The Swiss Confederation was founded in 1291 as a defensive alliance among three cantons.

In succeeding years, other localities joined the original three.

The Swiss Confederation secured its independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1499.

Switzerland's sovereignty and neutrality have long been honored by the major European powers, and the country was not involved in either of the two World Wars.

The political and economic integration of Europe over the past half century, as well as Switzerland's role in many UN and international organizations, has strengthened Switzerland's ties with its neighbors.

However, the country did not officially become a UN member until 2002.

Switzerland remains active in many UN and international organizations but retains a strong commitment to neutrality.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 7,554,661 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 16.1% (male 630,341/female 584,167) 15-64 years: 68.2% (male 2,596,996/female 2,553,108) 65 years and over: 15.8% (male 489,895/female 700,154) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 40.4 years male: 39.3 years female: 41.4 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 0.381% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 9.66 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 8.51 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: 2.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.079 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.017 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.969 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 4.28 deaths/1,000 live births male: 4.77 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 80.62 years male: 77.8 years female: 83.59 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 1.44 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.4% (2001 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 13,000 (2001 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (2003 est.)

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Nationality: noun: Swiss (singular and plural) adjective: Swiss

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Ethnic groups: German 65%, French 18%, Italian 10%, Romansch 1%, other 6%

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Religions: Roman Catholic 41.8%, Protestant 35.3%, Muslim 4.3%, Orthodox 1.8%, other Christian 0.4%, other 1%, unspecified 4.3%, none 11.1% (2000 census)

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Languages: German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%, Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census) note: German, French, Italian, and Romansch are all national languages, but only the first three are official languages

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.)

Switzerland is a peaceful, prosperous, and stable modern market economy with low unemployment, a highly skilled labor force, and a per capita GDP larger than that of the big Western European economies. The Swiss in recent years have brought their economic practices largely into conformity with the EU's to enhance their international competitiveness. Switzerland remains a safehaven for investors, because it has maintained a degree of bank secrecy and has kept up the franc's long-term external value. Reflecting the anemic economic conditions of Europe, GDP growth stagnated during the 2001-03 period, improved during 2004-05 to 1.8% annually and to 2.9% in 2006. Even so, unemployment has remained at less than half the EU average.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $255.5 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $386.1 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 2.7% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $34,000 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 1.5% industry: 34% services: 64.5% (2003 est.)

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Labor force: 3.81 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 4.6% industry: 26.3% services: 69.1% (1998)

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Unemployment rate: 3.3% (2006 est.)

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Population below poverty line: NA%

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.6% highest 10%: 25.2% (1992)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 33.1 (1992)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.2% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 21.8% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $141 billion expenditures: $139.1 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 51% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: grains, fruits, vegetables; meat, eggs

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Industries: machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision instruments, tourism, banking, and insurance

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Industrial production growth rate: 6.5% (2006 est.)

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Electricity - production: 61.97 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption: 56.93 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports: 27.8 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports: 27.1 billion kWh (2004)

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Oil - production: 2,241 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 268,100 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports: 11,360 bbl/day (2004)

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Oil - imports: 267,000 bbl/day (2004)

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Oil - proved reserves: 0 bbl

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Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 3.311 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 3.311 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Current account balance: $50.44 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports: $166.3 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: machinery, chemicals, metals, watches, agricultural products

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Exports - partners: Germany 21.5%, US 9.5%, France 8.6%, Italy 8.4%, UK 5.3% (2006)

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Imports: $162.3 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: machinery, chemicals, vehicles, metals; agricultural products, textiles

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Imports - partners: Germany 27.3%, Italy 10.1%, US 9.1%, France 8.1%, Russia 7.6%, UK 4.9%, Austria 4.1% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $38.29 billion (August 2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $1.077 trillion (30 June 2006)

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Economic aid - donor: ODA, $1.1 billion (1995)

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Currency (code): Swiss franc (CHF)

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Exchange rates: Swiss francs per US dollar - 1.2539 (2006), 1.2452 (2005), 1.2435 (2004), 1.3467 (2003), 1.5586 (2002)

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Fiscal year: calendar year