The Uetliberg is particularly popular in November, as its summit is often above the blanket of fog that can cover the city at this time of year. In the winter, the hiking trails to the summit are converted into sledging runs.

Approach

• The S10 service (ZBB) of the Sihltal Zürich Uetliberg Bahn SZU railway, Europe’s steepest normal-gauge adhesion railway, runs from Zürich Main Station to Uetliberg Station, a ten-minute walk from the summit.

Hiking trails (approx. 1 hour):

• The varied Denzlerweg leads almost straight up from Albisguetli (last stop on the number 13 tram line) to the summit.
• Laternenweg also leads from Albisguetli slightly further westwards up to the ridge.
• The Hohensteinweg leads up from Triemli (last stop on the number 14 tram line) over a shoulder of the mountain and is especially popular in the winter as a sledging run.
• A woodland path leads up from Uitikon-Waldegg (car park) to the summit. This path has the smallest incline.

There is also a mountain bike route that begins at the television tower and takes bikers over 3.5 km and a difference in altitude of 350 m down to the Triemli SZU station.

The model steam railway guarantees lots of fun there. The model is built on a scale 1:6 and the train goes around the Restaurant Waldhaus Katzense. The railway is open on weekends from April to October, provided the weather is fine. Ticket price: child below 14, SFr. 1.50; adult and young person starting from 14, SFr. 2.50.

]]> http://www.swisstraveling.com/2009/03/14/zurich-katzensee/feed/ 19 http://www.swisstraveling.com/2009/03/13/zurich-hoenggerberg/ http://www.swisstraveling.com/2009/03/13/zurich-hoenggerberg/#comments Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:00:32 +0000 admin http://www.swisstraveling.com/?p=87 Hoenggerberg is a small hill located in the northeast of Zurich city. There is a campus of ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) here. This campus of the ETH is currently being transformed into “Science City”. Departments: geomatics -, environmental – and civil engineering, architecture, biology, chemistry, materials and physics. The department of geomatics engineering is situated in the brown building (HIL).

There is an automatic machine sells fresh milk for SFr 1.40/L. It tastes pretty good, you can try.

]]> http://www.swisstraveling.com/2009/03/13/zurich-hoenggerberg/feed/ 5 http://www.swisstraveling.com/2008/08/06/winterthur/ http://www.swisstraveling.com/2008/08/06/winterthur/#comments Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:28:05 +0000 admin http://www.swisstraveling.com/?p=85 Winterthur, city, Zürich canton, northern Switzerland. It lies in a wooded basin east of the Töss River, northeast of Zürich city. The Roman settlement of Vitodurum was on the site of the city’s northeastern suburb of Ober-Winterthur. Winterthur was founded about 1175 by the counts of Kyburg, who granted it a charter with extensive privileges. It was inherited in 1264 by the Habsburgs, who sold it to the city of Zürich in 1467. Notable landmarks include the Town Church of St. Laurenz (1264–1515), the town hall (1781–83), and the Assembly Hall (1865–69). Notable among the advanced schools is the Technikum, Switzerland’s largest school of technology. The city’s Collection Oskar Reinhart am Römerholz picture gallery and its symphony orchestra are well known. A rail and industrial centre, Winterthur is home to high-technology businesses and also manufactures cotton textiles.

Winterthur is a treasure trove rich in art, history and nature. Switzerland’s sixth-biggest city boasts art collections of world renown. Other museums and monuments, a lively old town, an active music and comedy scene, and extensive parks and public gardens give Winterthur, a town small enough to get around conveniently, the air of a big city.

The Oskar Reinhart Collection “Am Römerholz” is one of the most impressive museums in Winterthur. It is among the most important private collections of the 20th century and includes about 200 works of European art from the 14th to the early 20th century. The focus is on 19th century French painting, in particular on paintings by the French impressionists and their precursors.

The Oskar Reinhart Museum “Am Stadtgarten” shows over 500 pictures, predominantly by German, Swiss and Austrian artists from the 18th to the 20th century. Other highlights include the Villa Flora, where a rich collection of modern French painting is exhibited, and the Briner and Kern Museum which is mainly devoted to the Dutch masters of the 17th century.

