|
Switzerland sits at the crossroads of several major European cultures that have heavily influenced the country's languages and culture. Switzerland has three official languages: German (64%) in the north and center; French (19%) to the west; and Italian (8%) in the south. There is a fourth language, Romansh (a Romance language), that is spoken locally by a small minority (< 1%) in the southeastern canton of Graubünden and has a limited status. (Some dialects of Franco-Provençal have speakers in rural communities in the region where French is spoken. This language has no legal status.) The federal government is obliged to communicate in the three official languages. In the federal parliament, German, French and Italian are the official languages and simultaneous translation is provided. The German spoken in Switzerland is predominantly a group of dialects that are almost unintelligible to Germans and are collectively known as Swiss German, but written communication and broadcasts typically use standard German. Swiss French and Swiss Italian differ far less from their counterparts in France and Italy, respectively. Learning one of the other national languages at school is obligatory for all Swiss, so most Swiss are at least bilingual. Resident foreigners and temporary foreign workers make up about 21% of the population. Most of these are from European Union countries (Italians being the largest group, at 4%), with smaller numbers from the rest of the world, including refugees from the former Yugoslavia (5%) and Turks (1%). Religion Switzerland has no country-wide state religion, though most of the cantons (except for Geneva and Neuchâtel) financially support through taxation either the Roman Catholic Church, the Old Catholic Church, or the Swiss Reformed Church. The most popular religion in Switzerland is Roman Catholic Church in Switzerland (44% of the population). There are various Protestant denominations (38,5%), while immigration has brought Islam (1%) and Eastern Orthodoxy (1%) as sizeable minority religions. The stability and prosperity of Switzerland, combined with a linguistically diverse population, has led some to describe the country as a consensus, or consociational state. The country is historically about evenly balanced between Catholic and Protestant, with a confusing patchwork of majorities over most of the country. Some cantons, such as Appenzell, are even officially divided into Catholic and Protestant sections, and many villages have the predominant religion posted on the signs leading into them, stating in effect "this is a Catholic (or Protestant) village". However, there are some overall patterns. Among the larger cities, the capital Bern and banking center Zürich are predominately Protestant, whereas others such as Luzern are mostly Catholic. Geneva is famous as an early Calvinist center, and a majority of Swiss French are Protestant, in contrast to French elsewhere in the world who are mainly Catholic. On the other hand, the founding core of Switzerland, the German-speaking cantons of Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden, are mainly Catholic, as is Italian-speaking Ticino. |
Switzerland Information: Inside
|
