{ "Introduction": { "Background": { "text": "
The Swiss Confederation was founded in 1291 as a defensive alliance among three cantons. In succeeding years, other localities joined the original three. The Swiss Confederation secured its independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1499. A constitution of 1848, which was modified in 1874 to allow voters to introduce referenda on proposed laws, replaced the confederation with a centralized federal government. The major European powers have long honored Switzerland's sovereignty and neutrality, and the country was not involved in either World War. The political and economic integration of Europe over the past half-century, as well as Switzerland's role in many UN and international organizations, has strengthened Switzerland's ties with its neighbors. However, the country did not officially become a UN member until 2002. Switzerland remains active in many UN and international organizations but retains a strong commitment to neutrality.
" } }, "Geography": { "Location": { "text": "Central Europe, east of France, north of Italy" }, "Geographic coordinates": { "text": "47 00 N, 8 00 E" }, "Map references": { "text": "Europe" }, "Area": { "total ": { "text": "41,277 sq km" }, "land": { "text": "39,997 sq km" }, "water": { "text": "1,280 sq km" } }, "Area - comparative": { "text": "slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey" }, "Land boundaries": { "total": { "text": "1,770 km" }, "border countries": { "text": "Austria 158 km; France 525 km; Italy 698 km; Liechtenstein 41 km; Germany 348 km" } }, "Coastline": { "text": "0 km (landlocked)" }, "Maritime claims": { "text": "none (landlocked)" }, "Climate": { "text": "temperate, but varies with altitude; cold, cloudy, rainy/snowy winters; cool to warm, cloudy, humid summers with occasional showers" }, "Terrain": { "text": "mostly mountains (Alps in south, Jura in northwest) with a central plateau of rolling hills, plains, and large lakes" }, "Elevation": { "highest point": { "text": "Dufourspitze 4,634 m" }, "lowest point": { "text": "Lake Maggiore 195 m" }, "mean elevation": { "text": "1,350 m" } }, "Natural resources": { "text": "hydropower potential, timber, salt" }, "Land use": { "agricultural land": { "text": "38.7% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: arable land": { "text": "arable land: 10.2% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent crops": { "text": "permanent crops: 0.6% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent pasture": { "text": "permanent pasture: 27.9% (2018 est.)" }, "forest": { "text": "31.5% (2018 est.)" }, "other": { "text": "29.8% (2018 est.)" } }, "Irrigated land": { "text": "327 sq km (2016)" }, "Major lakes (area sq km)": { "fresh water lake(s)": { "text": "Lake Constance (shared with Germany and Austria) - 540 sq km; Lake Geneva (shared with France) - 580 sq km" } }, "Major rivers (by length in km)": { "text": "Rhein (Rhine) river source (shared with Germany, France, and Netherlands [m]) - 1,233 km
the publicly owned radio and TV broadcaster, Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG/SSR), operates 8 national TV networks, 3 broadcasting in German, 3 in French, and 2 in Italian; private commercial TV stations broadcast regionally and locally; TV broadcasts from stations in Germany, Italy, and France are widely available via multi-channel cable and satellite TV services; SRG/SSR operates 17 radio stations that, along with private broadcasters, provide national to local coverage )
(2019)" }, "Internet country code": { "text": ".ch" }, "Internet users": { "percent of population": { "text": "97% (2023 est.)" } }, "Broadband - fixed subscriptions": { "total": { "text": "4.33 million (2023 est.)" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { "text": "49 (2023 est.)" } } }, "Transportation": { "National air transport system": { "number of registered air carriers": { "text": "6 (2020)" }, "inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers": { "text": "179" }, "annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers": { "text": "28,857,994 (2018)" }, "annual freight traffic on registered air carriers": { "text": "1,841,310,000 (2018) mt-km" } }, "Civil aircraft registration country code prefix": { "text": "HB" }, "Airports": { "text": "62 (2024)" }, "Heliports": { "text": "51 (2024)" }, "Pipelines": { "text": "1,800 km gas, 94 km oil (of which 60 are inactive), 17 km refined products (2017)" }, "Railways": { "total": { "text": "5,296 km (2020) 5,296 km electrified; Switzerland remains the only country with a fully electrified network" } }, "Roadways": { "total": { "text": "83,131 km (2022)" } }, "Waterways": { "text": "1,292 km (2010) (there are 1,227 km of waterways on lakes and rivers for public transport and 65 km on the Rhine River between Basel-Rheinfelden and Schaffhausen-Bodensee for commercial goods transport)" }, "Merchant marine": { "total": { "text": "17 (2023)" }, "by type": { "text": "bulk carrier 14, general cargo 1, other 2 (includes Liechtenstein)" } } }, "Military and Security": { "Military and security forces": { "text": "Swiss Armed Forces (aka Swiss Army or Schweizer Armee); Army (Heer; aka Land Forces), Swiss Air Force (Schweizer Luftwaffe) (2024)", "note": "note: the federal police maintain internal security and report to the Federal Department of Justice and Police, while the Armed Forces report to the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection, and Sport" }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { "text": "0.7% of GDP (2023)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { "text": "0.7% of GDP (2022)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { "text": "0.7% of GDP (2021)" }, "Military Expenditures 2020": { "text": "0.7% of GDP (2020)" }, "Military Expenditures 2019": { "text": "0.7% of GDP (2019)" } }, "Military and security service personnel strengths": { "text": "approximately 100,000, including cadre/professionals, conscripts, and militia; the Swiss Armed Forces consist of a small core of cadre/professional personnel along with a mix of militia and up to 20,000 conscripts brought in each year for training (2024)" }, "Military equipment inventories and acquisitions": { "text": "the military's inventory includes a mix of domestically produced and imported European and US weapons systems; the Swiss defense industry produces a range of military land vehicles (2024)" }, "Military service age and obligation": { "text": "18-30 years of age for compulsory military service for men; 18 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; every Swiss male has to serve at least 245 days in the armed forces; conscripts receive 18 weeks of mandatory training, followed by six 19-day intermittent recalls for training during the next 10 years (2024)", "note": "note: conscientious objectors can choose 390 days of community service instead of military service; as of 2023, women comprised about 1% of the active Swiss military" }, "Military deployments": { "text": "175 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR) (2024)" }, "Military - note": { "text": "the Swiss military is responsible for territorial defense, limited support to international disaster response and peacekeeping, and providing support to civil authorities when their resources are not sufficient to ward off threats to internal security or provide sufficient relief during disasters; Switzerland has long maintained a policy of military neutrality but does periodically participate in EU, NATO, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and UN military and peacekeeping operations; however, Swiss units will only participate in operations under the mandate of the UN or OSCE; Switzerland joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace program in 1996; it has contributed to the NATO-led force in Kosovo (KFOR) since 1999major source of precursor chemicals used in the production of illicit narcotics; a significant importer and exporter of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine;
" } } }