59 Fun Facts About Switzerland

How many cantons make up the Swiss Confederation?

Switzerland has 26 cantons, six of them half-cantons with a single seat in the Council of States; the newest, Jura, was created in 1979.

Which city is Switzerland's de facto capital, known as the "federal city"?

The Federal Assembly voted to put the seat of government there in November 1848, sending the future ETH to Zurich as a compromise.

How many national languages does Switzerland have?

Switzerland has four national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh, the last spoken by about 0.5% of the population, mainly in Graubünden.

Roughly what share of Swiss residents speak German as their native language?

About 62% of residents name German, including Swiss German dialects, as their main language, against roughly 23% French and 8% Italian.

The country code CH and the internet domain .ch come from Switzerland's Latin name. What is it?

Helvetica recalls the Helvetii, a Gaulish tribe of the Swiss Plateau; the neutral Latin avoids favouring any of the four languages.

The Federal Charter considered Switzerland's founding document dates from which year?

The Federal Charter of 1291 records a defensive alliance of three forest communities in the central Alps; its early-August dating gives Switzerland its 1 August national day.

Switzerland has not fought an international war since which year?

Swiss troops last fought abroad in 1815, briefly entering France after Napoleon's return; the Congress of Vienna that year guaranteed Swiss neutrality.

In which year did Switzerland finally join the United Nations?

Switzerland joined the United Nations on 10 September 2002 after voters approved membership in a March 2002 referendum, the first country to join by popular vote.

The 1847 Swiss civil war was fought against a breakaway alliance of Catholic cantons known as what?

The Sonderbund, a separate league of seven Catholic cantons formed in 1845, was beaten by the federal army in under a month in November 1847, clearing the way for the 1848 constitution.

In which year did Swiss women win the right to vote in federal elections?

Swiss women gained the federal vote on 7 February 1971, when male voters approved it by about two to one; some cantons had granted cantonal votes from 1959.

Which canton was the last to grant women full voting rights, in 1990?

Appenzell Innerrhoden refused women the cantonal vote until the Federal Supreme Court imposed it on 27 November 1990; the canton decides matters at an open-air Landsgemeinde assembly.

How many members sit on the Federal Council, Switzerland's collective executive?

The Federal Council has seven members elected by the Federal Assembly, with the presidency rotating yearly among them; Elisabeth Kopp became its first woman member in 1984.

How many signatures must a Swiss popular initiative gather within 18 months to force a national vote?

A popular initiative needs 100,000 valid signatures within 18 months to force a national vote on a constitutional change; an optional referendum on a law needs 50,000 within 100 days.

What is unusual about the shape of the Swiss national flag?

The Swiss flag is square rather than rectangular, a shape almost no other national flag shares; its white cross has arms one-sixth longer than they are wide, fixed in 1889.

Which is Switzerland's highest mountain?

Monte Rosa's Dufourspitze, at 4,634 m, is the highest point in Switzerland, beating the far more famous Matterhorn (4,478 m) by more than 150 metres.

The first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 was led by which English climber?

Edward Whymper led the first ascent on 14 July 1865; four of the seven-man party died on the descent when a rope broke, a disaster that made Zermatt famous.

The name Toblerone blends its founder's surname with which Italian word?

Toblerone joins Theodor Tobler's surname to torrone, the Italian honey-and-almond nougat; the triangular bar was launched in 1908.

Which body of water, shared with France, is Switzerland's largest?

The Rhône flows in and out of it; Lake Constance, shared with Germany and Austria, is second.

The Rhine and the Rhône both rise in the Swiss Alps. Roughly how far apart are their sources?

They end up 1,000 km apart, one in the North Sea at Rotterdam and the other in the Mediterranean.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel, opened in 2016, holds which world record?

At 57 km the Gotthard Base Tunnel is the longest railway bore on Earth, overtaking Japan's Seikan Tunnel; it gives trains the first flat route under the Alps.

At 3,454 metres, which is the highest railway station in Europe?

Jungfraujoch, at 3,454 m, is the highest railway station in Europe; the Jungfrau Railway, open since 1912, tunnels through the Eiger and Mönch to reach it.

The Aletsch Glacier, the largest in the Alps, lies in which canton?

The Great Aletsch Glacier lies entirely in the canton of Valais, above the Rhône valley; about 23 km long, it anchors the Jungfrau-Aletsch UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Rhine Falls, Europe's most powerful waterfall, lie between Zurich and which other canton?

