langue

Stay informed!
All the news Swiss news French news

Partners

Home

Switzerland, french part

Brewers face beer group pressure
Following the announced closure of the Cardinal brewery in Fribourg, swissinfo.ch looks at whether the glass is half-full or half-empty for the Swiss beer industry.

Swiss want a say on how to end their lives
Most Swiss are in favour of assisted suicide, and would also support direct active euthanasia ? a practice currently outlawed.

Wind energy proponents seek to end stalemate
With wind turbines popping up haphazardly around Switzerland, the time has come for better planning and dialogue to avoid opposition which the machines provoke.

Heavy metal cleanup goes off target
Switzerland is earmarking nearly a billion francs to clean up soil contaminated by heavy metals leached from spent bullets.

Talks aim to secure climate finance progress
Switzerland?s top climate envoy hopes this week?s informal financing meeting in Geneva will rebuild trust to revive the stalled global climate change talks.

Cabinet sticks to planned spending cuts
The government is pushing ahead with proposed spending cuts to the tune of SFr1.6 billion ($1.56 billion) annually until 2013 to balance the federal budget.

University reforms cause headaches for some
Ten years after the Swiss and Europeans embarked on university reforms, the Bologna Process continues to raise questions of flexibility in higher-education.

US retreat from Iraq ?leaves bitter taste?
Iraq has won its sovereignty as the United States formally ended combat operations there, but a political expert tells swissinfo.ch challenges still lie ahead.

Sawiris lays foundation stone in Andermatt
Developers behind the holiday resort under construction in Andermatt have reached an important milestone.

Authorities crack down on botox promotion
Swiss law prohibits the advertisement of prescription drugs ? including botulinum toxin, which is commonly used to smooth wrinkles.

Switzerland, french part

Switzerland is the Matterhorn... but so much more as well

Switzerland is 7 million inhabitants, 4 official languages and 26 cantons

Seven million inhabitants in a territory of some 40,000 km2, at the crossroads of many great European countries. There are four official languages: German, in fact an assembly of dialects known as “swiss german” (spoken by about 65% of the population in the north and the centre of the country), French (20% in the west of the country), Italian (about 8% in the south), Romanche (less than 1% in the south-east of the Grisons canton) and other languages (around 7%).

A brief history of Switzerland

Peopled since prehistoric times, it was the “Helvetians”, a Celtic people, who gave their name to the Swiss and catapulted the country into History. Incorporated into the Roman Empire, Switzerland was gradually Christianised. The country was then to form part of the kingdom of Burgundy, then that of the Franks and of the Carolingian empire before becoming attached to the Holy Roman Empire in the 11th century.