intlink.net!imp.ch!alphanet.ch!admin
Subject: soc.culture.swiss FAQ
Summary: This article contains information about the newsgroup
         soc.culture.swiss and about Switzerland in general.
Date: Mon, 1 Apr 1996 14:01:15 GMT

Author: Marc SCHAEFER <schaefer@alphanet.ch>
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-Change: Mar 31 18:58
Posting-Number: 9 


           soc.culture.swiss MONTHLY POSTING  version: 1.35


0.  Table of contents

   1 ......................................... Introduction
      1.1 .................................... Original newsgroup charter
   2 ......................................... Switzerland: the country
      2.1 ....................................     Introduction
      2.2 ....................................     History
      2.3 ....................................     Figures
      2.4 ....................................     Political system
      2.5 ....................................     Issues
      2.6 ....................................     Visiting Switzerland
      2.7 ....................................     Looking for a job
      2.8 ....................................     School system
   3 ......................................... Frequently Asked Questions
      3.1 ....................................     Internet in Switzerland
      3.2 ....................................     Military service / guns
      3.3 ....................................     Swiss navy
      3.4 ....................................     5th Switzerland
      3.5 ....................................     Swiss german vs German
      3.6 ....................................     Universities in Ticino
      3.7 ....................................     Swiss laws
      3.8 ....................................     Swiss tax system
   4 ......................................... Institutions/products abroad
      4.1 ....................................     In the US
      4.2 ....................................     In Australia
      4.3 ....................................     In other countries
   5 ......................................... More information
   6 ......................................... Credits

1.  Introduction

This newsgroup (in French, this is translated by ``forum'', or not
translated at all) soc.culture.swiss, was created in February
1994. Its aim is to be a forum where Swiss nationals and those
interested in Switzerland can exchange ideas and discuss politics,
economics, and everything that has a more or less distant link to the
word `swiss'.

Long distance companies or toll call companies and other commercial
postings are NOT appropriate, please use one of the biz hierarchy
newsgroups. Thank you. People interested by genealogy may want to
use the soc.genealogy hierarchy (french-speaking: fr.rec.genealogie)

As a general advice, please consult the newsgroup
news.announce.newusers and follow the discussion in soc.culture.swiss
for some time before your first posting.

Recently there has been quite a lot of discussion in soc.culture.swiss
about recurrent topics: guns, Europe, service providers and so
on. There have also been a lot of inappropriate or irrelevant
postings; this FAQ may help reduce the noise in the newsgroup.

The question about what language this FAQ should use is difficult to
answer. My first language is French. Many languages are spoken in
Switzerland. However, people in this country do frequently know
English as a second or third language: the fact that most articles in
soc.culture.swiss are in English proves me right.  Thus, this FAQ's
official language will be English. Feel free to translate the document
into another language if you like, or to submit new information in
your language (French, German, Italian) which I will be able to
translate.  Submit changes to the e-mail address shown at the
beginning of this article.

WARNING: This document contains some views of the political situation
in Switzerland. If you do NOT agree with what I say, because you think
differently, please send me a _mail_: the idea is not to use the
newsgroup as a meta-discussion about the FAQ itself :-) In general, I
try to be as open-minded as possible.

WARNING-2: This document has been written in the hope it would be
useful.  There is absolutely no warranty on the content. Feel however
free to spot errors and send corrections to me.

This FAQ is available by WWW
   http://liawww.epfl.ch/~schaefer/faqs.html (SWITCH)
   http://www.megalon.ch/~schaefer/faqs.html (EUnet)
   http://www.alphanet.ch/~schaefer/faqs.html (ALPHANET NF)

or as (faster for North America):
   http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/r14160/swiss/swiss.html (Christian ZIMMERMANN)

1.1 Original newsgroup charter

 PURPOSE AND MISSION

 This newsgroup will serve as a common ground for the exchange of ideas
 and information about Switzerland and the several cultures that
 inspire the alchemy of this special land.  Switzerland is one of the
 world's smaller nations, but its impact on science, technology, art,
 statesmanship, and education has been greater than its size would
 suggest.  It has been the seat of religious revolution, home to
 political dissidents, bastion of neutrality, and cauldron for a
 national character that is at once diverse and unified --
 hard-working, independent, and resolute.  The paradox of the modern
 Switzerland is that its independence rests on its internationalism.
 The Swiss are all over the globe, and the world's architects of
 commerce and statecraft are constant visitors to Switzerland.
 Switzerland is a microcosm of Europe and an outpost for observing
 change and development within the European Community.  This newsgroup
 should provide a place for those with an interest in Swiss culture,
 politics, and national affairs to trade thoughts, and for those who
 want to learn more about this unique land to do so.  For the Swiss
 Abroad -- known as the "Fifth Switzerland" (after the German, French,
 Italian, and Romansch) -- this newsgroup should provide a way to keep
 in touch and to discuss the frequent referenda that typify the direct
 Swiss democracy and which are so important in maintaining a sense of
 national unity and full participation in the life of the country.  For
 the Swiss in Switzerland the newsgroup should be an additional way for
 the three language cultures to interact.

 RULES

 (a) Contributors may use any written language they would use in
 Switzerland, as well as English.  But if a sender chooses to use a
 dialect, it will be an understood courtesy of the newsgroup to offer a
 summary translation for others.  Any message can be answered in the
 same, or a different language.  The newsgroup should not be a "club"
 for any one language community.

 (b) Within the general purpose of the newsgroup, there will be no
 restrictions on topics or message content.  However, contributors will
 emphasize the decorum and respect that typify Switzerland, even when
 there are disagreements.  Thus, the newsgroup should try to become a
 model of meaningful, but respectful communications, so sorely needed
 in the world.

 (c) Contributors should use best efforts to distinguish
 messages of general interest from personal mail.  It is perfectly
 proper to seek specific help or information, but if the result is
 a strictly personal exchange, contributors should consider direct
 E-mail, instead of postings to soc.culture.swiss.

 (d) This charter is provisional and subject to the wishes of the
 community it serves.  It is not "owned" by any person, language
 community, or commercial interest.  Users with ideas for amendments or
 improvements should post them to soc.culture.swiss or to the present
 contact person.

2.  Switzerland: the country
2.1 Introduction

Switzerland is a small country in the center of Western Europe[1],
next to Germany in the north, France in the west, Italy in the south,
Austria and the tiny principality of Liechtenstein in the east.  Its
size is 41,290 km2 (15,942 sq mi), which is about one and a half times
the size of the US-state Massachusetts. Time zone is MET [ DST ] or
CET [ CED ]. Daylight saving time is one hour ahead, in the summer,
and is called Sommerzeit in German, and Heure d'ete in French. The
standard denomination for daylight saving times is in square brackets.

The country has a long tradition of federalism[2] and direct
democracy, which helped sustain its multi-cultural and multi-lingual
character. The official languages in Switzerland are German, spoken by
2/3 of the population (in a variety of dialects collectively known as
Swiss German); French, spoken by about 20%; Italian, spoken by 8%; and
Romantsch spoken by less than 1% of the population.  Switzerland is
called in German: Die Schweiz, in French: La Suisse, in Italian: La
Svizzera, and in Romantsch: La Svizra.  The official name is in Latin:
Confoederatio Helvetica, which lead to its international (ISO)
acronym: CH. International telephone country code is 41.

