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  • Title: Switzerland: country profile.
    Author: Spain D.
    Journal: Int Demogr; 1984 Jul; 3(6):1, 4-8. PubMed ID: 12266186.
    Abstract:
    This discussion of Switzerland focuses on population growth; the country's regions and cities; age distribution; households, families, and housing; education; the labor force; and income and consumption. On January 1, 1983 the population of Switzerland totaled 6.4 million. This total included 5.5 million Swiss and 960,000 foreigners. No other major country relies on foreigners as heavily as Switzerland. In 1975, 20% of the Swiss labor force was composed of year round foreign workers. Although foreign residents are a large proportion of the Swiss population, immigration to the country is nearly offset by emigration from the country. With a birthrate of 11.6 and a death rate of 9.2 in 1982, the rate of natural increase was only 0.2% per year. Switzerland is composed of 23 cantons (or states) with a long history of independence. The canton with the largest population is Zurich, with 1.1 million people in 1983. Switzerland is about 60% urbanized. The largest city, Zurich, had 364,000 residents in 1983. 4 other cities had populations of 100,000 or more: Basel, Geneva, Berrn, and Lausanne. Switzerland's pluralism is reflected by its recognition of 3 official languages: German; French; and Italian. Aside from immigrant workers there are no distinct ethnic or minority groups in Switzerland due to its long history of varied cultural influences. Switzerland is so thoroughly multicultural that it is common for husbands and wives to have different mother tongues and different religious beliefs. Switzerland's population is relatively old. Only 18% of all Swiss are under age 15 versus 23% of all Americans. 14% of all Swiss are aged 65 and over compared with 11% of Americans. There were 2.5 million Swiss households in 1981, with an average size of 2.5 persons per household. Larget households have declined over the past decade. Most houses in Switzerland have 3 or 4 rooms. The Swiss schools system requires 9 years of compulsory education from age 6 or 7 to age 15 or 16. In the 1981-82 academic year 119,000 children were enrolled in preschool. Provisional results for 1982 recorded 3 million economically active Swiss, a slight decline of 0.3% from the size of the 1970 labor force. Women were 35% of the labor force in 1982, a slight increase from 34% in 1970. Italians are the largest single group of foreign workers. With the exception of some newly rich oil countries in Southwest Asia, Switzerland has the highest per capita income in the world. With a per capita gross national product of $17,150 in 1982, it outranked all other European countries and the US as well. In addition to saving the Swiss spend a great deal on consumer goods.
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