The Rhine Falls straddle the cantons of Schaffhausen, on the Neuhausen am Rheinfall bank, and Zurich, on the Laufen-Uhwiesen side; the river drops about 23 m there.

Which Swiss city is home to the Bank for International Settlements?

The Bank for International Settlements, founded in 1930 as a bank for central banks, has its headquarters in Basel; the city is also home to the drug makers Roche and Novartis.

Which Swiss businessman founded the Red Cross and won the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901?

Henry Dunant witnessed the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in 1859 while travelling to petition Napoleon III; his memoir led to the Red Cross, and he shared the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.

Swiss citizens may not serve in foreign armies, with one famous exception. Which?

Founded under Pope Julius II in 1506, the Guard is sometimes called the world's smallest army, with 135 members in 2024.

In which year was the Pontifical Swiss Guard established?

The Pontifical Swiss Guard dates from 22 January 1506, when 150 Swiss mercenaries under Kaspar von Silenen entered Rome at the request of Pope Julius II.

Under the Swiss militia system, what do soldiers famously keep at home?

Swiss militia soldiers keep their army-issued weapons at home between service periods, a practice voters upheld in a 2011 referendum; ammunition has not been issued for home storage since 2007.

Which scientist became a Swiss citizen in 1901 and developed special relativity while working in Bern?

Albert Einstein became Swiss in 1901 and published his 1905 special relativity paper while a patent clerk; he kept his Swiss citizenship for the rest of his life.

CERN straddles the border between France and which Swiss city?

CERN's laboratory sits on the Franco-Swiss border at Meyrin just outside Geneva, a city that also hosts the UN's European headquarters and the WHO.

Which of these was NOT invented in Switzerland?

Aspirin was a German product, launched by Bayer in 1899; absinthe (1790s), the Rex peeler (1947) and the scanning tunnelling microscope (IBM's Rüschlikon lab, 1981) all came from Switzerland.

Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann's first deliberate LSD trip on 19 April 1943 is now commemorated as what?

Bicycle Day marks 19 April 1943, when Hofmann took 250 micrograms of LSD, thinking it a cautious dose, and cycled home from the Sandoz lab as the effects took hold.

Swiss engineer George de Mestral got the idea for Velcro in 1941 from what?

De Mestral examined burdock burs stuck to his dog and his trousers after an Alpine walk, saw their tiny hooks under a microscope, and patented the hook-and-loop fastener in 1955.

Helvetica was designed in 1957 by Miedinger and Hoffmann under what original name?

Helvetica began in 1957 as Neue Haas Grotesk at the Haas Type Foundry in Münchenstein; Stempel renamed it in 1960, using the Latin adjective for Swiss, to sell it internationally.

Solid milk chocolate was invented in Switzerland in 1875 by whom?

Daniel Peter produced the first solid milk chocolate in 1875 after seven years of experiments; his Gala Peter brand followed in 1887, and his company merged into Nestlé in 1929.

Nestlé is headquartered in which lakeside Swiss town?

Nestlé's headquarters are in Vevey, in the canton of Vaud, where Henri Nestlé started his infant-food firm; it merged with the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company in 1905 to form the modern group.

Rolex, now based in Switzerland, was actually founded in 1905 in which city?

Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis founded the firm in London in 1905 as Wilsdorf & Davis, registering the Rolex name in 1908; it moved to Switzerland in 1919 as British wartime taxes and duties bit.

The company that became Victorinox began making knives for the Swiss army in 1891 in which town?

Karl Elsener opened his cutlery workshop in Ibach, near Lake Lucerne, and delivered the first soldier's knives to the Swiss army in 1891; the Victorinox name, from his mother Victoria plus inoxydable, came in 1921.

Muesli was developed around 1900 by Maximilian Bircher-Benner for whom?

Bircher-Benner devised muesli around 1900 for patients in his hospital, a sanatorium promoting raw food; the original recipe soaked oats overnight and added grated apple, nuts, lemon juice and condensed milk.

Fondue moitié-moitié blends Gruyère with which other Swiss cheese?

Moitié-moitié, 'half-and-half', is the Fribourg fondue of equal parts Gruyère and Vacherin Fribourgeois; the softer Vacherin lets the mix melt smoothly at a lower temperature.