The federal capital of Switzerland is the picturesque city of
Bern/Berne (Italian: Berna), located close to the center of
Switzerland.  The largest city in the country is Zuerich, an
international financial center. Geneva, on the western tip of the
country (French: Suisse romande; German: Welschland) on the shores of
Lake Geneva (properly called Lac Leman in French), is the largest city
in the French-speaking area.  It is home to the United Nations, the
World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, the
International Committee of the Red Cross, CERN, and many other
international organizations.

Despite hosting many international organizations, Switzerland is
neither a member of the UN nor the European Union. To be more
specific, Switzerland is neither a member of the UN General Assembly
(political UN) nor of the EU, however it is member of the European
Council, of the EFTA and of many international organizations (such as
HCR, WHO, UIT, IMF and so on).  Neutrality has been one of the pillars
of Swiss foreign policy and has not yet given way to membership in
supranational organizations (even if the reason for refusing those
might not have been so rhetorical).

In 1994 the population of Switzerland reached 7 million, 1.1 million
of which are foreigners. This is the fastest growth in Europe (?). Life
expectancy at birth is 78 years. There are 1.6 children born per woman
(Sensitive people may prefer 8 children for 5 women, but as polygamy
is illegal, they must be from different fathers :-))

Switzerland has many lakes and is situated between two mountain
ranges: Jura (> 1000 m/3000 ft) and the Alps ( > 3000 m/10,000 ft).

The country has no natural resources other than salt, water
(electricity) and stones. Main export products are machines, chemical
products (including pharmaceuticals), instruments and watches. Other
revenue is from services (banking, insurances) and tourism (skiing is
one of the national sports) as well as exporting some electricity. As
for tourism, it should be mentionned that Swiss tourists spend more
than 10 billion CHF abroad, compared to the 13 billion CHF visitors
spend in Switzerland.

The Swiss flag should be constructed as follows: A free floating white
cross on red square ground. The arms of the cross are of equal length
and of 1/6 longer than wide (established in 1815).


[1] In the geographical sense, not the European Union.

[2] Switzerland consists is of 26 Cantons and half-Cantons. There are 6
    half-Cantons. See section 2.4.2

2.2 History
2.2.1 Some dates

          Founding date of the Swiss Confederation by the central
          Swiss cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden: 1291
          (traditionally 1st of August 1291, national day, but this was
           set in the 19th century)

          Battle of Morgarten: 1315
          Battle of Sempach (Arnold Winkelried): 1386
          Battle of Morat/Murten: 1476 (a defeat of Charles the Bold)
          Battle of Marignano: 1515 (first mention of neutrality)
          Savoy attacks Geneva: the Escalade: 1602
          First official mention of the separation of the Swiss federation
          from the Holy Roman Empire: 1648

          Invasion by Napoleon (Helvetic Republic): 1798

          Armed Neutrality internationally recognized (Vienna congress): 1815
          Chocolaterie Cailler founded at Vevey: 1819
          War of Sonderbund (Civil war): 1847
          Jesuits expelled: 1847

          Federal Constitution: 1848
          Shoe  manufacturer Bally founded: 1850
          1st Geneva Convention establishes International Red Cross: 1864
          1st Socialist International meets in Geneva: 1866
          Nestle founded: 1866
          Federal Constitution revised: 1874

          General strike: 1918
          Youngest Canton Jura: voted 1974, created 1978
          Women allowed to vote on federal matters: 1971
          Women allowed to vote on Canton matters in all Cantons: 1991

About the Women's suffrage: On the Federal level, it was introduced in
1971. The last Cantons to accept it at their level were AR and AI:
Appenzell-Ausserrhoden (at the 1989 Landsgemeinde) and
Appenzell-Innerrhoden in 1991 (by a Federal Court decision). It is
interesting to note that the Women's suffrage was voted by the male
population, not by a legislative entity (except for AI).

2.2.2 Well-known Swiss people (past and present)

   Alain Tanner, film-maker
   Alberto Giacometti, sculptor
   Arthur Fraucci, aka Arthur Artousov, first chief of soviet
                   counter-intelligence
   Auguste Piccard, scientist
   C.F. Ramuz, novelist and essayist
   Carl Gustav Jung, psychologist (1875-1961)
   Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, known as Le Corbusier, architect
   Domenico Tresini, architect (Peter and Paul cathedral in St. Petersburg)
   Ferdinand de Saussure, linguist
   Frederic Sauser, known as Blaise Cendrars, writer
   Friedrich Duerrenmatt, novelist and play writer
   Henri Dunant, founder of International Red Cross
   Horace-Benedicte de Saussure, naturalist
   Huldrych Zwingli, priest/reformator
   Isabelle de Charriere, writer
   Jean Piaget, psychologist
   Jean-Jacques Rousseau, philosopher, born in Geneva
   Jean-Luc Godard, film-maker
   Johann Pestalozzi
   Johann Sutter (owned much of California, initiator and victim of the
                 Gold Rush)
   Karl Brunner, economist
   Leonhard Euler, mathematician
   Mario Botta, architect
   Marthe Keller, actress
   Max Frisch, novelist
   Michel Simon, actor
   Niklaus Wirth, `father' of many programming languages (Pascal,
                  Modula, Oberon)
   Paracelsus, physician (1400, Basel)
   Paul Klee
   Pirmin Zurbriggen, skier
   Tony Rominger, cyclist
   Ursula Andress, actress
   Vreni Schneider, skier

and more ...

Note that Albert Schweizer is Alsatian and *not* Swiss, as the
name might wrongly imply.

2.2.3 Well-known people who have lived (or live) in Switzerland

   Alain Prost
   Albert Einstein, became Swiss
   Byron
   Charlie Chaplin, actor/comedian/movie director, 1889-1977
   David Niven
   Elias Canetti, Nobel prize for literature.
   Friedrich Nietzsche
   Georges Simenon
   Gustave Courbet
   Hermann Hesse, writer, Nobel Laureate for Literature (1946), 1877-1962,
         became Swiss in 1923
   Igor Stravinsky
   Jackie Stewart
   James Joyce
   John Calvin, priest/reformer, 1509-1564
   Mussolini (studied at the Gymnase Cantonal de Neuchatel)
   Paderewsky
   Peter Ustinov 
   Rainer Maria Rilke, became Swiss
   Richard Burton
   Richard Wagner
   The Aga Khan
   Thomas Mann, Nobel Laureate, in Kuesnacht (ZH), later in Kilchberg.
   Tristan Tzara
   Vilfredo Pareto, social scientist, 1848-1923
   Vladimir Ilitch Oulianov (Lenin)
   Voltaire
   various dictators

and many, many more ...

2.2.4 Swiss Nobel Prize winners

   1901 Henry Dunant, Peace (red cross)
   1902 Elie Ducommun, Charles Albert Gobat (Peace)
   1909 Emil Theodor Kocher (Medicine)
   1913 Alfred Werner (Chemistry)
   1919 Carl Spitteler (Literature) (from Liestal)
   1920 Charles Eduard Guillaume (Physics)
   1937 Paul Karrer (Chemistry)
   1939 Leopold Ruzicka (Chemistry) (born in Croatia)
   1946 Hermann Hesse (Literature) (born in Germany)
   1948 Paul Hermann Mueller (Medicine) (DDT)
   1949 Walter Rudolf Hess (Medicine)
   1950 Tadeus Rechstein (Medicine) (born in Poland)
   1975 Vladimir Prelog (Chemistry) (born Sarajevo)
   1978 Werner Arber (Medicine)
   1986 Heinrich Rohner (Physics)
   1987 K. Alexander Mueller (Physics)
   1988 Jack Steinberger (Physics)
   1991 Richard Robert Ernst (Chemistry)

Sources: World Almanac 1991 (quite wrong)
         "Der Neue Brockhaus", Encyclopedia, 1991
         http://www.slac.stanford.edu/~clancey/Nobel/Nobel-Physics.html
         http://www.theo1.physik.uni-stuttgart.de/~marlow/physics_nobel.html
         http://www.chem.ethz.ch/D-CHEM-Prof/ernst/ernst.html

It should be noted that for many nobel laureates who changed
nationality in their life, most prominently Einstein, but possibly
also Canetti, Prelog, Ruzicka, Hesse, nationality is/was simply a
non-issue; thus a list as the one compiled above is only of
informative value, without any nationalism intended. A more
interesting list could be which nobel laureates received their prizes
for work done at swiss institutions.

