrial products already covered by mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) under the EU-Swiss Bilaterals I and II; nor will it apply to other products such as pesticides, motor engines, and weapons that require an authorization. The impact, as a result, may not be as large as expected. Another issue is that Swiss and EU MRAs concluded with third countries may also benefit from adoption of the Cassis-de-Dijon principle (these goods would also have to receive WTO [[most favored nation ]] status).

With the opening of a new important north-south north–south trade route across the [[Alps]] in the early 13th century, the Empire's rulers began to attach more importance to the remote Swiss mountain valleys, which were granted some degree of autonomy under direct imperial rule. Fearful of the popular disturbances flaring up following the death of the Holy Roman Emperor in 1291, the ruling families from Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden signed a charter to keep public peace and pledging mutual support in upholding autonomous administrative and judicial rule. The anniversary of the charter's signature (August 1, 1291) today is celebrated as Switzerland's National Day.

The [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] led to a division between the [[Protestant]] followers of [[Ulrich Zwingli|Zwingli]] and [[John Calvin|Calvin]] in the German and French parts of the country respectively, and the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholics]]. Despite two centuries of civil strife, the common interest in the joint subject territories kept the Swiss Confederation from falling apart. The traffic in mercenaries as well as the alienation between the predominantly Protestant Swiss and their Catholic neighbors kept the Swiss Confederation out of the wars of the European powers, which formally recognized Swiss neutrality in the [[Treaty of Westphalia]] in 1648. The Swiss remained neutral during the War of the First Coalition against revolutionary France, but [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleon]], nonetheless, invaded and took control of the country in 1797-981797–98, replacing the loose confederation with a centrally governed unitary [[Satellite nation|satellite state]] under French influence. The Swiss people highly disliked the massive changes that were occurring under Napoleon, and there were at least four coups d'état that occurred between 1800 and 1802.<ref name="Geschichte">[http://history-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch/swiss-revolution-helvetic-republic-1798.html Swiss Revolution and the Helvetic Republic (1798)]. ''geschichte-schweiz.ch''. 2004. Retrieved September 9, 2016.</ref> Napoleon was forced to withdraw his troops in 1802, and after a civil war broke out, the Act of Mediation was signed on February 18, 1803, which restored much of the independence and autonomy of the Swiss Cantons.<ref name="Geschichte"/><ref>[http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-celebrate-napoleon-s-historic-act/3174096 Swiss celebrate Napoleon's historic act]. ''Swissinfo''. February 20, 2003. Retrieved September 9, 2016.</ref>