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Switzerland



A game of Hornussen.
A game of Hornussen.

Like many European nations the Swiss are big fans of football and the national team or 'Nati' is widely supported. Switzerland's most well known football clubs include Grasshoppers Zurich, Neuchatel Xamax and Basle.

Swiss wrestling or "Schwingen" is an old tradition from the rural central cantons and considered the national sport.

Hornussen is another indigenous Swiss sport, which is like a cross between baseball and golf.

Steinstossen is the Swiss variant of stone put, a competition in throwing a heavy stone. Practiced among the alpine population since prehistoric times, it is recorded to have taken place in Basel in the 13th century. It is also central to the Unspunnenfest, first held in 1805, with its symbol the 83.5 kg Unspunnenstein.

Floorball is a new sport in Switzerland that grows every year in popularity. A main factor is the professional league called Nationalliga A that draws many famous players from other countries.

Over the last few years several Swiss tennis players, like Roger Federer and Martina Hingis, have been multiple Grand Slam singles champions. One of the world's best current ice skaters is Swiss Stéphane Lambiel. Many Swiss also follow hockey and support one of the 12 clubs in the league A. Two clubs are from the French speaking part, and two other from the Italian part. The canton Graubünden has HC Davos as its own club which won the 2006–2007 Swiss championship. The German speaking part of Switzerland has 7 clubs. The most known Swiss club is SCBerne. Switzerland is also the home of the successful sailing team Alinghi. Other sports where the Swiss have been successful include fencing (Marcel Fischer), whitewater slalom (Ronnie Dürrenmatt – canoe, Mathias Röthenmund – kayak), ice hockey (Swiss National League), beach volleyball (Sascha Heyer, Markus Egger, Paul and Martin Laciga), and skiing (Bernhard Russi, Pirmin Zurbriggen, Didier Cuche). Motorsport racecourses were banned in Switzerland following the 1955 Le Mans disaster, however the country has produced successful racers such as Clay Regazzoni and Jo Siffert, and leading drivers such as Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen, Fernando Alonso and now Lewis Hamilton all live there[45]. Switzerland is also the joint venue following Austria in the Euro 2008 football tournament.

