st.)
Infant mortality rate:
6.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
78.17 years
male:
74.8 years
female:
81.71 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.6 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Swiss (singular and plural)
adjective:
Swiss
Ethnic divisions:
total population:
German 65%, French 18%, Italian 10%, Romansch 1%, other 6%
Swiss nationals:
German 74%, French 20%, Italian 4%, Romansch 1%, other 1%
Religions:
Roman Catholic 47.6%, Protestant 44.3%, other 8.1% (1980)
Languages:
German 65%, French 18%, Italian 12%, Romansch 1%, other 4%
note:
figures for Swiss nationals only -
German 74%, French 20%, Italian 4%, Romansch 1%, other 1%
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1980 est.)
total population:
99%
male:
NA%
female:
NA%
Labor force:
3.31 million (904,095 foreign workers, mostly Italian)
by occupation:
services 50%, industry and crafts 33%, government 10%, agriculture and
forestry 6%, other 1% (1989)

@Switzerland, Government

Names:
conventional long form:
Swiss Confederation
conventional short form:
Switzerland
local long form:
Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft (German) Confederation Suisse
(French) Confederazione Svizzera (Italian)
local short form:
Schweiz (German) Suisse (French) Svizzera (Italian)
Digraph:
SZ
Type:
federal republic
Capital:
Bern
Administrative divisions:
26 cantons (cantons, singular - canton in French; cantoni, singular -
cantone in Italian; kantone, singular - kanton in German); Aargau,
Ausser-Rhoden, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Geneve,
Glarus, Graubunden, Inner-Rhoden, Jura, Luzern, Neuchatel, Nidwalden,
Obwalden, Sankt Gallen, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Thurgau,
Ticino, Uri, Valais, Vaud, Zug, Zurich
Independence:
1 August 1291
National holiday:
Anniversary of the Founding of the Swiss Confederation, 1 August
(1291)
Constitution:
29 May 1874
Legal system:
civil law system influenced by customary law; judicial review of
legislative acts, except with respect to federal decrees of general
obligatory character; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with
reservations
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state and head of government:
President Otto STICH (1994 calendar year; presidency rotates
annually); Vice President Kaspar VILLIGER (term