The "Bureau International permanent de la Paix", Berne, founded by
Ducommun/Gobat, was awarded the prize for Peace in 1910.
 
The ICRC (Comite International de la Croix-Rouge), Geneve, was awarded
the prize for peace in 1917, 1944 and 1963.
See: (http://www.icrc.ch/icrcnews/242a.htm)


2.3 Figures

These figures where found in "La Suisse - de la formation des Alpes a
la quete du futur", Ex Libris, 1975. This book is a very interesting
overview of Switzerland, even if it is a bit old now. Some were also
found in the CIA World Fact-book, even if not all information there
is correct.

2.3.1 Languages

Swiss citizens living in Switzerland (1970)
   German and Swiss-German (many dialects): 74% 
   French: 20%
   Italian: 4%
   Romantsch: 1%

All people living in Switzerland:
   German and Swiss-German (many idioms): 65%
   French: 18%
   Italian: 11%
   Romantsch: 0.8%
   Others: 5.2%
   
2.3.2 Main cities

   Zuerich, (`ue' replaces the German umlaut), business and industrial
            center, one international airport, only 350,000 inhabitants.
   Basel, Chemicals, and gateway to France and Germany, Rhine waterway,
          chemical and pharmaceutical industries, International airport.
   Geneva, many international organizations, International airport.
   Bern, Federal Government.
   Lausanne, International Olympic Committee, Federal Court, Cinematheque
             Suisse.
   Lucerne, with its brand new bridge, Federal Insurance Court (not _because_
            of old covered bridge burned lately :-)).
   Lugano.
   Locarno, Cinema Festival.
   Davos, the World Economic Forum.
   Neuchatel, where I live.

2.3.3 Miscellaneous

"BIGGEST"
   glacier: Aletschgletscher (VS), 117.6 km2 and 23.6 km long
   lake (entirely in Switzerland): Lac de Neuchatel (NE/BE/FR/VD), 218.3 km2
   lake (partially French): Lac Leman (VD/GE/France), 581.3 km2
   Canton (size): Graubuenden (GR), 7108.9 km2 
   Canton (inhabitants): Zuerich (ZH), 1'128'500 (1970)

"HIGHEST"
   mountain: partly Swiss Dufourspitze/Pointe Dufour (Monte Rosa)
                                                        4634m
             entirely Mischabelsdom                     4545m

2.4 Political system

The political system is mainly composed of three levels: the communal
(city), the state (cantonal) level and the federal level. At all
levels, the voters have the right of active participation through
elections, petition, initiative and referendum, and of course by
running for public office.

   - voters:     the people who can elect people. It should be noted that the
                 participation rate is usually very low (about 33%, except for
                 the canton SH, where the rate is usually about 65% because any
                 voter not voting pays a nominal fee of CHF 5.- (?) for each
                 vote s/he didn't participate in.)
   - eligible:  the people who can be elected for public office
   - petition:   non-binding request for legislative action through signatures.
   - initiative: proposition from a group of voters which becomes a law
                 if there are enough people signing it and it passes the
                 vote (majority of people FOR it. Note that at the
                 federal level, the double majority of citizens and Cantons is
                 necessary, because it only allows currently Constitutional
                 changes; in the now proposed reform, however, the initiative
                 for laws would be allowed at the federal level).
   - referendum: popular vote on a bill that has been passed by a legislative
                 corpus (federal level: Federal Assembly).
                 A fixed number of signatures (at federal level: 50,000)
                 is required to request a (facultative) referendum on an
                 ordinary law.
                 Constitutional changes, international treaties, or executive
                 emergency decrees are followed by a compulsory referendum
                 vote.
                 Some Cantons require a referendum vote for expenditures
                 exceeding a certain amount.
                 The law/constitutional change/treaty/budget item comes into
                 effect if a simple majority of voters approve it.
                 Note: There are no non-binding, informative referendums in
                 Switzerland.

There is also an administrative entity called a district (county) and
the rough concept of a region.

Public officials face re-election every four years. There
are usually 4 to 6 ballots a year on multiple subjects (mainly
referendums) and elections, on all levels.

Women and men have equal rights, as guaranteed by the Constitution.

2.4.1 Communal

Those 18 years of age or older are eligible to vote.  In some cantons,
such as Neuchatel, non-Swiss long-time residents may also vote.
Eligible are usually the same as the voters (even foreigners in some
cantons, except for special offices). The main apparatus is the
Communal Council (executive) and the General Council (legislative
branch). The mayor is usually called a chairman; sometimes he is
called `maire' (Jura) or `syndic' (Vaud), and he is called a
Gemeindeamman or Stadtamman in AG.  In BE, there is the Gemeinde-(or
Stadt-)praesident, and the Gemeinderatspraesident.. There are usually
initiative, petition and referendum possibilities.

2.4.2 Cantons

Voters are women or men aged 18 (no foreigners). Eligible are same.
There is usually a `Grand Council' (legislative branch) and a `State
Council' (executive). The Cantons have a very high degree of
independence. See 2.5.1. Basically each canton has its own political
model and a generalization is only possible to a certain
extent. Foreigner's vote has been discussed in Neuchatel, Geneva and
AR, but has not been accepted yet.

Some Cantons (Swiss-German) have a very special democratic assembly
called a Landsgemeinde where all important decisions are made. This
public assembly is held on the central square of the Canton's capital.

These are the following Cantons and half-cantons, along with their
entry dates into the Swiss Confederation:

Aargau (AG; 1803), Appenzell Ausser-Rhoden (AR/half; 1501),
Basel-Landschaft (BL/half; 1501), Basel-Stadt (BS/half; 1501), Bern
(BE; 1353), Fribourg (FR; 1481), Geneve (GE; 1815), Glarus (GL; 1352),
Graubunden (GR; 1803), Appenzell Inner-Rhoden (AI/half; 1501), Jura
(JU; 1978), Luzern (LU; 1332), Neuchatel (NE; 1815), Nidwalden
(NW/half; 1291), Obwalden (OW/half; 1291), Sankt Gallen (SG; 1803),
Schaffhausen (SH; 1501), Schwyz (SZ; 1291), Solothurn (SO; 1481),
Thurgau (TG; 1803), Ticino (TI; 1803), Uri (UR; 1291), Valais (VS;
1815), Vaud (VD; 1803), Zug (ZG; 1352), Zuerich (ZH; 1351).