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Notes

  1. ^ The motto is traditional; it is not officially defined by the Swiss constitution or Swiss law. See Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno for more information.
  2. ^ Federal Constitution, article 4, "National languages" : National languages are German, French, Italian and Romansh; Federal Constitution, article 70, "Languages", paragraph 1: The official languages of the Confederation are German, French, and Italian. Romansh shall be an official language for communicating with persons of Romansh language.
  3. ^ Traditional. Federal Charter only mentions "early August" and the treaty is clearly a renewal of an older and lost one.
  4. ^ Current population and population growth, Source: Annual Population Statistics (ESPOP), Swiss Federal Statistical Office.
  5. ^ Due to historical federalist sensibilities, Swiss law does not designate a formal capital, and several federal institutions such as courts are spread across the country.
  6. ^ Schwabe & Co.: Geschichte der Schweiz und der Schweizer, Schwabe & Co 1986/2004. ISBN 3-7965-2067-7 (German)
  7. ^ See Vladimir Lenin
  8. ^ Let's Swallow Switzerland by Klaus Urner (Lexington Books, 2002).
  9. ^ The Bergier Commission Final Report, page 117.
  10. ^ Political System. Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
  11. ^ Since 1999, an initiative can also be in the form of a general proposal to be elaborated by Parliament, but because it is considered less attractive for various reasons, this form of initiative has yet to find any use.
  12. ^ That is a majority of 23 cantonal votes, because the result of the popular vote in the six traditional half-cantons each counts as half the vote of one of the other cantons.
  13. ^ Tremblay; Lecours; et. al. (2004) Mapping the Political Landscape. Toronto: Nelson.
  14. ^ Turner; Barry (2001). The Statement's Yearbook. New York: MacMillan Press ltd.
  15. ^ Banks, Arthur (2006). Political Handbook of The World 2005-2006. Washington: Cq Press.
  16. ^ unige.ch - Direct democracy in the world
  17. ^ A zoomable map of Switzerland is available at either swissinfo-geo.org or swissgeo.ch; a zoomable satellite picture is at map.search.ch.
  18. ^ a b Herbermann, Charles George (1913). The Catholic Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia Press, 358. 
  19. ^ CIA World Factbook
  20. ^ World Economic Forum - Global Competitiveness Report
  21. ^ a b Taylor & Francis Group (2002). Western Europe. Routledge, 645-646. ISBN 1857431529. 
  22. ^ Median household income
  23. ^ A cheesy tale, The Economist
  24. ^ a b c d e f g Swiss Statistical Yearbook 2008 by Swiss Federal Statistical Office
  25. ^ a b Policy Brief: Economic Survey of Switzerland, 2007, OECD
  26. ^ Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2008 - Switzerland Country Note
  27. ^ Education at Glance 2005 by OECD: Percentage of foreign students in tertiary education.
  28. ^ Prof Clive Church (2003). The contexts of swiss opposition to europe (PDF) p. 12. Sussex European Institute. Retrieved on 2008-06-13.
  29. ^ Vote No. 502 – Summary (German) (18 May 2003).
  30. ^ Vote No. 501 – Summary (German) (18 May 2003).
  31. ^ Federal government energy research (16 January 2008).
  32. ^ Swiss Recycling
  33. ^ Stadtreinigung Basel-Stadt - Pricelist bags and stickers
  34. ^ Recycling around the world. BBC (25 June 2005). Retrieved on 2006-04-24.
  35. ^ Richtig Entsorgen (Kanton Basel-Stadt) - Wilde Deponien sind verboten... Für die Beseitigung widerrechtlich deponierter Abfälle wird zudem eine Umtriebsgebühr von Fr. 200.– oder eine Busse erhoben (page 90)
  36. ^ a b Swiss Federal Statistical Office. Languages and religions - Data, indicators. Retrieved on 2007-10-09. The first number refers to the share of languages within total population. The second refers to the Swiss citizens only.
  37. ^ SBB: Billette - OnlineTicket
  38. ^ Foreign population in Switzerland, 2006 (German), Swiss Federal Statistical Office, page 8.
  39. ^ Foreign resident population by nationality, 2006, Source: Foreign population structure and migration statistics (PETRA), Swiss Federal Statistical Office.
  40. ^ Foreign population in Switzerland detailed by nationality, 1980 - 2006 (German), Swiss Federal Statistical Office.
  41. ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2004 – Switzerland, U.S. Department of State.
  42. ^ CIA World Factbook section on Switzerland
  43. ^ Social values, Science and TechnologyPDF (1.64 MiB), Eurobarometer, June 2005.
  44. ^ Reclus, Élisée (1881). The Earth and Its Inhabitants. D. Appleton and Company, 478. 
  45. ^ BBC Hamilton decides to leave Britain

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References

  • Clive H. Church (2004) The Politics and Government of Switzerland. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-69277-2.
  • Dieter Fahrni (2003) An Outline History of Switzerland. From the Origins to the Present Day. 8th enlarged edition. Pro Helvetia, Zürich. ISBN 3-908102-61-8
  • Historical Dictionary of Switzerland (2002-). Published electronically and in print simultaneously in three national languages of Switzerland.

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See also

Switzerland Portal

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External links

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Countries of Europe

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1 Has part of its territory outside Europe.  2 Entirely in West Asia but having socio-political connections with Europe.  3 Has dependencies or similar territories outside Europe. 4 Name disputed by Greece; see Macedonia naming dispute. 5 Declared independence from Serbia on February 17 and is recognised by 43 countries including Taiwan.

Coordinates: 46°48′04″N, 8°13′36″E




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