Country name
conventional long form: Swiss Confederation
conventional short form: Switzerland
local long form: Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft (German), Confederation Suisse (French),Confederazione Svizzera (Italian)
local short form: Schweiz (German), Suisse (French), Svizzera (Italian)

Data code SZ

Government type federal republic

National capital Bern

Administrative divisions 26 cantons (cantons, singular - canton in French; cantoni, singular- cantone in Italian; kantone, singular - kanton in German); Aargau, Ausser-Rhoden,Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Geneve, Glarus, Graubunden,Inner-Rhoden, Jura, Luzern, Neuchatel, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Sankt Gallen,Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Thurgau, Ticino, Uri, Valais, Vaud, Zug,Zurich

Independence 1 August 1291

National holiday Anniversary of the Founding of the Swiss Confederation, 1 August (1291)

Constitution 29 May 1874

Legal system civil law system influenced by customary law; judicial review of legislativeacts, except with respect to federal decrees of general obligatory character;accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
chief of state : President Arnold KOLLER (since 1 January 1997); Vice President FlavioCOTTI (since 1 January 1997); note - the president is both the chief of stateand head of government
head of government: President Arnold KOLLER (since 1 January 1997); Vice President FlavioCOTTI (since 1 January 1997); note - the president is both the chief of stateand head of government
cabinet: Federal Council or German - Bundesrat, French - Conseil Federal, Italian- Consiglio Federale elected by the Federal Assembly from among its own membersfor a four-year term
elections : president and vice president elected by the Federal Assembly from amongthe members of the Federal Council for one-year terms that run concurrently;election last held 4 December 1996 (next to be held NA December 1997)
election results: Arnold KOLLER elected president; percent of Federal Assembly vote -NA; Flavio COTTI elected vice president; percent of legislative vote - NA

Legislative branch bicameral Federal Assembly or German - Bundesversammlung, French - AssembleeFederale, Italian - Assemblea Federale consists of the Council of States orGerman - Standerat, French - Conseil des Etats, Italian - Consiglio degliStati (46 seats; members are elected two from each canton and one from eachhalf canton to serve four-year terms) and the National Council or German -Nationalrat, French - Conseil National, Italian - Consiglio Nazionale (200seats; members are elected by popular vote on a basis of proportional representationto serve four-year terms)
elections: Council of States - last held throughout 1995 (each canton determineswhen the next election will be held); National Council - last held 20 October1995 (next to be held NA October 1999)
election results: Council of States - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party -PRD 17, PDC 16, UDC 5, PSS 5, LPS 2, LdU 1; National Council - percent ofvote by party - NA; seats by party - PRD 45, PSS 55, PDC 34, UDC 29, Greens10, LPS 7, FPS 6, LdU/EVP 5, SD 3, PdAdS 3, Ticino League 2, EDU 1

Judicial branch Federal Supreme Court, judges elected for six-year terms by the FederalAssembly

Political parties and leaders Radical Free Democratic Party (Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei der Schweizor FDP, Parti Radical-Democratique Suisse or PRD, Partitio Liberal-RadicaleSvizzero or PLR) [Franz STEINEGGER, president]; Social Democratic Party (SozialdemokratischePartei der Schweiz or SPS, Parti Socialist Suisse or PSS, Partito SocialistaSvizzero or PSS, Partida Socialdemocratica de la Svizra or PSS) [Peter BODENMANN,president]; Christian Democratic People's Party (Christichdemokratische Volksparteider Schweiz or CVP, Parti Democrate-Chretien Suisse or PDC, Partito Democratico-CristianoPopolare Svizzero or PDC, Partida Cristiandemocratica dalla Svizra or PCD)[Anton COTTIER, president]; Swiss People's Party (Schweizerische Volksparteior SVP, Union Democratique du Centre or UDC, Unione Democratica de Centroor UDC, Uniun Democratica da Center or UDC) [Ueli MAURER, president]; GreenParty (Grune Partei der Schweiz or Grune, Parti Ecologiste Suisse or Les Verts,Partito Ecologista Svizzero or I Verdi, Partida Ecologica Svizra or La Verda)[Verena DIENER, president]; Freedom Party or FPS [Roland BORER]; Liberal Party(Liberale Partei der Schweiz or LPS, Parti Liberal Suisse or PLS, PartitoLiberale Svizzero or PLS) [Francois Jeanneset, president]; Alliance of Independents'Party (Landesring der Unabhaengigen or LdU, Alliance des Independants or AdI)[Daniel ANDRES, president]; Ticino League (Lega dei Ticinesi) [Giuliano BIGNASCA,president]; and other minor parties including Swiss Democratic Party (SchweizerDemokraten or SD, Democrates Suisses or DS, Democratici Svizzeri or DS), Workers'Party (Parti Suisse du Travail or PST, Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz or PdAdS,Partito Svizzero del Lavoro or PSdL), Evangelical People's Party (EvangelischeVolkspartei der Schweiz or EVP, Parti Evangelique Suisse or PEV, Partito EvangelicoSvizzero or PEV), and the Union of Federal Democrats (Eidgenossisch-DemokratischeUnion or EDU, Union Democratique Federale or UDF, Unione Democratica Federaleor UDF); note - see elections

International organization participation AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EBRD,ECE, EFTA, ESA, FAO, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM,IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC,IOM, ISO, ITU, MTCR, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OSCE, PCA,UN (observer), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMOP, UNMOT,UNOMIG, UNPREDEP, UNTAES, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO,ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Alfred DEFAGO (since April 1997)
chancery: 2900 Cathedral Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 745-7900
FAX: [1] (202) 387-2564
consulate(s) general : Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Pago Pago (AmericanSamoa), and San Francisco

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Madeleine May KUNIN (since 8 August 1996)
embassy: Jubilaeumstrasse 93, 3005 Bern
mailing address : use embassy street address
telephone: [41] (31) 357 70 11
FAX: [41] (31) 357 73 44

Flag description red square with a bold, equilateral white cross in the center that doesnot extend to the edges of the flag

NOTE: The information regarding Switzerland on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Switzerland Government 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Switzerland Government 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.