2.4.3 Confederation

The Federal Constitution from 1848 has been largely influenced by the
constitution of the USA: a Parliament made up of the representatives
of the People and of the States.  Voters are the same as in
Cantons. There is the `Federal Assembly', the legislative branch,
composed of two chambers (National Council, or People's chamber, and
the Council of States). Members of both chambers are elected by the
people; the election procedures are, nevertheless, different for the
two chambers: each state has a number of seats in the National Council
proportionnal to its population and the election modus is
proportionnal and handled at the federal level. On the contrary, the
Council of States is meant to represent the Cantons (there are 2
senators per Canton, 1 for half-cantons) and councilors are elected
with rules varying from Canton to Canton, usually
majoritarian. Originally, the role of this chamber was to prevent a
single Canton (e.g. Zuerich for Swiss-German, or Geneva for
French-speaking) to control the decisions. A bill becomes law if it
passes both chambers (assuming the law is not subject to compulsory
referendum, or referendum, where the people have the last
word). Differences in opinion between the two chambers are conciliated
in a joint conference committee.

There is no Constitutional Court: thus federal laws and acts sometimes
conflict with the Constitution. As a last resort, the Federal Court can
statute on specific cases and emit a jurisprudence. 
 
The executive power is vested in the Federal Council, composed of 7
Federal Councillors, each of whom is the head of a federal
department. The presidency and vice-presidency are held every year by a
different member of the Federal Council (by rotation).  The Federal
Council is elected by the Federal Assembly after proposition by the
main Parties.

The 1995 Federal Councillors and their portfolios are:

   Arnold KOLLER, AI         [ CVP ]  Department of Justice and Police
   Flavio COTTI, TI          [ CVP ]  Department of Foreign Affairs
   Kaspar VILLIGER, LU       [ FDP ]  Department of the Treasury
   Adolf OGI, BE             [ SVP ]  Department of the Military
   Ruth DREIFUSS, GE/AG/BE   [ SP  ]  Department of Internal Affairs
   Jean-Pascal DELAMURAZ, VD [ FDP ]  Department of Public Economy
   Moritz LEUENBERGER, ZH    [ SP  ]  Department of Energy, Transport,
                                                    and Communications

President for 1996 is Jean-Pascal DELAMURAZ (was Kaspar VILLIGER in
1995) and vice-president is (unknown).

The Federal Council differs from the executive branch in other
countries.  While it resembles a Cabinet, there are distinct
differences: (1) There is no prime minister.  All seven members of the
Council are of equal rank (Minister). (2) The Council is not subject
to a non-confidence vote in Parliament. Technically, Switzerland is
therefore not a parliamentary democracy. (3) The parliament appoints
the Councillors every four year.  No repeal is possible during the
tenure (early retreat is possible, see e.g. Mrs. Kopp, or recently
Mr. Stich). (4) There is really little control on what the government
does since most of its activities are classified. There can be
Parlementary Commissions mandated to audit on special cases.

Switzerland has been governed by a grand coalition since 1959.  The
`magic formula' defines the composition of the grand coalition of the
executive. It permits almost all important Swiss Parties (both
right-wings and left-wings) to have a seat (or more than one). Another
`magic formula rule' states that there must be 4 Swiss-German,
2 Swiss-French, and, if possible 1 Swiss-Italian.

There is also a rule in the Constitution forbidding more than one
Councillor from one Canton (the goal was to prevent a single Canton,
eg. Zuerich for Swiss-German, or Geneva for French-speaking region, to
get too much power).  In the past, this rule has been however cleverly
circumvented (election of Ruth DREIFUSS, see [4]).

The parties represented are:
   Center Democratic Union    (center-right[1])       (1)   [ SVP ]
      (This can be translated also by Swiss People's Party or the
      Agrarian Party)
   Radical Democratic Party   (moderate right)        (2)   [ FDP ]
      (This may be translated as Liberal Democratic Party, however,
      there is another Liberal party mainly in the French-speaking part,
      thus I took the French translation.)
   Social-Democratic Party    (moderate left/left)    (2)   [ SP  ]
   Christian Democratic Party (moderate right)        (2)   [ CVP ]

These four are the major parties in Switzerland, but there are many
more, on both sides of the spectrum. It should be noted that the same
party can have quite different points of view depending on the canton,
a well-known example is SVP Bern and SVP Zurich. CVP, FDP and SVP are
all considered on the right, with SVP usually being the most
conservative and sometimes linked to rural communities. FDP is the
big business's party, and CVP is predominant in Roman Catholic cantons. SP
is the only major party of the left, but often has alliances with the
Green Party (ecologists) and other groups with common interests.

Other Swiss Parties:
   Liberal Party       (LPS)         (right)
   Swiss democrats     (SD)          (extreme-right)
   Communist Party                   (extreme-left)
      Partei der Arbeit (PDA)
      Parti du Travail  (PdT)
      Parti Ouvrier Populaire (POP)
   Liberty Party                     (right to extreme-right)
   Green Party         (GPS)         (moderate left)
   Independent Party   (LdU)         (center-right)
   Ticino League                     (right to extreme-right)
   SolidariteS                       (moderate left)

While the representation of parties in the executive has been constant
for the last decades, their seats in the Parliament depends on the
vote shares. Here is the current representation (next elections
October 1995):

   National council:
      seats   (200 total) FDP 44, SP 42, CVP 37, SVP 25, GPS 14, LPS 10,
                          AP 8, LdU 6, SD 5, EVP 3, PdA 2, Ticino League 2,
                          other 2.
   Council of States:
      seats   (46 total)  FDP 18, CVP 16, SVP 4, SP 3, LPS 3, LdU 1,
                          Ticino League 1

There is a federal right for initiative and referendum. The procedure
for an initiative is as follows:

   a) form a committee and compose the text of the proposed new law
   b) try to find 100,000 signatures in less than 18[3] months
   c) if you have them: deposit the initiative in the federal chancellery
   d) the Federal Assembly either rejects or accepts the initiative (usually
      based on a government proposal). In some cases the Assembly
      introduces an alternative version.
   e) on that basis, the federal chancellery sends a small information
      booklet to each voter outlining the parliament's position on
      the initiative and the arguments of the committee.
   f) the people must vote on the initiative and on a possible
      alternative.

Usually, the people vote in conformity with the position taken on
the issue by the Federal Assembly and Council. In rare instances,
the people vote against the explicit suggestions of the government; then,
however, the people are right :-)[2]

[1] In some Cantons, it is more right than center-right (e.g. Zuerich).

[2] In some rare and specific cases, some initiatives have been declared
invalid. Usually it is because the committee did not respect the unity
of content (ie do not mix up subjects demagogigally). One could argue
that the Parliament itself does usually not propose votes which
respect the unity of content.

[3] Referendum needs 50.000 in 3 months.

[4] In March 1993, the Federal Counciler Rene FELBER announced his
    resignation. As he was SP, and because of the ``magic formula'', the
    seat was implicitly reserved for SP, and possibly for a French-speaking
    representative. Francis MATTHEY, a Neuchatel SP was elected (the
    official candidate was Christiane BRUNNER, with almost no votes). The
    President of the SP party, Peter BODENMANN and the feminists of the
    SP Party declared that a woman was necessary and Francis MATTHEY was
    forced to refuse its election, against the wishes of the Neuchatel
    section's Presidenct (which was a woman). As it was clear that
    Christiane BRUNNER would never be elected (not as a woman,
    but as a person) and that SP could lose a seat, the SP party proposed
    Ruth DREIFUSS, a lot more moderate. The problem was the
    one-counciler-per-canton Constitutional rule. Ruth DREIFUSS promptly
    officially established to Geneva (in one week-end: I wonder which office
    released her papers on a Sunday !) to circumvent the rule. The
    whole event has been presented by SP as being the great victory
    for feminism. Strangely enough, most feminist deputees from other
    parties, and some from the SP Party, were not quite sure that this
    dramatic ``mise-en-scene'' was necessary. Mrs. DREIFUSS is from
    Endingen (AG). 