Winterthur owes its cultural wealth to rich patrons from the days when Winterthur was an important industrial centre: with the onset of the industrialisation in the 19th century Winterthur rose quickly to become an important economic centre thanks to motor, locomotive and textile factories.

The cultural city of Winterthur in addition to several theatres and the biggest event venue of Switzerland is also home to the Swiss cabaret and comedy centre. The friendly old town of Winterthur with its many street cafes is perfect for strolling and shopping.

In spite of its industrial tradition Winterthur is also a ‘garden city’ with a conspicuously large number of parks and gardens. There is even a city tour dedicated to “Villas and Gardens”. In the charming area surrounding Winterthur, in the forests, wine-growing areas, by the Töss and Rhine there are castles with which the people of Winterthur today as in the past have a particularly close relationship. Winterthur is also a perfect starting point for excursions to Lake Constance and the Rhine or to the nearby metropolis of Zurich.

Highlights

• Art Museum – exhibitions devoted to modern art from Picasso to Klee
• Technorama – entertaining introduction to the development of science and technology under the motto “please touch”
• Photo Museum – the only museum for photography in German-speaking Switzerland with over 30’000 originals by world-famous photographers
• Oskar Reinhart Collection “Am Römerholz” – Reinharts large private villa houses European paintings from five centuries
• Sulzerareal – Europes’s largest hall for trend sports, also venue for large events, such as musicals etc.

Top Events

• Winterthur Fasnacht (Carnival) (February/March)
• Albanifest (June)
• Winterthur Summer Theatre – traditional open-air theatre which was first introduced in 1865 (Summer)
• International Short Film Festival (November)
• Christmas Market (December)

How to get there

Public Transport:

• From Zürich: every 15 minutes, approx.
• From Airport: every 15 minutes, approx.
• From St. Gallen: every 20 minutes. approx.
• From Schaffhausen: hourly
• From Basel: every 20 minutes, approx.

By car:

• From Zürich: A1-Exit Wülflingen or Töss
• From St. Gallen: A1-Exit Ohringen
• From Schaffhausen: A1-Exit Ohringen

View from Grossmuenster – Limmat River and Zurich Altstadt

Geography

The city is situated where the river Limmat issues from the north-western end of Lake Zürich, about 30 km north of the Alps. Zürich is surrounded by wooded hills including (from the north) the Gubrist, the Hönggerberg, the Käferberg, the Zürichberg, the Adlisberg and the Oettlisberg on the eastern shore; and the Uetliberg (part of the Albis range) on the western shore. The river Sihl meets with the Limmat at the end of Platzspitz, which borders the Swiss National Museum (Landesmuseum). The geographic (and historic) center of the city is the Lindenhof a small natural hill on the left bank of the river Limmat, about 700 meters north of where the river issues from Lake Zürich. Today the incorporated city stretches somewhat beyond its natural hydrographic confines given by its hills and includes some neighborhoods to the northeast in the Glattal (valley of the river Glatt).

View of Zurich from Uetliberg

Climate

City districts

The previous boundaries of the city of Zürich (before 1893) were more or less synonymous with the location of the old town. Two large expansions of the city limits occurred in 1893 and in 1934 when the city of Zürich merged with many surrounding municipalities, that had been growing increasingly together since the 19th century. Today, the city is divided into twelve districts (known as Kreis in German), numbered 1 to 12, each one of which may contain anywhere between 1 and 4 neighborhoods:

• District 1, known as Altstadt, contains the old town, both to the right and the left of the Limmat river.
• District 2 lies along the left side of Lake Zurich, and contains the neighborhoods of Enge, Wollishofen and Leimbach.
• District 3, known as Wiedikon is between the Sihl river and the Uetliberg, and contains the neighborhood of Alt-Wiedikon, Sihlfeld and Friesenberg.
• District 4, known as Aussersihl is between the Sihl river and the train tracks leaving Zürich Main Station.
• District 5, known as Industriequartier (Industrial area), is between the Limmat river and the train tracks leaving Zürich Main Station, it contains the former industrial area of Zürich.
• District 6 is on the edge of the Zürichberg, a hill overlooking the eastern part of the city. District 6 contains the neighborhoods of Oberstrass and Unterstrass.
• District 7 is on the edge of the Adlisberg as well as the Zürichberg, on the eastern side of the city. District 7 contains the neighborhoods of Hottingen and Hirslanden.
• District 8, known as Riesbach, on the eastern side of Lake Zurich.
• District 9 is between the Limmat on the north and the Uetliberg on the south. District 9 contains the neighborhood of Altstetten and Albisrieden.
• District 10 is to the right of the Limmat and to the south of the Hönggerberg and the Käferberg. District 10 contains the neighborhoods of Höngg and Wipkingen.
• District 11 is in the area north of the Hönggerberg and Käferberg and between the Glatt valley and the Katzensee (Katzen Lake). It contains the neighborhoods of Affoltern, Oerlikon and Seebach.
• District 12, known as Schwamendingen, is located in the Glattal (Glatt valley) on the northern side of the Zürichberg.

