SWITZERLAND, FLAG OF

national flag consisting of a white cross on a red field. In keeping with heraldic tradition, Swiss flags on land are square in proportion. In the Middle Ages the pope frequently gave a special cross flag to a king or other ruler undertaking some military campaign in the name of Christianity. Other rulers chose the same cross symbol to declare their faith and their belief that their enterprise was a holy one. The well-known and striking flag of Switzerland ultimately is based on the imperial war flag of the Holy Roman Empire, which bore a white cross on red. Many Swiss soldiers served in the imperial army as well as in their own cantons. Schwyz, one of the original three confederated cantons that formed the core of the modern Swiss Confederation, placed a narrow white cross in the upper hoist corner of its red flag in 1240. More general use of that symbol by the Swiss confederates can be dated back to 1339 and the Battle of Laupen. During the 19th century the cantons of Switzerland became more closely linked and, following adoption of the 1848 constitution, a square red flag with a white cross was officially recognized for the army. The national flag on land followed, being legally established on December 12, 1889. Finally, the necessity of clearly identifying Swiss flags on the Rhine River and elsewhere during World War II led to the adoption of the Swiss civil ensign (national flag at sea) on April 9, 1941. It differs from the land flag only in its rectangular proportions. Whitney Smith History The history of Switzerland, a complex series of events, provides the background for an understanding of the country's present-day cultural differences. Because of its central location in western Europe and pass routes through the Alps, which linked French and German lands with the Italian peninsula, Switzerland was coveted by surrounding powers. Swiss history, played out on the battlefields of Alpine Europe, was to a great extent the saga of local peoples trying to prevent foreign aggressors from taking control of their territory. From the prehistoric period to the Swiss Confederation Prehistoric Switzerland Though a hand wedge fashioned by Paleolithic hunters, found at Pratteln near Basel in 1974, is at least 350,000 years old, human habitation in Switzerland was not significant until the last glacial period, the Wrm, approximately 30,000 years ago. At that time most of the land was covered by ice, many thousands of feet deep that flowed down from the Alps. But during interglacial periods nomadic hunters from encampments in the ice-free areas of the Jura and the Mittelland followed their prey, mainly reindeer and bear, into the high mountain valleys. Carved designs of animals and birds on antlers and bone, found in caves, illuminate this era of prehistory. After the melting of the glaciers, Neolithic cultures established themselves in parts of the Rhne and Rhine valleys, and from 1800 BC Bronze Age settlements were scattered throughout the Mittelland and Alpine valleys. The economy Watchmaking at a factory in Lausanne, Switzerland. Swiss economic development has been affected by specific physical and cultural geographic factors. In the first instance, there was a paucity of raw materials; precipitation and soil quality to a large extent determined the type and size of cultivation; urban and industrial expansion encroached on the limited amount of cultivable land; a central location, situated on international trade routes, boosted commerce and transportation; and finally, a landscape of exceptional scenic beauty, including glacial peaks and Alpine lakes, sparked the growth of tourism. In the second instance, the inability of the small domestic market to absorb the total output of a skilled and efficient population forced Switzerland to seek world markets. Thus by importing raw materials and converting them into high-quality, high value-added finished products for export, by pursuing aggressive commercial policies, and by developing a highly organized and efficient transportation system and tourist industry, the country has kept unemployment low and inflation generally under control and has achieved the highest per capita income in the world. These factors have given rise to service industries such as shipping, freight forwarding, banking, insurance, and tourism, as well as to exports such as chemicals, machines, precision instruments, and processed foods. Industry has also been boosted in wartime because of Swiss neutrality. Industrial diversity and a lack of large firms are characteristic of Swiss industry. However, a number of Swiss enterprises, such as the food giant Nestl, Ciba-Geigy in chemicals, and Alusuisse in metals, have worldwide enterprises that employ far more people abroad than in Switzerland and account for at least 90 percent of all sales from foreign markets. A significant characteristic of the Swiss economy is the number of foreign labourers, about a quarter of the economically active population, without whom many sectors of the Swiss economy, especially hotels, restaurants, and tourism, would grind to a halt. The long-standing tradition of direct democracy and federalism in Switzerland