2.4.4 For more information

For a more extensive chapter on Swiss foreign policy you might want to
access http://www-scf.usc.edu/~sschmidt/swiss.html

A proposal for revision of the Federal Constitution is at
http://www.unil.ch/isdc/const/

Christian HERZIG (cherzig@sc.epfl.ch) maintains a WWW site about
the political system and votes (results available):
   http://diwww.epfl.ch/~cherzig/Democracy/index.html

The Swiss Confederation has announced on 15/09/95 a WWW server at
   http://www.admin.ch/
it contains very interesting information about the federal sessions,
members and issues.

2.5 Issues
2.5.1 Federalism and multiculturalism

One of the riches of Switzerland is its multi-cultural fabric:
recently, the Parliament recognized Romantsch as an official language
(before, it was only a national language, ie not used in the
administration). Most people in Switzerland want to preserve the
national cohesion: however, there are differences between cultural
regions (and between town and rural areas) and sometimes it poses
problems (recent votess, such as UNO, have shown the distance
between, for example, French-speaking regions and
Swiss-German-speaking region, and between small towns and rural areas
and big cities).

About Romantsch: The URL http://xmission.com/~pengar/non-profit/PUNTS
points to a newspaper in (Grischuns) Romantsch. While there are 4 more
Romantsch dialects, this one appears to be the most popular
one. Please note that Romantsch uses umlauts so make sure your WWW
browser can handle that.

This multi-culturalism is possible because Switzerland is federalist. The
Confederation only takes care of some important charges (such as military,
social insurance, treaty with other countries, and so on). Everything
else, for example education, police or public assistance is of the domain
of the Cantons (or the cities).

Laws are usually the same between Cantons, with some local exceptions
(notably, polizeistunde (closedown for pubs) or legality of
abortion).  Some Cantons do apply Federal law differently than
others: for example, the French-speaking region (Welschschweiz, Suisse
romande) is very restrictive regarding the consumption of drugs: some
cities (such as Zuerich) have been very permissive. With `conscience
objectors' (ie people not wanting to do the compulsory military
service), the situation is somewhat inverted.

There are also multiple religions in Switzerland. However, people
are usually not very active. Some Cantons include Church Tax in the
taxes, most are separated from the Church, but recognize some churches
as official.

1980:
   Roman Catholic: 47.6%
   Reformed Church (Protestant): 44.3%
   Others: 8.1%

2.5.2 Transportation

If Switzerland wants to continue to be the gateway between the North
and South of Europe (and of course also between Western and Eastern
Europe), the transport infrastructure must be further developed. A
recent example of such investments is the NEAT project, a transalpine
railroad line. This project is projected to cost 15.000.000.000 Swiss
Francs. There has been a vote on it, and now their are financial
problems.

Following a vote for a constitutional amendment, no construction of new
roads for transit traffic is allowed and all transit traffic is
supposed to use railways rather than road trucks at the latest from
2020 on. The goal is to force transportation of goods to use the
rail.

2.5.3 EU and participation in other international organizations

Currently these are hot topics in Switzerland. Switzerland is not a
member of UNO nor EU. However, it participates in most UNO offices and
projects and tries to set up/has bilateral agreements with the EU.
Switzerland *is* a member of the European Council and holds full
membership in other pan-European and international organizations: the
OSCE (formerly CSCE), the ESA (European Space Agency) the OECD, the
WTO, the World Bank and the IMF to name only a few. Joining or not
joining the EU is really one of the hottest topics in Switzerland.

It is a pity that both the defenders and attackers of the
participation in the European Union are using demagogic arguments.

2.5.4 Military

See question 3.2

2.5.5 Immigrants, Foreign Workers, and Refugees

Switzerland has a long tradition of being a country prone to accept
refugees. It has also a relatively high percentage of foreigners (19%,
1995), which is explained only partly by the real difficulties
foreigners may have to become swiss (12 years staying). A nice and
entertaining movie on that subject, even if a little outdated, is
"Schweizermacher" / "Swiss makers" with Walo Luoend and Emile. The
policy of the government, especially regarding refugees has become
harsher. Many new laws have been adopted to distinguish between
economic refugees (which do not have the right to be accepted) and
political refugees. There have also been votes on anti-foreigner laws,
but they have not been accepted by the people. However, recently, the
proposition to diminish the restrictions on foreigner's flat and
houses buyings has been disapproved by the people (Lex Friedrich, June
95).  Also the Swiss naturalization (which would have been much easier
for young foreigner living in CH) has been refused at the federal
level.  Some Cantons (Neuchatel) have introduced since a long time the
possibility for a foreigner to vote and to be elected at the communal
level; however, the extension to the cantonal level has been
refused. Recently, a new law authorizing immigration service to use
more powerful means of controlling immigration has been accepted
(Constraints measures).

Switzerland has made apologies (1995) to the Jewish people for the
attitude in World War II (Switzerland official policy was not to
accept Jews; however many Swiss citizens have ignored the law,
fortunately). There was of course a debate on this subject.

The statute of foreigners coming to work for a season in Switzerland
(seasonal workers) is also being debated, being considered unfair
status by the EU as part of the bilateral agreements.

2.5.6 Working conditions

Unemployment rates are currently very high (4%, The Economist, 1995)
compared with what they were in the past. Switzerland's
competitiveness, mainly caused by the value of its money, has
fallen. However, the conditions are still very good, partly thanks to
the Work Peace (an agreement between unions and owners) and partly due
to the political stability, to the efficent infrastructure (plus still
relatively low tax levels).

Note that there are differences between Cantons. For example Geneve
has more than 7% percent, and most Swiss-German Cantons are below
5%. However, Geneve is more than a specific case, since, eg. Fribourg,
Neuchatel and Vaud are about 5% (July 1995). In most Cantons, the rate
is decreasing.


2.6 Visiting Switzerland

Switzerland has excellent tourist offices in many places, see 4 for
details. They offer you lots of free information.

Don't forget that voltage and frequency are different.  USA is 110 V
at 60 Hz and Switzerland is 230 V at 50 Hz (soon: 240 at 50 Hz). Most
plugs are also different even if they look the same.

Modems must be approved by the Swiss Federal Communication Office
(German: BACOM; French: OFCOM). Foreign versions usually work, except
you may have problems with the tax impulsion at 12 KHz. Using non
approved modems is illegal and may lead to fines and of course
confiscation of the equipment. You must also pay attention to the fact
that telephone connectors are different. Not only for historical
reasons you will encounter in Switzerland three different type of
connectors (round, rectangular, seldom RJ), but standard RJ connectors
don't have exactly the same wire-layout as in the US and
Canada. Adapters are available in stores in the US and
Canada but are quite expensive.

2.7 Looking for a job in Switzerland

Switzerland is not an immigration country. You only have a chance to
get a work permit if your profession is in high demand in Switzerland.
To be successful you must first find a company willing to hire you.
If you work in "high-tech" it is definitely possible to find such a
job.  Best companies to try are large technological companies and
banks.