Most of the district boundaries are fairly similar to the original boundaries of the previously existing municipalities before they were incorporated into the city of Zürich.

Transport

Zürich is a hub for rail, road, and air traffic. It has several railway stations, including Zürich Main Station, Oerlikon, Stadelhofen, Hardbrücke, Tiefenbrunnen, Enge, Wiedikon and Altstetten. The Cisalpino, InterCityExpress, and even the French TGV high-speed trains stop in Zürich.

Zurich Main Station

The A1, A3 and A4 motorways pass close to Zürich. The A1 heads west towards Bern and Geneva and eastwards towards St. Gallen; the A4 leads northwards to Schaffhausen; and the A3 heads northwest towards Basel and southeast along Lake Zurich and Lake Walen towards Sargans. Zürich International Airport in Kloten is located less than 10 kilometres northeast of the city. There is also an airfield in Dübendorf, although it only used for military aviation.

Within Zürich and throughout the canton of Zürich, the ZVV network of public transport has traffic density ratings among the highest worldwide. If you add frequency, which in Zürich can be as often as 7 minutes, it does become the densest across all dimensions. Three means of mass-transit exist: the S-Bahn (local trains), trams, and buses (both diesel and electric, also called trolley buses).

Zurich Bellevue

In addition the public transport network includes boats on the lake and river, funicular railways and even a cable car between Adliswil and Felsenegg. Tickets purchased for a trip are valid on all means of public transportation (train, tram, bus, boat).

Demographics

There are officially 376,815 people (since Dec. 31st 2007) living in Switzerland’s largest city. 30.6% of the registered inhabitants of Zürich do not hold Swiss citizenship, which is 115,379 people. German citizens make up the largest group of foreigners in the city with 22.0%, followed by immigrants from Kosovo, Albania, Italy. The population of the city proper including suburbs 1.08 million people. However, the entire metropolitan area (including the cities of Winterthur, Baden, Brugg, Schaffhausen, Frauenfeld, Uster/Wetzikon, Rapperswil-Jona and Zug) has a population of around 1.68 million people.

Language

The official language used by the government and in most publications is German, while the most commonly spoken dialect in Zürich is Zürichdeutsch (Zürich German), which is a local dialect of Swiss German. As of 2000, German is the mother-tongue of 77.7% of the population. Albanian (5.8%) follows behind, and Italian is the third-most common native language at 4.7% of the population. Other native languages spoken by more than 1% of the population include South Slavic languages (2.2%) — this includes Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, and Slovenian), Spanish (2.2%), French (2.1%), English (1.8%), Portuguese (1.6%).

Religion

Since the reformation led by Huldrych Zwingli, Zürich has remained the center and stronghold of Protestantism in Switzerland. In the course of the 20th century, this has changed slightly as Catholics now make up the largest religious group in the city, with 33.3%. More and more inhabitants of the city declare themselves as being without religion (this was 16.8% of the population in 2000).

Zurich Grossmuenster

Social

The level of unemployment in Zürich is 2.6% (August 2007). About 4% of the city population (15,500 people) live either directly or indirectly on welfare from the state (April 2005).

Sights

Church

• Grossmünster (great minster) (near Lake Zürich, in the old city), where Zwingli was pastor; first building around 820; declared by Charlemagne imperial church

• Fraumünster (our lady’s minster) first church built before 874; the Romanesque choir dates from 1250-70; Marc Chagall stained glass choir windows; (on the opposite side of the Limmat).

