Switzerland
Read about the culture of this country. By: Jake Watson
Brief overview
Switzerland is a small landlocked country in west Europe. It is a parliamentary republic and has four official languages. The capitol city is Bern, which has a population of about 139,000.
Geography
One major land form in Switzerland is the Swiss alps. They helps to keeps the country neutral in times of war. Switzerland is landlocked so it has no borders to a sea or ocean. Most of the people in Switzerland live around Zurich but another large portion live near the capitol Bern.
Zurich is a very large city with lots of buses, trains, and other methods of transport like plane. It would cost about $1,170 for one nonstop flight to Zurich from here. The average temperature is around 45º-50º Fahrenheit. (Average Temperature in Bern)
Government
Switzerland is a Federal Republic with a Directorial system. The current political leader is Didier Burkhalter. The leader has a one year term, and is put in office on the 1st of January. As mentioned in the geography the Swiss Alps allow Switzerland to stay neutral in times of war. Under the Swiss Federal Constitution the president is not the almighty supreme overlord, but has a large portion of control and voting power. (Like our president). Switzerland is a member of the United Nations and join in 2002. Switzerland is also a member of NATO and join in 1996.
Economy
Switzerland uses a currency called the Swiss Franc. One Swiss Franc equals $1.13 USD. Switzerlanc is a wealthy country, but maybe not compared to the USA. The GDP of Switzerland is about $632 Billion USD.
Social and Ethnic Group
Switzerland is a highly diverse country that is multilingual. It has a literacy rate of about 99%. Today women have equal rights as men but they did not always. Switzerland has been mostly neutral since 1499 but still fights in some wars. Swiss mercenaries became well known over Europe throughout the ages. Lots of people in Switzerland were not born there but a large portion originated from France, Germany, or Italy
Religion/Language/Flag
The main religions in Switzerland include Roman-Catholic (38.2%), Swiss Reformed (29.6%), and Non Denominational (21.4%). These are only the top 3 religions in Switzerland. The official languages in Switzerland include French, German, Italian, and Romanian. The current flag was established in 1889. The white cross was used to signal other ships in the ocean. The flag has no specific meaning.
Traditional Holidays or Festivals, Traditional Clothing, and Food
Smocks were a very famous clothing choice in Switzerland. Most school children wore smocks to school. Also, lots of men wore blue canvas jackets while girls wore long sleeves with and apron. Switzerland has a very large Christian population so many holidays include Christmas, Easter, Palm Sunday, and Good Friday. They also have something called All Saints Day. This day is used to honor the saints of the church. One traditional food is Fondue. First melt cheese. Get cubes of bread, put them on a fork, then dip and swirl in the cheese.
Choropleth Maps
I made the choropleth map for the ethnicity. Also, the maps are done in order of the project paper. All found on Google images, Income found on www.gitta.info/ThematicCart/en/html/TypogrDesign_learningObject4.html