2.8 School system

Compulsory school (and also non compulsory school, Universities,
except the Federal Institute of Technology) is set up by the
Cantons. Thus, there are differences between Cantons. Most of the
Cantons have however a compulsory school system as follows:

   5 (or 6) years of primary school (7 to 12)
   4 (or 3) years of secondary school (12 to 15)
      The secondary school is usually separated in different sections,
      such as Scientific, Classic and Modern. Some cantons do implement
      a pre-professional section. Among others, you learn at least
      three languages (yours, one other Swiss language, and another).
      Usually this is French/German/English for French-speaking people, or
      French/German/Italian. Most (if not all) Swiss-German Cantons teach
      French.

Then, people may choose one of the following options:
    a) do an apprenticeship (French: apprentissage) while working, and
       obtain the Federal Certificate of Capacity.
    b) go to technical school to become technician or engineer (this
       is the same as an engineer in Germany or England). There are a lot
       of technical schools / engineer schools. There is currently a
       reform going on.
    c) go to Gymnasium/Gymnase/Lycee (4 years) and get the Federal
       Certificate of Maturity in Science, Letters or General matters
       (the latter is not federally recognized, but there are agreements
       between some Cantons). This is like a Baccalaureat in France.
    d) go to Commercial School and get a Federal Certificate of Maturity.
    e) go to private schools which deliver similar certificates. Most of
       the Private schools are for dropouts, generally, who want to stay
       in school, and these are not frequent cases. This does not include
       the many Private schools for foreign people sending their children
       in Switzerland, or Elitist (read: expensive) or Religious schools.

Option c and d allows to enter the Universities or ETH/EPF (Federal
Institute of Technology, two in Switzerland). There are some ways to
enter ETH/EPF with unrecognized certificates and gateways for ETS/HTL,
as long as you have solid maths basis and you speak at least two swiss
languages (this is of course a big problem for ``Auslandschweizer'',
foreign Swiss citizens). There are a lot of Universities, especially
in the French-speaking part, a lot less in the Swiss-German-speaking
region, and none in Tessin. They are in the process of merging
somewhat because of the costs involved.

The Universities are:

Geneve (http://www.unige.ch), Lausanne (http://www.unil.ch),
Fribourg (http://www.unifr.ch), Neuchatel (http://www.unine.ch),
Bern (http://www.unibe.ch), Zuerich (http://www.unizh.ch),
Basel (http://www.unibas.ch), Sankt-Gall (http://www.unisg.ch).

The Federal Institutes of Technology are:

ETHZ: Zuerich (http://www.ethz.ch)
EPFL: Lausanne (http://www.epfl.ch)

There are also a lot of technical schools (ETS/HTL), and some are
currently merging. To enter an HTL/ETS, you need a completed apprenticeship

Note that very few Swiss people go to University, since the practical
formation is very good and because, even if the direct costs for
studying is low (most universities and both EPF are under SFr 500.-
per semester) and the openness is high, the indirect costs (flat,
books, food) are quite high. For example, a shared flat in Lausanne
near the EPFL is more than 400.- SFr per month. An independant ``studio''
costs 500 to 600.- and a 3-room. Also note that the women/men distribution
is not equal (a lot less women), especially in the technical and
scientific world.

In Tessin, a study has shown that 35% of the people get a Certificate
of Maturity, and of them 90% go to Universities or Institute of
Technology. These numbers are fairly high for Switzerland.

3.  Frequently Asked Questions
3.1 Internet in Switzerland
3.1.1 Service Providers

See http://heiwww.unige.ch/switzerland/internet_access_providers.html
for a list of access (service?) providers in Switzerland.

3.1.2 Internet Coffee Shops

French-speaking part:
   Geneva
   Lausanne
   Fribourg
   Neuchatel: Le 21.
   Lausanne (Ecublens): Club Internet, Tir federal 80, (021) 691 25 93, but
                        this is not quite a coffee.

German-speaking part:
   Basel
   Bern (only 2 workstations and it is around 10 CHF for
         half an hour; Berner Zeitung)
   Aarau (Herzogstrasse 26)
   Bremgarten (Restaurant Krone, Obertorplatz 7)
   Urzach (Promenadenstrasse 6; 10 workstations)
   Zuerich (Rotwandstrasse 4 and Uraniastrasse 4)
   
Italian-speaking part:
   Lugano (Hotel Colorado)

And it's not forbidden to drink virtual coffee here :-)

[ A list is available as: http://www.easynet.co.uk/pages/cafe/ccafe.htm
  (this is not a mistyping, BTW, it is really .htm and not .html) ]

3.2 Military service / guns

3.2.1 Military service
 
Military service is compulsory for every male Swiss.  There is no
civil service to substitute armed service (this was refused two times
in a vote). Every male Swiss citizen has to go to the army unless
physically or mentally handicapped or unless he can "prove" to a jury
of officers that he has sound religious reasons for refusing to do
service (Barras Law).

In rare cases, unarmed military service (e.g. medical or postal units)
is available for conscience reasons.  Conscientious objectors are put
in prison.  This fact has led to several citations of Switzerland by
the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg, with little avail.  For that
reason, objectors often try to circumvent military service citing
medical reasons.  If declared unable for service, a citizen must serve
on the civil protection (similar to a fire brigade, however it is
separate from it and is only necessary in case of war, natural
(floods, storms, avalanches) or industrial (chemical/nuclear)
incidents) and pay a military substitute tax.

Every soldier keeps his military outfit, his weapon, and war ammunition
at home at all times. The ammunition is sealed. The weapon can be used
for compulsory and voluntary shooting exercises, which are quite
popular (also drawing large female participation). The ammunition shall
only be opened in case of war.

After a basic (Academy) training of 100 days at about age 20, active
service requires 3 weeks long training courses approximately every
other year (or two weeks per year, depending on the affiliation) until
the soldier has served a total of 300 days.  In addition, every
soldier must complete yearly shooting exercises, usually done in local
shooting ranges.

After completion of the basic training, a soldier can volunteer or can
be asked (and sometimes forced by law!) to become a non-commissioned
officer (corporal) and then officer. This costs a lot of time in
grade-``paying'' (one must do special schools and then redo a basic
training as corporal or officer). All military personnel (including
the Corps Commander, the highest ranking officer in peacetime) has
started as a soldier in Switzerland's militia army.

The Swiss army has approximately 400,000 soldiers (compared to 600,000
in Germany).

Women can join the military voluntarily. Their duties are often not
the same, but lately their chores can be almost everything except what
would be considered a direct exposure to the front in case of war.

A soldier (basically every male under 35) who leaves the country for a
period longer that 6 months, has to take leave from the army, must
deposit his military equipment and has to register with the embassy
abroad, and pay the military fee for three years.

In 1989 a left-wing (note that the social-democratic party was not
supporting the initiative and did not either ask people to reject or
accept it. Doing else would have jeopardized its status as a
governmental party in the `magic formula') initiative led to a popular
vote to abolish the army. The initiative was rejected by approximately
64.4% against 35.6% of the votes. Other anti-military initiatives are
in preparation (e.g. for cutting the military budget in half, this one
supported by the social-democratic party).  The 1989 vote sparked a
military reform (Armee 95) to reduce the individual service period, to
cut the number of active soldiers by one third, and to improve the
technical equipment.