During 2004 the Fraumünster was fully renovated. During this period the installed scaffolding went above the tip of the tower allowing a unique and exceptional 360° panoramic view of Zürich.

• St. Peter (downstream from the Fraumünster, in the old city); with the largest clock face in Europe

Museums

• Museum Bärengasse, history of the city in the 17th century
• Kunsthaus Zürich, one of the largest collections in Classic Modern Art in the world (Munch, Picasso, Braque, Giacometti, etc.)
• Museum Rietberg, Arts of Asia, Africa, America and Oceania
• Museum Bellerive, Museum for fashion, architecture and design, located in a villa on the beach of the lake
• Kunsthalle Zürich
• Migros Museum, modern and avantgarde international Art.
• Museum of Design Zürich
• Swiss National Museum (Landesmuseum), located in the Platzspitz park opposite to the main station
• Johann Jacobs Museum, history of colonial Fine Food and coffee
• Johanna Spyri Museum
• Haus Konstruktiv, constructive, concrete and conceptual art and design
• NONAM North American Native Museum
• Museum of the History of Medicine

The Gates of Hell – Zurich Kunsthaus

Other Sights

• Lindenhof near St. Peter; site of the Roman and medieval castle.
• Guild houses along the river (downstream from the Grossmünster)
• Old town (Altstadt), District 1, on both sides of the river

• Bahnhofstrasse, Zürich (shopping avenue) starting at main train station

• Parade-Platz, Plaza in the middle of Bahnhofstrasse, Zürich, a center of financial activity, with the world-headquarters of several Swiss banks including UBS and Credit Suisse.
• Zoological garden
• Masoala Rainforest Ecosystem Great Glass Hall in the Zoological garden with trees, flowers and animals in liberty from the rainforest of Masoala National Park in Madagascar
• Botanical Garden of the University of Zürich
• Chinese Garden, Zürich
• Neu Oerlikon, part of City District Oerlikon: northern quarter of the city – Oerliker Park, MFO Park, Center-11 Building, Price Waterhouse Building, ABB Building, UBS Building, and other modern public spaces.
• Lake Zürich, running from Zürich to Rapperswil and linking with the Obersee

• Uetliberg, a hill to the west of the city at an altitude of 813 meters above sea level, with Uetlibergturm TV-tower

• Fluntern Cemetery
• Cabaret Voltaire, birthplace of Dada

Business, Industry and Commerce

UBS, Credit Suisse, Swiss Re, Zurich Financial Services, and many other financial institutions have their headquarters in Zürich, the commercial center of Switzerland. Zürich is one of the world biggest centre for offshore banking. The financial sector accounts for about one quarter of the city’s economic activities. The Swiss Stock Exchange is located in Zürich.

Zürich is a leading financial centre and has repeatedly been proclaimed the global city with the best quality of life anywhere in the world.^[16] The Greater Zurich Area is Switzerland’s economic center and home to a vast number of international companies. The GDP of the Zürich Area is CHF 210 billion (USD 160 billion) or CHF 58’000 (USD 45’000) per capita (2005).

The success of the Greater Zürich Economic Area as one of the most important in the world is due to many factors: The very low tax rate and the possibility for foreign companies and private persons to optimize their tax burden by personalized tax agreement with the Tax Authorities is surely one of the key points. This practice often causes conflicts with Switzerland’s neighbours in Europe, who do not like this type of successful and aggressive strategy for attracting large corporations and service/research centers, such as IBM, General Motors Europe, Toyota Europe, UBS, Credit Suisse, Google, Microsoft,ABB Ltd., and Degussa. The fact that Switzerland does not have an inheritance tax is also an important attraction for wealthy private persons.

Another reason for the economic success of Zürich is the extensive research and educational (R&D) field of the city. The ETH Zurich is ranked alongside the University of Zurich: there are more than 58,000 students. The reservoir for qualified employees is therefore impressive.

A new multi-purpose area in southern Zürich (Sihlcity) has opened its doors on March 22,2007, spread over 100,000 square metres in the center of Zürich. Among other things it includes a shopping center and a movie theater. Sihlcity was built on the foundations of the former Sihl Paper Factory.