Which of these is a traditional Swiss dish of grated, pan-fried potatoes?

Rösti is grated potato fried into a flat golden cake, originally a farmers' breakfast in German-speaking Switzerland; the 'Röstigraben', or rösti ditch, is the jokey name for the German-French cultural divide.

Heidi, the orphan girl who lives with her grandfather in the Alps, was created by which Swiss author?

Johanna Spyri published Heidi in two parts in 1880-81; the story is set in the mountains above Maienfeld in Graubünden.

According to legend, William Tell shot an apple off his son's head after defying which reeve?

The legend has Tell defy the Habsburg reeve Gessler by refusing to bow to his hat on a pole in Altdorf, around 1307; the tale was first written down in the 1470s.

Which reformer's movement in Zurich led to Switzerland's religious Wars of Kappel in 1529 and 1531?

Calvin's Geneva came a generation later; Zwingli himself died at the second Battle of Kappel.

In 1798 revolutionary France invaded and replaced the old confederation with which centralised state?

The Helvetic Republic, imposed by France in 1798, replaced the cantons with a unitary state; Napoleon's Act of Mediation dissolved it in 1803 and restored a confederation.

Which two sports have their world governing bodies headquartered in Zurich?

Football's FIFA, in Zurich since 1932, and ice hockey's IIHF both have their world headquarters in the city.

In which Swiss city is the International Olympic Committee based?

The IOC has been based in Lausanne since 1915, when Pierre de Coubertin moved it there from Paris; the Olympic Museum opened in the city's Ouchy district in 1993.

Roger Federer won eight men's singles titles at which Grand Slam tournament?

Federer won Wimbledon eight times between 2003 and 2017, having taken the junior title there in 1998; his first major title came on its grass in 2003.

Schwingen, considered by some the Swiss national sport, is a form of what?

Schwingen is a form of wrestling fought in sawdust rings, each grappler gripping the other's canvas breeches; the winner of the triennial federal festival is crowned Schwingerkönig.

The World Economic Forum's annual meeting is held in which Swiss resort?

The World Economic Forum has met in Davos, a high Alpine resort in Graubünden, since Klaus Schwab founded it as the European Management Forum in 1971.

Besides Switzerland, which country uses the Swiss franc as legal tender?

Liechtenstein adopted the Swiss franc in 1924, the year it entered a customs union with Switzerland, replacing the Austrian krone it had used until then.

Which wooden instrument, several metres long, symbolises Swiss folk music alongside yodelling?

The alphorn, a wooden horn up to about 3.5 m long, is played with a trumpet-like embouchure and has no valves or keys; herders once used it to call cattle.

How many Luftwaffe planes did the Swiss Air Force shoot down in May and June 1940 for violating its airspace?

Swiss Bf 109 fighters shot down 11 German aircraft between 10 May and June 1940, after which the government, under furious German protest, ordered pilots to stop attacking intruders.

What is the largest city in Switzerland?

Zurich, with over 400,000 residents in the city proper and some 1.5 million in its metropolitan area, is Switzerland's largest city and its financial centre.

Which 1648 settlement recognised Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire?

The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 formally released the Swiss Confederacy from the jurisdiction of the Holy Roman Empire, confirming an independence it had exercised in practice since 1499.

Which Gaulish tribe did Caesar halt at Bibracte in 58 BC as it migrated west?

The Helvetii, the Gaulish people of the Swiss Plateau, were crushed by Caesar at Bibracte in 58 BC while migrating to western Gaul and were sent back home under Roman supervision.

Which canton joined Uri and Unterwalden in the Confederacy's founding alliance?

Schwyz, with Uri and Unterwalden, sealed the founding alliance recorded in the Federal Charter; its name later spread to the whole country, and its red flag with a white cross inspired the national one.

Swiss expansion suffered a major setback with defeat at which 1515 battle?

At Marignano, near Milan, in September 1515, Francis I's French army and its Venetian allies beat the Swiss over two days; the defeat ended Swiss expansion into Italy and fostered a turn toward neutrality.

Which three cantons were admitted to Switzerland at the Congress of Vienna in 1815?

Valais, Neuchâtel and Geneva joined as the Congress of Vienna redrew Europe, bringing the count to 22 cantons; the borders have changed little since, apart from Jura's creation in 1979.