Switzerland is a small, multi-lingual country in Central Europe, famous for its marvelous mountain scenery and unique banking facilities. The country is a Federal Republic and is officially known as the Swiss Confederation. The total area is 41,295 square kilometers (15,940 square miles). On the north, the country is bordered by Germany, in the west by France, on the south by Italy, and on the east by Austria and Liechtenstein. Lake Constance and the Rhine form part of the Northern Border, with the Rhine, which rises in the Central Swiss Alps, also forming part of the Eastern Boundary. The Jura Mountains form the west border, and Lake Geneva and the Italian Alps the south. The Capital is Located at Berne.

Located at a vital crossroad in Europe, Switzerland is an important center for international trade, transportation, banking and tourism. Berne is its federal capital, but Zurich is its main city followed by Basle and Geneva. Switzerland is divided into 26 cantons and every canton has a different taxation system. 

Population 

The total estimated population is almost 7,000,000, with two thirds of the inhabitants living in the lowland section. The heaviest concentrations are in the big industrial centers of Zurich, Basle, and Geneva.

Language 

Switzerland is one of the most multi-lingual countries in Europe. German, French, Italian and Romansh, a Rhaeto- Romanic offshoot of Latin, are the official languages in Switzerland. German, spoken in its Regional form, an Allemanci Dialect, occupies a preponderant position; it is spoken by 74.4% of the population. Makeover, it is making inroads among the French-speaking cantons, the Language frontier now having reached the Lake of Geneva. French is spoken by 20.2% of the population. Italian is spoken by 4.1% of the Swiss, almost exclusively in the Canton of Ticino. The fourth Official Language, Romansh, is used by about one third of the population of the canton of Graubunden. Many Swiss, Particularly those who work with visitors in one way or another, speak several languages. The staff of our office in Basle speak English, French, Italian, Spanish and German.

Communications

The Swiss have a highly developed communication system and offer state of the art telephone, telefax, telex, telegram and courier services. Swissair as the national air carrier direct services to many cities worldwide and domestic air travel is excellent offering frequent services to most cities.

The Rhine is the largest navigable waterway in the country and one of the most important European waterways. Switzerland is the only Land-locked country which owns and maintains an important ocean fleet. With approximately 4,000 miles of railroad tracks the Swiss Railroads, which are 60% Nationalized, are among the finest in Europe. 

Switzerland has over 10,000 miles of excellent roads - the toll for using Swiss highways is at present CHF30.00. The Swiss government owns and operates all telephone and telegraph lines and also controls the Swiss radio and television networks.

Political Stability

The two dominant principles of the Swiss constitution of 1874 are federalism and democracy. The Constitution provides that the cantons shall exercise all powers of government not delegated to the federal government. The acceptance of the principle of federalism was essential to gaining the participation of the widely dissimilar independent states in the first unified Swiss-created government in 1948. The Swiss state is officially considered to have begun in 1291: a Treaty dated August 1291 is the first documentary evidence of co-operation among the first three Swiss cantons, although the traditional account of the events leading to this cannot be historically substantiated.

Legal System

The three major sectors of the Swiss national government are the Federal Council, the federal assembly, and the federal tribunal. The executive body is the seven-man collegiate federal council, which is elected for a four-year term by the national legislature. The only statutory restriction on the composition of the federal council is that not more than one man shall be elected from the same canton. A number of customary rules, however, severely restrict the council’s composition.

The Federal Assembly, the Swiss legislature, consists of two houses: the Council of States, composed of two members from each canton and one from each half-canton, and the National Council, made up of 200 members apportioned by population to the various cantons. Each assembly has a life of four years. The Federal Assembly has the usual legislative powers, with the exception that certain laws must be referred to the people for approval. Switzerland’s federal court, the Federal Tribunal, is located in Lausanne, although the other principal governmental bodies are in Berne. The tribunal has most of the powers normally given to a country’s highest court, although it does not have the power to declare federal laws unconstitutional as does the US Supreme Court. The tribunal is made up of 26 judges and 12 alternates, sitting in separate chambers according to the nature of the case. Members are elected by the federal assembly for six years.

Taxation

The cantons have preserved many of the rights they held as sovereign political bodies. Nevertheless, the constitution delegates considerable authority to the federal government, including the power to conclude treaties and alliances, to levy taxes, and to regulate foreign trade. But, each canton has its own taxation.

There are many cantons with favorable taxation levels. But there are also cantons with higher unemployment rates or small population (mountain regions) where taxation is higher. The cantons mostly offer favorable facilities (for taxes, mortgages, etc.) for investors who will establish e.g. a manufacturing company for the first few years. However, there is no firm guideline because those facilities are decided by the cantonal administration. Depending on the municipality, also municipal taxes are raised.

Double taxation agreements exist with Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago and the USA.