15 facts about Switzerland
Switzerland is a very small country in the middle of Europe. But the country is very diverse and has a lot to offer! In this post, we share 15 funny facts about this beautiful country with you.
No. 1
Switzerland has 26 cantons and all of them are more or less independent because Switzerland is a semi-direct democracy. The cantons with the highest population are Zurich and Bern.
No. 2
The capital of Switzerland is Bern, and therefore a lot of important institutions are located there. But in case of business, Zurich is as important, or even more important than Bern.
No. 3
Switzerland has 4 official languages: German, French, Italien and Romansh. More than 65% speak German, about 20% speak French and only 8% speak Italien. And only a few people still speak Romansh.
No. 4
Even though Switzerland is in Europe, we do not use Euro. We have our own currency called Swiss Francs.
No. 5
The tap water in Switzerland is drinkable. We drink it all the time, so dear guests, you can drink it as well. More information
No. 6
Switzerland is one of the world’s best places to be born and live, according to rankings in global reports. Switzerland was ranked the world’s happiest country in 2015 and is still in fourth place in 2017.
No. 7
70% of Switzerland is covered by mountains. Therefore we love skiing and hiking and we have over 65 000km of hiking trails.
No. 8
Most grocery stores are still closed on Sunday. Only the ones at railway stations are normally open on Sundays.
No. 9
Röstigraben (“Rösti ditch”) is a humorous term used to refer to the cultural boundary between German-speaking and French-speaking parts of Switzerland. But it has really nothing to do with the Rösti in No. 10. 😉
No. 10
Swiss people love cheese and chocolate. If you travel to Switzerland you have to try our national dishes, such as Raclette, Rösti or Fondue.
No. 11
Quality, precision, uniqueness, reliability, tradition, design, innovation – Switzerland is famous for its watch production. Most of the well-known watches are from Switzerland, for example, Breitling, IWC, Omega, TAG Heuer, Rolex, Patek Philippe and not to forget Swatch.
No. 12
The abbreviated of Switzerland ‘CH’ comes from its Latin name, ‘Confoederatio Helvetica.’
No. 13
We have one mountain, that everyone knows, the Matterhorn. The Matterhorn is with a high of 4478 meters the highest mountain of the Swiss Alps.
No. 14
Switzerland has more than 1500 lakes. And in most of them, swimming is allowed. But please before jumping in a lake, check whether it’s allowed or not.
No. 15
The Gotthard tunnel in Switzerland is the longest in the world – measuring 57km in length. The tunnel is located 2.3km under the Alps and is 7km longer than the Channel tunnel between England and France.