FIDI 65th Annual Conference Geneva
 

Here are some informative facts about Switzerland

Population:                   7,996,026 people as of July 2013

Capital:                         Bern

Largest City:                 Zurich

4 Official Languages:   Swiss German, French, Italian and Romansh


Here are some fun facts about Switzerland:

  • Switzerland is abbreviated to ‘CH’ because of its Latin name, ‘Confoederatio Helvetica.’;
  • There is a giant three-legged chair in Geneva, Switzerland, located infront of the UN headquaters dedicated to the opposition of use of landmines;
  • In Switzerland, it is illegal to deny that the holocaust happened;
  • In Switzerland, it is illegal to keep just one guinea pig. You have got to have them in pairs;
  • One of Switzerland’s main defense strategies is to demolish every main access into the country via roads, bridges, and railways. There are at least 3,000 locations currently prepared to blow at a moment’s notice in case of an attack
  • In Switzerland, a group of citizens may challenge a law passed by Parliament, if they are able to gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days. A national vote is scheduled where voters decide by a simple majority whether to accept or reject the law;
  • Switzerland has no single Head of State. It instead has a seven-member executive council, which serves as the Swiss collective head of state;
  • About 56% of Electricity generated in Switzerland is from hydroelectricity and another 39% from nuclear power, resulting in a nearly CO2-free electricity-generating network;
  • The country of Liechtenstein is so small that in 2007, Swiss troops accidentally invaded it after getting lost in a rainstorm;
  • Dalai Lama owns the smallest vineyard in the world, which is located in Switzerland. It consists of only three vines and has an area of 1.67 meters squared;
  • Switzerland has been an independent country since the year 1499;
  • Switzerland is a landlocked country in Western Europe, it shares a land border with Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy and France;
  • There are more than 1500 lakes in Switzerland containing around 6% of Europe's fresh water stocks;
  • The largest are Lake Geneva, Lake Constance and Lake Maggiore;
  • CERN, the world's largest particle physics laboratory, is based in Geneva and sitting in the ground under it spanning the Swiss/French border, is the Large Hadron Collider that physicists are using for experiments;
  • The Swiss Guards who protect the Vatican, in the Vatican City are dual citizens and the only Swiss citizens allowed to serve in foreign armies;
  • The Swiss flag is the square flag - the vatican also.