and the country's heavy dependence on foreign trade have given rise to an equally traditional dislike of state intervention and to strong and constant support for worldwide free trade. Still Switzerland maintains low duties and tariffs on incoming goods. These will end when Switzerland and the other countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) become part of the European Economic Area. Apart from the post office, telegraph, telephone, and main railway network, all utilities are privately owned or municipal enterprises, in some cases subsidized by cantonal governments. Even the hydroelectric plants are owned by private companies under federal or cantonal grants. In matters of taxation, federal regulations extend mainly to customs duties and sales and defense taxes that everyone must pay to support the armed forces. Income taxes are cantonal responsibilities, and rates are fixed by decision of the voters of communal or cantonal parliaments. Employer-employee relations have generally been good in the late 20th century. The Swiss Federation of Trade Unions has Social Democratic tendencies. Since the Great Depression of the early 1930s, the unions have increasingly denounced the use of strikes as economic and political weapons, and disputes are usually settled by arbitration. Although the Swiss have tended to reject state intervention in their free-market economy, since World War II such intervention has been unavoidable, particularly in relation to the labour market. In the late 20th century many workers in the industrial sector were foreigners. Social tensions became unavoidable, particularly where foreigners were perceived to have threatened the Swiss way of life and to have displaced the Swiss workers. In reality, foreign labourers were essential to the functioning of the Swiss economy. Nevertheless, the government was forced to restrict the inflow. Just as centralized bureaucracy was traditionally distrusted at home, so in relation to European integration the Swiss, though they acquired a special arrangement with the European Community in 1972, have preferred to remain in EFTA. However, because of the removal of all barriers to the movement of people, goods, and services in the European Community (EC) by the end of 1992, EFTA had negotiated with the EC, thereby creating a 19-nation trade bloc, the European Economic Area, that would ultimately result in Swiss membership in the EC. The Principality of Liechtenstein (62 square miles) uses Swiss currency, has a customs union with Switzerland, is represented abroad by the Swiss government, and is protected by the Swiss army. Agriculture and forestry Of the territory that makes up Switzerland only 75 percent is productive. About 28 percent of that productive land is devoted to agricultural cultivation such as grains, fodder, vegetables, fruits, and vineyards, and 20 percent is pasture, reflecting the significance of stock raising and dairying. Grain cultivation, accounting for about 17 percent of productive land, satisfies nearly 80 percent of domestic demand. The variation in soil quality within small areas produced by geologic conditions and by the relief makes large-scale, single-crop farming difficult; instead, a particularly varied assortment of crops is grown in a limited space. More than 65 percent of all farms combine grass and grain cultivation. The Valais, with its abundant sunshine and irrigation, specializes in cultivating berries and other fruits and vegetables and has the largest area of vineyards of any canton. In the southernmost canton of Ticino, a mixed Mediterranean agriculture has been attained, although it is endangered by the disruptions of urbanization. Viticulture characterizes slopes along many lakes, such as Geneva, Neuchtel, and Biel. The primary agricultural pursuit, however, is cattle raising, for which Switzerland has become important throughout Europe. The income from dairying and cattle raising amounts to more than 70 percent of all agricultural value. Products include milk, butter, cheese, yogurt, and milk for chocolate. To keep the farmers from moving to the cities, the government subsidizes agriculture, resulting in higher food prices for the Swiss consumer. Since the importance of forests for the ecology of large areas was recognized early, an exemplary forestation law forbids reduction of woodlands, which amount to more than 25 percent of the total area of the country. Forests are vital for watershed functions, support wildlife, are a source of mushrooms, protect against avalanches, and function as recreational areas near cities such as Zrich as well as in the mountains. Furthermore, a small forestry industry that practices selective cutting supplements the income of owners of the land. Because of widespread air pollution, more than 35 percent of the country's forests have been classified as damaged, sick, or dying. Of these, some 42 percent of the forests in the mountains are affected, compared to about 27 percent in the Mittelland. Agriculture and forestry employ 5.5 percent of the labour force and contribute less than 4 percent to the country's gross domestic product. The land Relief and drainage Cliffs overlooking