Other data: Switzerland scored in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005 within the Top 10 in the following categories:

• Nobel Prizes per resident (No.2)
• Active patents per resident (No.2)
• Private research expenditure (No.6)
• R&D expenditure per resident (No.6)
• R&D employees per resident (No.8)
• R&D expenditure as % of the GNP (No.10)

Most of the Swiss R&D institutions are concentrated in the Zürich area.

The high quality of life has been cited as a likely reason for the presence of international economic growth in Zürich. Mercer has ranked Zürich as the city with the highest quality of life anywhere in the world for the fourth consecutive time. Berne and Geneva were also ranked among the Top 10. Statistics show that in the productive sector of the city 60% speak German, 43% English, 30% French and 13% Italian. As such, the city is home to a considerable number of people speaking at least two or three languages.

Education and Research

Zürich is home to many universities, colleges and gymnasiums. Two of Switzerland’s most distinguished universities are located in the city. The technical university ETH Zürich which is controlled by the state and the University of Zürich that is under direction of the canton of Zurich. Both universities are well-known and have an international reputation. They were listed in the top 200 world universities rated in 2007.

University of Zurich Irchel

Culture

Events

• Street Parade
• Sechseläuten, spring festival of the guilds and burning of the Böögg
• Zürcher Theater Spektakel, international theater festival, ranking among the most important European festivals for contemporary performing arts.
• Kunst Zürich, international contemporary art fair with an annual guest city (New York in 2005); combines most recent and youngest art with the works of well-established artists.
• Annual public city campaign, sponsored by the City Vereinigung (the local equivalent of a chamber of commerce) with the cooperation of the city government. Past themes have included lions (1986), cows (1998), benches (2003), and teddy bears (2005).
• Weltklasse Zürich, annual track and field athletics meeting held every August
• freestyle.ch, one of the biggest freestyle events in Europe
• Zürifäscht, a triennial public festival featuring music, fireworks, and other attractions throughout the old town. It is the largest public festival in Switzerland, attended by up to 2 million visitors. The next Zürifäscht is scheduled for July 2 to 4, 2010.

Zuerifaescht 2007

Art movements born in Zurich

• Zürich is the home of the Cabaret Voltaire where the Dada movement began in 1916. Visit at the Spiegelgasse/Niederdorf-Corner the Cabaret Voltaire Museum.

• Constructive Art Movement took also one of the first steps in Zürich. Artists like Max Bill, Marcel Breuer, Camille Graeser or Richard Paul Lohse had their ateliers in Zürich, which became even more important after the takeover of power by the Nazi-Regime in Germany and World War II. Visit the museum at the Haus Konstruktiv.

Opera, ballet and theaters

• Zürcher Opernhaus: one of the most famous Opera Houses in Europe. Director is Alexander Pereira. Once a year elegant and exclusive Zürcher Opernball with the President of the Swiss Confederation and the economic and cultural élite of Switzerland.

• Schauspielhaus Zürich: Main Theater-Complex of the City. Has two Dépendances: Pfauen (historic old theater) in the Central City District and Schiffbauhalle (modern architecture in old industry-halls) in Zürich West (S-Bahn-Station Hardbrücke). Was home for Emigrants like Bertolt Brecht or Thomas Mann and World-Première-Theater for Max Frisch, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Botho Strauss or Nobel-Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek.

• Theater am Neumarkt: One of the oldest Theaters of the city. Established by the old guilds in the Old City District, located in a baroque Palace near Niederdorf Street. Two stages with mostly production by avantgarde directors from Europe. Has both classic theater (Racine, Goethe, Shakespeare) and new productions in its repertoire.

• Theater der Künste: Official theater of the Zurich University of the Arts. Next to the Theater Gessnerallee and the Bahnhofstrasse – the main shopping street of the city.

Nightlife and clubbing

Zürich offers a lot of variety when it comes for night-time leisure. It is the host city of the world-famous Street Parade, which takes place in August every year.

The most famous districts for Nightlife are the Niederdorf in the old town with bars, restaurants, lounges, hotels, clubs, etc. and a lot of fashion shops for a young and stylish public and the Langstrasse in the districts 4 and 5 of the city. There are authentic amusements: Brazilian bars, punk clubs, HipHop stages, Caribic restaurants, arthouse-cinemas, Turkish kebabs and Italian espresso-bars, but also sex shops or the famous red light district of Zürich.

