Country of little Mountains and efficiency, Switzerland is one of Europe’s most appealing destinations. Wedged neatly between Germany, Austria, France, and Italy, Switzerland melds the best of whole worlds and adds a healthy dose of chocolate, cowbells, and cable cars. Fiercely independent and decidedly high-tech, the Swiss stubbornly hold on to their quaint traditions, too. Join cheesemakers in a high valley, try to call the shepherds on an alphorn, and hike through some of the world’s most stunning mountain sceneries. Let us know some most interesting facts about this beautiful tiny country “Switzerland”.
image: www.yurtopic.com
1. One Of The Two Countries To Have Square Flag
Switzerland is one of the two countries to have Square Flag. The Swiss flag is a red square with a white cross in the centre. Another country is Vatican City.
source: www.expatica.com, image: switzerlandflag.facts.co
2. Major Chocolate Exporter
Switzerland is one of the world’s great exporters of chocolate. Eighteen Swiss chocolate companies make thousands of tons chocolate each year. In 2012, these companies made record 172,376 tons of chocolate. Swiss are chocolate lovers. They eat more chocolate than any other nation in the world, 11.3 kg per year.
source: facts.randomhistory.com, Image: Pixabay
3. Swiss Can Challenge Any Law
People of Switzerland can gather 50,000 signatures against any inappropriate law within 100 days. National voting occurs whether to accept the law or to reject it.
source: www.expatica.com
4. Some Most Famous Inventions
Swiss have created Velcro, cellophane, the Swiss Army Knife, absinthe, the potato peeler, Helvetica font, LSD, muesli, edible chocolate, gold, and milk chocolate to name a few. They were also pioneers in introducing bobsleigh, tobogganing, and luge as a competitive sport to the world.
source: www.expatica.com, image: productimages.knife-depot.com
5. Second Highest Life Expectancy In The World
Swiss have the second highest life expectancy in the world after Japan. In Switzerland, the life expectancy for both sexes is 83.4. Swiss Males ranks first in life expectancy but females at six.
source: www.expatica.com
6. Mountains Are Everywhere
Switzerland is a landlocked country. It is bordered by France to the south-west, Germany to the north, Italy to south and Austria to East. Most of the Alps Mountains range falls under the Jurisdiction of Switzerland. Alps Mountains are covering 60% of the country’s total area. 48 of Switzerland’s mountains are 4,000 meters (13,000 ft) above the sea in altitude. The Dufourspitze is the highest peak of Monte Rosa, a huge ice-covered mountain massif in the Alps.
source: Wikipedia, image: images.summitpost.org
7. Country Of Lowest Crime Rates
Switzerland is one of the most secure places in the World. Most surveys put Switzerland at the lowest crime level. Switzerland has 216 policemen on duty per 100,000 people, ensuring harmony, tranquility, and peace at all times.
source: www.peimag.com
8. Country Of Lakes
Switzerland has more than 1500 lakes. Lake Geneva is the largest one. Some others are Lake Lucerne, Lake Thun, Lake Brienz, Lake Zurich etc. Some Rivers also flow into or out of Switzerland such as Rhine, Inn, Ticino, and Rhône. These Water bodies make the largest reserve of freshwater in Central and Western Europe.
source: Wikipedia, image: greencardgolf.com
9. Compulsory Military Service For Males
Switzerland is one of the European countries to enforce it, along with Austria. Under the Swiss constitution, male Swiss citizens have to serve in the Swiss army after age 18, while women can opt to volunteer. Military training camps are common across Switzerland as are civilians carrying shotguns over their shoulders.
source: www.expatica.com, Image: Pixabay
10. Einstein Was Here When!
Great Scientist Albert Einstein developed his formula E=MC2 in Switzerland while he was studying and living in Bern.
source: www.expatica.com, Image: Gina
11. Highest Paid Teachers In The World
Swiss Teachers receives one of the highest pay in the World. In 2014 the average salary for a Swiss teacher was the US $68,000 per year.
source: facts.randomhistory.com
12. Country With Full Rescue
The Swiss government has directed a program to provide every Swiss citizen a bomb shelter. Today, Switzerland brags close to a readily available shelter for every resident.
source: facts.randomhistory.com, Image: Wikimedia
13. Do You Want To Smoke Weed? Come Here!
It is legitimate to use and grow Marijuana in Switzerland but it is against the law to sell it. The country also has one of the highest rates of cannabis use in the world. It’s estimated that about 600,000 users smoke through 100 tons of hash and marijuana each year.
source: facts.randomhistory.com, Image: Wikimedia, Image: Pixabay
14. Country Of Four National Language
Switzerland has four official and national languages; German, French, Italian and Romansh. German accounts for 61% of the population, French accounts for 22% of the total population, 8% population speaks Italian, and Rest of the population speaks Romansh and other European languages. English is getting popular in Switzerland.
source: wikipedia
15. First Country To Invent First Waterproof Watch
Rolex Company made the first waterproof watch in 1927 in Switzerland. It was issued to British military forces after 1945. The (WWW) standard for wristwatches by the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) is believed to be one of the first official standards for a military issue watch.
source: facts.randomhistory.com, image: www.eveswatch.com
16. Instant Coffee Was Made Here First
Henri Nestlé was a Swiss business man who started a coffee business in 1867. Nestlé Company buys up almost ten percent of the world’s coffee and cacao bean crops by itself annually. It also created Nescafe, the world’s first instant coffee in 1938.
source: www.expatica.com, Image: Pixabay
17. World’s Largest Meringue
As per the Guinness Book of World Records in 1985 world’s largest meringue (Dessert; associated with French, Swiss, and Italian cuisine) was baked in Frutal, Switzerland. It consisted of 2500 eggs and 265 lbs (120 kg) of sugar.
source: facts.randomhistory.com, Image: Flickr
18. About 25% Population Is Of Foreign Descent
About one fourth of the population is of foreign descent. Predominantly Immigrants are coming from Portugal, Spain, Turkey and some Islamic Country. To curb the immigration into Switzerland, Swiss voters narrowly passed through a controversial anti-immigration initiative. It aims to impose limits on the number of foreigners allowed into Switzerland and may signal an end to the country’s free movement accord with the European Union.
source: www.expatica.com
19. Illegitimate To Own A Single Pet Without Pair
In Switzerland, it is illegal to own just one guinea pig, cat, mouse, ferret, fish, canary, pig or other social creature. With the world’s most stringent animal welfare laws, Switzerland judges isolation for such animals as abuse.
source: www.expatica.com, Image: Flickr
20. Best Country To Live
As per consistently high rankings in global reports in 2015, Switzerland was ranked the world’s happiest country, and came second in 2016 (after Denmark) out of 156 countries.
source: wikipedia
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