Switzerland

F

3

Tourism

The tourism industry is a leading source of foreign exchange and employment in Switzerland. Tourism has been important in Switzerland since the Enlightenment, when writers, artists, and scientists found inspiration in the majestic pinnacles of the Alps. Picturesque lakeside towns, including Interlaken, Lausanne, Lucerne, Montreux, and Vevey, were the initial centers of the Swiss tourism industry. In the 19th century, during the early era of mountain climbing, foreign adventurers flocked to high-altitude towns, such as Zermatt.

Swiss tourism experienced its most significant expansion in the decades after World War II. Of major importance was the advent of downhill skiing as a popular winter sport, made possible by the development of the ski lift and cable car. Dozens of resorts have since blossomed throughout the Swiss Alps, making Switzerland the skiing capital of the world. Switzerland receives tens of millions of visitors annually.

G

Infrastructure

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1

Energy

Switzerland’s extensive waterpower resources account for about 54 percent of the country’s domestic electricity, or about 16 percent of its total energy needs. More than half of Switzerland’s total energy needs are met by oil and natural gas, virtually all of which is imported. During the 1970s Switzerland turned increasingly to nuclear power to meet the rising demand for energy, and today nuclear power plants generate about 41 percent of all electricity generated in Switzerland. Output from all sources in 2003 was 63.4 billion kilowatt-hours.

G

2

Transportation

Switzerland has a highly developed transportation system, with a dense road network and comfortable, efficient trains. Hundreds of finely engineered tunnels and bridges cross the country’s rugged terrain. Especially important are the transalpine tunnels that permit year-round travel through the Alps, which were historically a formidable barrier to movement between northern and southern Europe. These include the Saint Gotthard and Lotschberg train tunnels, and the 16.3-km (10.1-mi) Saint Gotthard Road Tunnel, the world’s longest automobile tunnel and the main artery of European transalpine traffic. An immense volume of traffic traverses these routes, causing substantial air and noise pollution and leading to plans to widen existing tunnels and construct new ones. The largest of these projects is the 57-km (35-mi) Saint Gotthard Base Tunnel, a railway tunnel scheduled to open in 2014. In 1994 Swiss voters approved a controversial referendum to protect alpine areas from the negative effects of heavy traffic. The measure authorized the Swiss government to restrict traffic over transalpine roads and to shift most transalpine freight from trucks to railroad cars.

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Swiss Federal Railways, owned by the federal government, operates a majority of Switzerland’s more than 5,000 km (3,000 mi) of railroad track, nearly all of which is electrified. Switzerland also has a large number of private railroads, many of which are partially owned by local governments. Few locations in Switzerland are far from a train station. To conquer Switzerland’s great heights, the railroads make ample use of switchbacks and loops. More important for high-altitude access, however, is the cog locomotive, which has a special gearlike wheel with teeth that engage a separate toothed rail. This permits steady ascent and controlled descent on steep grades. Swiss cog locomotives offer some of the world’s most spectacular train rides, including the Glacier Express, which runs between Zermatt and Saint Moritz, and the Bernese Oberland railway, which climbs from Interlaken to the Jungfraujoch, Europe’s highest train station at 3,454 m (11,332 ft). The punctuality of train service is a national hallmark.

Switzerland’s highway system is equally first-rate. Roads totaled 71,214 km (44,250 mi mi) in 2004. The rate of automobile ownership in Switzerland is high and growing; in 2000 there was one automobile for every two people. Increasing vehicular use is straining the road system, and most major roads and highways are heavily congested, especially during the summer and winter tourist seasons. Buses also are an important part of public transportation in Switzerland, especially the famous, brightly painted post buses operated by Swiss Post. The schedules of post buses are timed to coincide with the departure of trains, which serve nearly every village and town.

Waterways constitute another part of Switzerland’s transportation network. The Rhine is the largest navigable river in the country, but it is suited for commercial navigation only along the 19-km (12-mi) stretch between Basel and Rheinfelden. A canal linking the Rhine and Rhône is important for industrial shipping. Switzerland’s many lakes are used for transportation and recreation; pleasure cruises are especially popular. Although Switzerland is landlocked, the Swiss merchant marine, created by decree of the federal government in 1941, consists of 32 large oceangoing vessels and numerous river barges, which operate from foreign ports and from the port of Basel on the Rhine River.

International air transport is provided by Swiss International Air Lines, which is owned jointly by public and private investors. Switzerland’s international airports are in Zürich, Geneva, and Basel.

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3

Communications

The Swiss government plays a major role in the provision of postal and telecommunications services throughout Switzerland. In the late 1990s, in response to deregulation in international markets, Switzerland instituted reforms to make postal and telecommunications services more flexible and market-oriented. The Swiss Postal and Telecommunications agency was divided into two separate units. Swiss Post, which remains a federally owned institution, handles mail. Telecom PTT, which was partially privatized, oversees telecommunications services and maintains networks for sound and data transmission. The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation provides radio and television programs in German, French, and Italian, and Swiss Radio International transmits radio programs to foreign countries. In 1997 there were 979 radios and 542 television receivers in use per 1,000 people. Switzerland has 96 daily newspapers; dailies with international reputations include Neue Zürcher Zeitung, published in Zürich, and Journal de Genève, published in Geneva.

VI

Government

Switzerland is a federal republic governed under a constitution adopted in 1874 and amended many times since. The Swiss political system combines direct and indirect democracy with the principle of federalism, in which subnational units of government are granted wide powers. Sovereign power rests with the people, who elect representatives and also legislate directly by means of referendums. In federal elections, all citizens aged 18 or older are eligible to vote.

Under Switzerland’s system of federalism, the cantons and half-cantons exercise all the powers of government, except those delegated exclusively to the federal government. These include the power to declare war and make peace, to conclude treaties and alliances, to train, equip, and direct the armed forces, and to regulate foreign trade. Both the federal government and the subnational units (cantons and communes) have the power to levy taxes. The federal government also regulates roads, railroads, and communications; hydroelectric power; higher education; and labor. The cantons have freedom in a wide range of policy areas and a high degree of administrative autonomy.

The referendum is an important instrument of direct democracy in Switzerland. A constitutional amendment may be initiated by a petition of 100,000 voters and must be ratified by referendum. A petition of 50,000 voters or eight cantons can force a referendum on proposed laws. Referendums have decided many significant issues in Switzerland. These include creating the canton of Jura in 1979; rejecting restrictions on abortion and some forms of contraception in 1985; tightening constraints on immigration and political asylum in 1987; making racial discrimination, racist propaganda, and denial of the German Nazi Holocaust illegal in 1994; and defeating a proposal to abolish the military in 2001. In 2002 Swiss voters approved a referendum supporting Swiss membership in the United Nations. Referendums have also been central to extending rights to women. A referendum in 1971 granted women the right to vote in federal elections (a right eventually extended in all the cantons by 1990), and an equal rights amendment to the constitution was approved by referendum in 1981. A 1985 referendum granted women legal equality with men in marriage.

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