In the past ten years new parts of the city have risen into the spotlight. Notably, the area known as Zürich West in district 5, near the Escher-Wyss square and the S-Bahn Station of Hardbrücke. This area has become the new up-and-coming part of Zürich with its avant-garde cinemas, music clubs, lounges, restaurants, cafés and bars.

Sports

Football is an essential aspect of Sports in Zurich. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) resides in town. The city is also home to two major Swiss football clubs listed in Switzerland’s highest league; Grasshopper-Club Zürich founded in 1886 and FC Zürich which exists since 1896.

Another popular sport in Switzerland, ice hockey, is represented by the ZSC Lions. The club won this seasons Swiss ice hockey championship. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) officiating as head organisation for ice hockey leagues worldwide is based in Zurich as well.

Major sport events running in Zurich are Weltklasse Zürich, an annual athletic meeting, and the Zurich Open, part of the WTA tour.

Map of the world

Map of Europe

Map of Switzerland

Land and Resources

Switzerland is one of the most mountainous countries of Europe, with more than 70 percent of its area covered by the Alps, in the central and southern sections, and the Jura, in the northwest. The Swiss Alps are part of the largest mountain system in Europe, and are famous for their jagged peaks and steep gorges. There are several ranges within the Alps, including the Pennine range, which has Switzerland’s highest peak, the 4634-m (15,203-ft) Dufourspitze of Monte Rosa. The Jura (Celtic for “forest”) are much lower and smaller than the Alps, and are popular for cross-country skiing. The renowned Swiss watchmaking industry began in the Jura Mountains. Between these two mountain systems lies the Swiss plateau, about 400 m (about 1300 ft) above sea level in average elevation and some 50 km (some 30 mi) wide; it extends from Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) in the extreme southwest to the Lake of Constance (Bodensee) in the extreme northeast. The plateau is thickly studded with hills. Between the ranges of the Alps and Jura also stretch long valleys connected by transverse gorges; one such valley is the Engadine along the Inn River in the southeast. Nearly every Swiss valley is traversed by streams, often interrupted by picturesque waterfalls, including the Staubbach Falls (about 290 m/950 ft) in the canton of Bern. The principal river system is formed by the Rhine and its tributaries. Other important rivers are the Rhône, Ticino, and Inn. However, the Swiss rivers are not navigable for any appreciable extent. Switzerland is famous for its many lakes, particularly those of the Alpine region, known for their scenic beauty. The most important include Lake Geneva, Lake of Constance, Lake of Lugano, and Lake Maggiore (at which lies Switzerland’s lowest point, 194 m (636 ft) above sea level), which are not wholly within Swiss borders; and Lake of Neuchâtel, Lake of Lucerne and Zürichsee, Brienzersee, and Thunersee, which are entirely within Switzerland.

Population
The Swiss people as a whole are mainly of Alpine, Nordic, and Slavic or Dinaric descent. The ethnic composition of Switzerland is generally defined by the major language communities: German, French, Italian, and Romansh (Rhaeto-Romanic). Less than 10 percent of the population is made up of other ethnicities, such as Spanish, Portuguese, and Turkish.

Population Characteristics

The population of Switzerland (2001 estimate) is 7,250,000, yielding an overall population density of about 174 persons per sq km (about 450 per sq mi). The population of Switzerland is unevenly distributed, with the principal concentrations occurring in the Swiss plateau. Approximately 64 percent of the population is classified as urban, but most live in small towns. Population growth is slow, and a surplus of jobs means that foreign laborers and their families make up nearly one-fifth of the population.

Principal Cities

The capital of Switzerland is Bern, with a population (1991 estimate) of 134,510. Other major cities are Zürich (342,391), the largest city and financial center; Basel (171,903), a commercial center noted for textile and clothing manufacturing; Geneva (167,431), a cultural, financial, and manufacturing center noted for its watchmaking and jewelry; and Lausanne (123,153), a railroad junction and center for the manufacture of iron goods.

