STARS IN EUROPE - SWITZERLAND - CLUB - Breel Embolo joins Schalke

Breel Embolo joins Schalke from Basel on five-year contract.

17 Jul 2016
STARS IN EUROPE - EGYPT - Omar Gaber aims to emulate success of Salah and Elneny

Omar Gaber has played nine teams for Egypt.

11 May 2016
TALENTS - SWITZERLAND / CAMEROON - BREEL EMBOLO

Breel Embolo chooses to play for Switzerland over Cameroon

15 Dec 2014
NATIONAL TEAM - SWITZERLAND - 2014 WORLD CUP - Goodbye, Ottmar Hitzfeld. All the best and take care.

Hitzfeld has made a positive impression wherever he has been stationed and his name is still regularly chanted in the stands at Bayern Munich.

“He put together a really good team that will last for many years to come,” Granit Xhaka told FIFA.com, before Josip Drmic added: “He’s done a great job.” 

2 Jul 2014
2014 WORLD CUP - DAY 19 - LAST SIXTEEN - ARGENTINA VS SWITZERLAND 1:0

LAST SIXTEEN
1st July 2014

Argentina vs Switzerland 1:0

1 Jul 2014
2014 WORLD CUP - LAST-SIXTEEN - Matches and Teams out

Teams who have reached the round of the last sixteen

27 Jun 2014
2014 WORLD CUP - DAY 14 - GROUP E - Honduras vs Switzerland 0:3

Honduras vs Switzerland 0:3

25 Jun 2014
2014 WORLD CUP - DAY 09 - GROUP E - Switzerland vs France 2:5

Switzerland vs France 2:5

20 Jun 2014
2014 WORLD CUP - DAY 04 - GROUP E - Switzerland vs Ecuador 2:1

Switzerland vs Ecuador 2:1

15 Jun 2014

‪Switzerland‬
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 5/2014


Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities, the so-called Bundesstadt ("federal city").

The country is situated in Western and Central Europe, where it is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. 

Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2 (15,940 sq mi). 

While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8 million people is concentrated mostly on the Plateau, where the largest cities are to be found. Among them are the two global cities and economic centres of Zürich and Geneva.

The establishment of the Swiss Confederation is traditionally dated to 1 August 1291, which is celebrated annually as Swiss National Day. 

It has a long history of armed neutrality - it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815 - and did not join the United Nations until 2002. It pursues, however, an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world.

Switzerland is also the birthplace of the Red Cross and home to a large number of international organizations, including the second largest UN office. 

On the European level, it is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association and is part of the Schengen Area – although it is notably not a member of the European Union, nor the European Economic Area. 

Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, Italian and the Romansh-speaking valleys. Therefore the Swiss, although predominantly German-speaking, do not form a nation in the sense of a common ethnic or linguistic identity; rather, the strong sense of identity and community is founded on a common historical background, shared values such as federalism and direct democracy, and Alpine symbolism.

Switzerland has the nominal wealth per adult (financial and non-financial assets) in the world according to Credit Suisse and eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product on the IMF list. Swiss citizens have the second-highest life expectancy in the world on the UN DESA list. 

Switzerland is tied with the Netherlands for the top rank on the Bribe Payers Index indicating very low levels of business corruption. Moreover, for the last five years the country has been ranked first in economic and tourist competitiveness according to the Global Competitiveness Report and the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report respectively, both developed by the World Economic Forum. 

Zürich and Geneva have been ranked among cities with highest quality of life in the world with the former coming second globally according to Mercer.


Swiss Confederation


Motto: (traditional)
"Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno" (Latin)
"One for all, all for one"

Anthem: Swiss Psalm

Capital: 
None "de jure"
Bern "de facto" (46°57′N 7°27′E)

Largest city:
Zürich

Official languages:
• German 
• French 
• Italian 
• Romansh

Demonym: 
Swiss

Government
• Federal directorial republic with elements of direct democracy
• Federal Council
• Federal Chancellor

Legislature: Federal Assembly
• Upper house: Council of States
• Lower house: National Council

Formation
Foundation date:
c. 1300

de facto:
22 September 1499 

de jure:
24 October 1648 

Restored:
7 August 1815 

Federal state:
12 September 1848

Area
• Total: 41,285 km2 (133rd) 15,940 sq mi 
• Water (%): 4.2

Population: 2012 estimate 8,014,000 (96th) - 2011 census 7,954,700
Density: 188/km2 (65th) 477.4/sq mi

GDP (PPP): 2014 estimate
• Total: $385.333 billion (36th)
• Per capita: $47,863 (7th)

Currency: Swiss franc (CHF)
Time zone:
CET (UTC+1) - Summer (DST)
CEST (UTC+2)

Drives on the right
Calling code: +41
Patron saint: St Nicholas of Flüe
ISO 3166 code: CH
Internet TLD: .ch