Land of welcome
Switzerland is undeniably a welcoming place. The number of foreigners living in Switzerland is 26% of the total population. In 2022, the foreign resident population, including all those with residence permits, will total 2.3 million, the vast majority of whom will be of European origin. The largest foreign community in Switzerland is made up of Italians (14.5% of the total foreign population), followed by nationals of Germany (13.8%), Portugal (11%), France (6.8%), Kosovo (5%), Spain (4%), Turkey (3.1%) and Northern Macedonia (3.1%). Almost a quarter of foreigners living in Switzerland were born and raised in the country. Despite the sharp rise in naturalizations, only a small number of foreign nationals in Switzerland obtain citizenship.
An overview of the population distribution by canton and in the world
More than 800,000 Swiss people will be living abroad in 2022, including 200,900 in France and 94,400 in Germany. This is due to the geographical location of these two countries on the border. The USA is home to 81,300 Swiss nationals, far ahead of Italy with 50,200. Switzerland is divided into twenty-six cantons, themselves subdivided into communes. Here are a few characteristics of the various cantons in 2022.
Appenzell Innerrhoden (AI). Area: 173 km2. Population: 16,160. Most widely spoken language: German 94.9%.
Aargau (AG). Area: 1,403.7 km2. Population: 703,086; most widely spoken language: German 86.4%.
Basel-Landschaft (BL). Area: 517.5 km2. Population: 292,817; most widely spoken language: German 86.2%.
Basel-Stadt (BS). Area: 37.1 km2. Population: 196,036; most widely spoken language: German 76.8%.
Bern (BE). Area: 5,958.9 km2. Population: 1,047,422; most widely spoken language: German 83.7%.
Fribourg (FR). Area: 1,670.8 km2. Population: 329,860; most widely spoken language: French 69%.
Geneva (GE). Area: 246 km2. Population: 509,448; most widely spoken language: French 79.6%.
Glarus (GL). Area: 685.2 km2. Population: 41,190. Most widely spoken language: German 86.5%.
St. Gallen (SG). Area: 2,025.6 km2. Population: 519,245; most widely spoken language: German 87.7%.
Ticino (TI). Area: 2,812.5 km2. Population: 352,181; most widely spoken language: Italian 88.6%.
Thurgau (TG). Area: 990.9 km2. Population: 285,964; most widely spoken language: German 89.1%.
Uri (UR). Area: 1,076.6 km2. Population: 37,047. Most widely spoken language: German 93.5%.
Valais (VS). Area: 5,224.5 km2.population: 353,209; most widely spoken language: French 67.8%.
Vaud (VD). Area: 3,212.1 km2.population: 822,968; most widely spoken language: French 82.6%.
Zug (ZG). Area: 238.8 km2.population: 129,787; most widely spoken language: German 80.3%.
Zurich (ZH). Area: 1,728.8 km2. Population: 1,564,662; most widely spoken language: German 80.7%.
Graubünden (GR). Area: 7,105.2 km2.population: 201,376; most widely spoken language: German 75.2%.
Jura (JU). Area: 838.6 km2. population: 73,798; most widely spoken language: French 89.8%.
Lucerne (LU). Area: 1,493.5 km2.population: 420,326; most widely spoken language: German 88.6%.
Neuchâtel (NE). Area: 803.1 km2.population: 176,166; most widely spoken language: French 87.7%.
Nidwalden (NW). Area: 276.1 km2.population: 43,894. Language spoken most often: German 90.6%.
Obwalden (OW). Area: 490.5 km2.population: 38,435. Most widely spoken language: German 92%.
Schaffhausen (SH). Area: 298.5 km2.population: 83,995; most widely spoken language: German 86.8%.
Schwyz (SZ). Area: 908.3 km2.population: 163,689; most widely spoken language: German 83.3%.
Solothurn (SO). Area: 790.7 km2.population: 280,245. Most widely spoken language: German 87.1%.
Multilingualism
With four official languages, Switzerland is a multilingual country par excellence. Switzerland recognizes four national languages, which in practice represent only 92% of the population: German is the official language in seventeen cantons (out of twenty-six), representing 64% of Swiss German speakers. Four cantons - Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel and Jura - are exclusively French-speaking, accounting for 19%. Three cantons - Berne, Fribourg and Valais - use both languages. In the south-eastern part of the canton, Ticino and four valleys in southern Graubünden, Italian is spoken (8%). The other part of the canton is trilingual: German, Italian and Romansh. Romansh is spoken by 0.5% of the population. Dialects cover the remaining 8%. Romansh emerged from these dialects as a national language in 1938, thanks to political pressure from the Romansh League. It remains a language in fact divided into five dialects, which limits the establishment of a true Romansh cultural identity. Linguistic boundaries are blurred, and each language has several regional variants. This doesn't make communication between cantons any easier. As a result, it's not uncommon for people in the same country to be unable to communicate. The people of Geneva don't necessarily speak German. The school requirement to learn at least one of the other national languages is insufficient; English is considered more useful.
The Swiss are pacifists and committed to their militia army
You're bound to come across a lot of grey-green uniforms. The Swiss army is in fact a militia army, where civilians are trained to take part in military missions in addition to their professional activities. All men between the ages of 18 and 24 are required to do military service. After four months at a recruit school, they attend a two- to three-week rehearsal course. They can be mobilized 24 hours a day, and keep their weapons at home. Those not doing military service or civil protection have to pay 3% of their taxable income.