There is a heated debate in Switzerland on the following topics:
   o  Role of the military (defense against whom, role in national union)
   o  Humanitarian missions of the military
   o  Use for UNO missions (this has been specifically rejected in
                            a vote in 1995)
   o  Professionalization of the military (i.e. no more compulsory service)

In particular French-speaking Cantons (mainly Geneva) are critical of
the military; most others (including Tessin, most French-speaking and
all Swiss-German) are not against it but would like to see it
reformed.  The way it should evolve is not quite clear. The
French-speaking Swiss would like the military to help the UNO and be
humanitarian. On the whole, the (majority of) Swiss-Germans dislike
the UNO but are not against the other proposition.  The (majority of)
French-speaking Swiss are in support of a professional military; the
Swiss-Germans usually think that this would cost too much and that the
integrative role the military service plays would disappear.

3.2.2 Regulations on guns (most of this contributed by Emmanuel BAECHLER)

First of all, firearms are regulated by a Federal law, but it has to
be applied by Cantons, thus there are 26 practices. Happily most of
them agree, in a sensed way, on how to apply that law.

Note that a new federal law is being prepared. Its content is not yet
known.

In order to buy a handgun, you must get a purchase license from the
police.  To get it, you must be over 18, you must be member of a
shooting society (at least for the first ones) and, if you live with
other people, they must somewhat agree with that (I really don't know
what can happen if they don't). You must also produce a good-morality
certificate.

The first license takes a little bit of time, around one month. all
the other ones come in a few days (between a week and two weeks and a
half in my experience).

On each license, you must mention your motivation. The most current
one is ``shooting and collection''.  In fact it is so frequent that it
has been proposed to directly print it on the sheets. Unhappily the
police did not like the idea.

As long as your motivation is ``shooting and collection'', The policy
is that a .22 is *STRONGLY* recommended as a first handgun. however
you will be able to buy a 9mm, a .357 or a .45.

The handguns that you won't be able to get for the first licenses are
pocket handguns (snubs) and monsters (>= .44 Magnum). Pocket handguns
remain difficult to get, unless you are a collector, or if you ask for
a purchase license, with ``defense'' as a motivation.

The practice about ``defense'' licenses varies over time. A few years
ago, the police was rather restrictive and you really needed ``good
reason'' to get them. They are more liberal, now. This makes more
sense as concealed carry is free in many cantons (for example Vaud).

Full auto rifles are submitted to licenses. In order to get one, you
must be considered as a collector. In some cantons, this is automatic
after the fifth firearm. People in that situation can get almost
whatever they want. However, people cannot use full auto rifles. There
are some exceptions, but they are quite rare and require quite a lot
of effort to get them. The only real one is that you can use your
privately owned full auto Stgw90/Fass90 in the OFFICIAL ranges under
the same conditions than ordonnance (military) Stgw90/Fass90,
respectively the old model 57. Note that the weapon kept at home by
soldiers is a fully working Stgw90/Fass90 (or 57), or a handgun for
officers.

Repeating and single action rifles are free of license.

Repeating and self loading shotguns require a purchase license, unless
you block their capacity at three shots and have a hunting permit. In
this case, they are considered as hunting firearms and do not require
any license.

In many German speaking Cantons, both self loading rifles, repeating
and self loading shotguns can be owned freely.

Finally, carrying is not regulated in some Cantons. So, when you get a
handgun license, you are totally free to carry it, if you want: this
is your responsibility. The practice is such that unless you are a
money carrier or something like that, you should carry your(s) weapon
concealed. Carrying a weapon openly cannot cause you real problems,
but you risk much more controls from the police.

The exceptions:
  - Geneva and Basel forbid full auto rifles.
  - Geneva almost forbid semi-autos rifles (they make *very* difficult
    to get them). 
  - Basel authorizes the purchase of at most 4 self loading rifles per year.
  - Geneva and Zurich require a concealed carry permit which is very 
    difficult to get.
  - Basel requires a concealed carry permit, which can be obtained without
    motivation.

In many cantons silencers are forbidden.

About ammunition: There is no restriction, in the sense that you can
buy whatever you find on the market without any quantity
limitation. If you buy ten tons of 9mm Para, I am however sure that
the police will become highly interested by your activities.

Private companies can import ammunition freely, but they must have a
pretty serious material and financial base.

Note that individuals can import privately batches of 500 rounds of
ammo.

In Vaud, there is no limitation about the quantity of firearms that
you can own.  However, if you buy 4 AK-74 a week, the police might
ask you some questions.

Finally, established foreigners have the same rights that Swiss
citizens about firearms, but I don't know the situation for people
with 1 year-renewable working permits.

3.2.3 Guns popularity

Guns are very popular in Switzerland: there are a lot of Shooting
Clubs and shootings are organized almost every week (not counting the
compulsory shooting for each citizen-soldier every year, and some
week-ends). Moreover, there are Shooting Festivals organized usually
once a year (e.g. in Neuchatel the ``Tir Cantonal''). There is also
the Federal Shooting.

A lot of young people (teenagers usually) are training voluntarily in
Shooting Clubs.

The fact that most weapon users are experienced may explain the
relatively low injury rate due to weapons in Switzerland.

3.2.4 Guns abuse

Compared to the amount of weapons kept at home because of the Military,
and because a lot of people like weapons in Switzerland (and the laws
are somewhat permissive), people wonder why there is so little
gun abuse in Switzerland.

It is very difficult to answer this question. Some readers suggested
the following reasons:

   - every male who has an army gun at home is trained to use it. He
     knows the effect an automatic rifle can have and therefore will
     hesitate to use it in private matters. Moreover, spontaneous use
     of guns in personal fights related to jealousy are less probable
     because Swiss people don't usually blow their top or fly off the
     handle :-)

   - Swiss people learn to hate their gun so much during the army service,
     that they're very happy to store it in the closet and never touch
     it again until the next service. In fact, the gun is a pain: It's
     heavy, you have to carry it everywhere, you have to clean it thousands
     of times, there are frequent quality controls, etc. So you're nothing
     but happy to leave it alone as long as possible. This does not apply
     to the ones active in any shooting association, of course, who are
     many.

   - Swiss people are used to living close each other, with no shortage
     of police on the beat. Well, if you travel to other countries you
     may not quite agree.

   - Switzerland has one of the highest standards of living worldwide.
     Crime is very low in general. So is gun related crime. One way to
     put it is: "The swiss are rich enough - so there's no need to steal
     anything from somebody else.". But, then how did we get rich in
     the first place ? :-)
 
3.3 Swiss navy

Switzerland is land-locked. However, following the experiences in the
last World Wars, Switzerland has a merchant navy in order to
facilitate transportation in times of crisis. Sea port is Genova in
Italy and the navy counts some 30-odd ocean-going ships. Not counting
the many ships on the lakes and on the rivers :-)

3.4 5th Switzerland

There are 4 cultures in Switzerland. However, there is a fifth: the
Swiss who have left the country. They keep their voting right (at the
federal level only) and they can keep the contact with
Switzerland. Every year, a delegation of young foreign Swiss is
received in Berne. It is certain that a lot (if not most) of the
readers of soc.culture.swiss are indeed foreign Swiss.

3.5 Swiss-German vs German

You have to know that Swiss-German is very different from German.
Also, there is not one Swiss-German, but on the contrary a lot of
dialects: The dialects spoken in Bern (one of the easiest to learn,
though native german may prefer anything closer to Germany (SH/TG/SG
or even ZH)) is different from the one which is spoken in Graubuenden
or Zuerich.  Also, there is no real written form (they tend to also be
written nowadays, eg. on advertising). Most Swiss-German know German
from the compulsory school, with a strong ``Swiss'' accent.  In the
technical world, however, English is becoming very popular.