Bern – Kramgasse and clock tower

Zurich – Limmat River and Grossmuenster

Religion

Roman Catholicism is the faith of about 46 percent of the population of Switzerland, and about 40 percent of the people are Protestant. Muslims, Orthodox Christians, and Jews make up a small percentage of the population, while those with no religion are about 10 percent. Freedom of worship is guaranteed. In 1973 a referendum repealed articles of the constitution that were responsible for the banning of the Jesuit order and the founding of new religious houses. Several important developments of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century occurred in Switzerland; the French theologian John Calvin instituted some of his theories at Geneva.

Lausanne Cathedral

Language

The official languages of Switzerland are German (spoken by about 64 percent of the population), French (19 percent), and Italian (7 percent). The fourth national language, Romansh, is spoken by less than 1 percent of the people. Other languages spoken include Spanish, Portuguese, and Turkish. In a majority of the cantons the most commonly spoken language is Schwyzertütsch (Swiss German), an Allemanic dialect of German differing vastly from both written German and other German dialects. Newspapers and magazines are written in standard German, however, and German is the language of many theater, motion picture, and television productions. French is the most commonly spoken language in the cantons of Fribourg, Jura, Vaud, Valais, Neuchâtel, and Geneva, and Italian is the predominant language in Ticino. Romansh, a Romance language, is spoken chiefly in the canton of Graubünden.

Agriculture
Neither the soil nor the climate favors agriculture, and Switzerland must import much of the food it consumes and subsidize the farms that do exist. Nearly all the farms are family enterprises, and most are small in size. The leading agricultural products in the early 1990s (ranked by estimated value and with production in metric tons) were potatoes (737,000), apples (396,000), wheat (533,000), sugar beets (907,000), grapes (164,000), and barley (365,000). About 124 million liters (33 million gallons) of wine are produced annually. Dairy products make up a significant portion of Switzerland’s agricultural sector. Each year in the early 1990s some 3.8 million metric tons of cow’s milk and 134,600 metric tons of cheese were produced. Livestock included about 1.8 million cattle, 1.7 million pigs, 415,000 sheep, 52,000 horses, and 6 million poultry.

Grape garden in Rapperswil

Forestry and Fishing

Production of timber in Switzerland was about 4.1 million cu m (about 144 million cu ft) per year in the early 1990s. The industry has been hurt by air pollution, which has damaged more than 35 percent of the country’s forests. Most of the harvest was used to make either lumber or paper. Fishing is of minor importance, with catches of fish such as salmon and trout—primarily from Lakes Geneva and Neuchâtel and Lake of Constance and their tributary rivers—totaling about 4800 metric tons annually.

Mining

The Swiss mining industry is not of major importance. Annual mineral production in the early 1990s included rock salt, about 250,000 metric tons, and cement, about 5.2 million tons.

Manufacturing

Although raw materials are extremely limited in Switzerland, the country has a well-developed manufacturing economy. Raw material imports are converted into high-value exports by the country’s skilled workers. Leading areas of manufacturing include precision engineering, in particular clocks and watches (which accounted for 8 percent of export revenue in the early 1990s); heavy engineering and machine building, notably specialized, custom-produced equipment such as generators and turbines; food products, particularly specialized goods such as chocolate and cheese; textiles; chemicals; and pharmaceuticals. Swiss handicrafts, such as music boxes, embroideries, laces, and carved wooden objects, are widely prized.

Swiss watches

Energy

Switzerland has extensive waterpower resources, and in the early 1990s some 59 percent of its electricity was produced in hydroelectric facilities. Nearly all of the rest was generated in nuclear power plants. Output from all sources in the early 1990s was about 56 billion kilowatt-hours annually, with an installed capacity of 17.7 kilowatts.

Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant – Aargau

Communications

The Swiss Postal and Telecommunications agency oversees a comprehensive and modern communications system. The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation provides radio and television programs in German, French, and Italian, and Swiss Radio International transmits radio programs to foreign countries. In the early 1990s about 2.7 million radios and 2.5 million television receivers were licensed. Switzerland has 83 daily newspapers; dailies with international reputations include Neue Zürcher Zeitung, published in Zürich, and Journal de Genève, published in Geneva.

Labor

In the early 1990s the Swiss labor force was made up of about 3.6 million people, including nearly 912,000 foreigners (mostly from Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France), called guest workers. The leading labor group is the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions, with some 444,000 members.