It is better to know (or at least understand) Swiss-German if one
wants to be integrated: besides, a lot of Swiss-German know English
and French as well.

In almost all German speaking countries, such regional dialects are
used (Germany, Austria) and in the Romandie (french speaking part of
Switzerland), the regional dialects (patois) have disappeared only the
last two centuries, leaving very small regions where only a few people
still know their patois.

Ticinesi used to speak the Lombardic dialect of Italian, very
different from the Tuscan standard.

3.6 Universities in Ticino

At the moment there is no Italian speaking University in Switzerland.
And there is also no Romantsch speaking University. Italian-speaking
people may go to Italy if they want to be taught in Italian. However,
most of the time they go to Zuerich or in the Romandie, thus they
usually learn German and French. There are some projects for
Universities in Ticino (especially under Mario BOTTA's influence):
however, the time is currently a ``shrinking budgets'' one, and some
people regards a future University in Ticino as a way of isolating
Ticinesi from the rest of Switzerland, thus it will probably not be
realized in the near future.

3.7 Miscellaneous legal questions
3.7.1 Introduction
Swiss laws may vary from Canton to Canton. However, some matters are
handled by federal laws. For example, the legal age for marriage (male
and female) is 18 (before you need authorization from parents).

3.7.2 Rape or sexual prosecution or discrimination

There are laws, even against rape in marriage (eg. a husband may not force his
wife to have sexual contacts with him). Also with the new laws (since
1992 or 1993), the abuse of relation of dependency for sexual purposes is
punishable too: for example, an employee in a company is protected against
her boss or if a drug addicted person needs money and the only way to get
it is prostitution, a suitor could be prosecuted for abusing the misery of
the addicted person.

3.8 Swiss tax system

Switzerland due to its federal nature has a complex tax system, at the
three federal, cantonal and communal levels.

   1. Federal income tax, also called ``Direct federal tax'', the same
      everywhere.
   2. Cantonal income tax (usually lower in industrial/non-rural Cantons)
   3. Communal income tax

There is also a value added tax (TVA) at 6.5% (before 1996 it was
called Wust/ICHA at 6.2%, with a different scheme).

4.  Swiss institutions and products abroad
4.1 Swiss institutions/products in the US

There are several Swiss tourist offices in the US even though it seems
that some have closed recently (e.g. in San Francisco (?)).

    Chicago:
             Suite 2930
             150 North Michigan Avenue
             Chicago, IL 60601
             Tel (312) 630 5840  Fax  630 5848

    LA:
             222 No. Sepulveda Blvd, Suite 1570
             El Segundo, Los Angeles, CA 90245
             Tel  (310) 335 5980  Fax 335 5982

    NY: 
             Swiss National Tourist Office
             Swiss Center, 608 Fifth Avenue
             New York, NY 10020
             Tel  (212) 757 5944  Fax 262 6116

Swiss consulates:
   New York: Rolex Building, 665 5th Av (8th floor), (212) 758 2560
   Chicago: 737 North Michigan Avenue, (312) 915 0061
   Washington DC:
   San Francisco
   Los Angeles

Other numbers:
   Swissair: 800 221 4750

4.2 Swiss institutions/products in Australia

Embassy of Switzerland:
   Canberra: 7, Melbourne Avenue, Forrest, ACT 2603, +61.6.2733977

Swiss consulates:
   Melbourne: Consulate General of Switzerland, PO Box 7026, Melbourne,
              Vic 3004, +61.3.8672266

4.3 Other countries

Swiss National Tourist Office in Canada (the Swiss Consulate General is
                                         next door)
    Toronto:
             154, University avenue, Suite 610
             Toronto  M5H 3Y9
             Tel  (416) 971 9734  Fax 971 6425

In Japan:

    Tokyo:
             CS-Tower, 2nd floor
             1-11-30 Akasaka, Minato-ku
             Tokyo 107
             Tel  (03) 35 89 55 88  Fax 32 24 08 00

Great Britain:

    London:
             Swiss Centre, Swiss Court, W1V8EE
             Tel (171) 734 19 21
             Fax (171) 437 45 77


5.  More information

More information can be found on WWW from the Switzerland Home Page,
    http://heiwww.unige.ch/switzerland/

There are some books which may be interesting (more are listed through
the document):
   "Das Profil der Schweiz"
   "La Suisse - de la formation des
    Alpes a la quete du futur", Ex Libris, 1975. 

About swiss culture and military (in English):
    "La Place de la Concorde Suisse" 

The "Annuaire statistique de la Suisse" is available in German
or in French in most bookshops (in CH).    

A real good source for maps is:
   Kuemmerly & Frey
   Geographischer Verlag
   Hallerstrasse 10
   3012 Bern

Touristical information can be asked there:

    Swiss Hotel Association
    Monbijoustrasse 130
    P.O.Box
    3001 Bern
    Tel (031) 370 4111  Fax  370 4444

    Switzerland Tourism
    Bellariastrasse 38
    Postfach
    8027 Zurich
    Tel (01) 288 1111  Fax  288 1205


6.  Credits

Some of the following people contributed large parts of this document.
Using the following information for mailing-lists or junk mail is
of course forbidden.

Marcel BIGGER <bigger@expert.cc.purdue.edu>
Andrew MALAKOFF <ambler@eskimo.com>
Ulrich SCHLAEPFER <us2b+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Sarah EGGLESTON <Sarah.Eggleston@newcastle.ac.uk>
Colleen D. WIRTH <wirth@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>
Urs GEISER <geiser@anchx4.chm.anl.gov>
Hansruedi HEEB <heeb@diagonal.ch>
Sven FELDMANN <feldmann@husc.harvard.edu>
Thomas J. GROB <tomjgrob@halcyon.com>
Nicola Tristian MARZOLINO <niccolo1@ix.netcom.com>
Ernest BLASCHKE <ernest.blaschke@canrem.com>
Dan POP <danpop@ues5.cern.ch>
Christian Michel ZIMMERMANN <zimmermann.christian_m@uqam.ca>
Leopoldo GHIELMETTI <ghielmet@lslsun.epfl.ch>
Emmanuel BAECHLER <ebaechle@hospvd.ch>
Wissenschaftliches Rechnen 2/wr44 <wr44@g26.ethz.ch>
Eric von DAENIKEN <G0DAENIKEN@sgcl1.unisg.ch>
Olivier BYRDE <byrde@patpserv.epfl.ch>
Patrik Rene Celeste REALI <prreali@inf.ethz.ch>
Peter M. KELLER <kellerpm@vptt.ch>
Yvan BOTTERON <botteron@vlsi.enel.ucalgary.ca>
Vlad LISSINE <vlis@glas.apc.org>
Julius HEINIS <jheinis@mailer.fsu.edu>
Oswald WYLER <wyler@POP.CS.CMU.EDU>
Marc STEINLIN <stonelli@soziologie.unizh.ch>
Werlin/Paris <mwerlin@sirius.com>
C. Malte LEWAN <cmlewan@sdv.fr>
Jason W. KING <jw2king@calum.csclub.uwaterloo.ca>
Klaus-F. AUGUSTINY <augustiny@pupk.unibe.ch>
Andreas KARRER <karrer@ife.ee.ethz.ch>

Reviewers:
   Tom BUTZ <tomb@midland.co.nz>
   Samir KASME <samir@igly.perth.jtec.com.au>
   Jean-Emmanuel ROTZETTER <jer@pax.eunet.ch>
   Bob DOMBROSKI <mtbob@netrix.net>