Lauterbrunnen, in the Mittelland region, Switzerland. Situated at the hydrographic centre of Europe, Switzerland is the source of many major rivers. The two most important are the Rhne, which flows into the Mediterranean, and the Rhine, which empties into the North Sea. Switzerland's small area contains an unusual diversity of topographic elements, which are divisible into three distinct regions: the Jura Mountains in the north, the Alps to the south, and the Mittelland or central plateau between the two mountain ranges. The Jura (Celtic: Forest), a rolling mountain range in the northwest, occupies about 12 percent of the country. The region was formed under the extended impact of the general Alpine folding, which created the folded Jura that abut the Mittelland and the tabular plateau Jura that form the northern edge of the range. Jurassic limestone and marl with rich fossil content are the characteristic rocks that dip below the Mittelland and appear again in the pre-Alps. The limestone has been eroded in typical karst fashion; thus sinkholes, caves, and underground drainage are common. The ridges, covered with meadows and only sparsely forested, receive greater amounts of precipitation than do the valleys, the slopes of which are wooded. Between Saint-Imier Valley (Vallon St. Imier) and the Doubs, a river that forms part of the border with France, the Jura have been reduced by denudation to form an undulating plateau that extends into France. Known as the Franches-Montagnes (French: Free Mountains), a name acquired in 1384 when the bishop of Basel freed the inhabitants from taxation to encourage settlement of the remote area, this tableland is characterized by mixed agriculture and dairying. The highest point in the Jura is well below the Alps, and they were not a significant barrier to surface movement even before modern railroads and highways were constructed. Entrenched transverse valleys known as cluses have been eroded across the Jura ridges, providing relatively easy routes for transportation. The climate of the Jura is the most continental of Switzerland, with abundant precipitation; cross-country skiing is popular during the long winters. Switzerland's watchmaking industry had its beginning in these mountains. Dom, Zermatt, Switzerland The Alps were built of large complexes of massed overthrusts of extremely varied sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks that were shaped by glaciation. The canton of Valais contains many striking Alpine peaks, including the Dufourspitze on the Monte Rosa massif, at 15,203 feet (4,634 metres) the highest point in Switzerland; the Weisshorn (14,780 feet), overlooking the valley called the Mattertal; the Dom (14,912 feet; see photograph), above the village of Saas Fee; and the ice-sculpted Matterhorn (14,691 feet), long a symbol for Switzerland. The northern and southern Swiss Alps are separated by the trough formed by the Rhne and upper Rhine valleys, the narrowest portion being the Urseren Valley, which lies between two crystalline central massifs, the Gotthard and the Aare. The Alps' role as the European watershed is most apparent in the central Alpine region of Switzerland, where the different chains meet; from there, the Rhne River flows west, the Rhine River east, the Ticino River south to the Po, and the Reuss River north to the Aare. The fundamental Alpine source point, however, is located in the upper Engadin valley at the Piz Lunghin, from which streams flow toward the North and Adriatic seas and from which the headwaters of the Inn River flow toward the Danube and ultimately into the Black Sea. In the central Alpine region lies the St. Gotthard route, the first and shortest north-south passage through the mountains and an important European linkage; it was opened in the early 13th century with the construction of a bridge in the Schllenen Gorge, which traverses the northern chain, while the southern range is crossed by the St. Gotthard Pass at an elevation of 6,916 feet. The 9.3-mile (15-kilometre) St. Gotthard rail tunnel through the pass was opened in 1882; a twin 10.5-mile road tunnel was opened in 1980. Despite the tunnels, increasing rail and highway traffic results in long delays through the mountains. For example, during the peak summer tourist season, cars and trucks are often backed up more than 30 miles. Between the Jura and the main Alpine ranges lies the hilly Mittelland, accounting for some 23 percent of the country and enclosed by the two mountain ranges and the two largest lakes, Lake Geneva (Lac Lman) in the west and Lake Constance (Bodensee) in the east. The fertile rolling land of the Mittelland is the agricultural heartland of the country and is where the majority of Swiss settlements, population, and industry are situated. Furthermore, vital east-west highway and rail routes bind the urban areas. As a result, the Mittelland has become highly urbanized. Large chunks of land have been sterilized by shopping centres, housing estates, motorways, oil-storage tanks, container depots, warehouses, automobile distribution centres, and industrial complexes. Soils Soil conditions and agriculture reflect the diversity of Switzerland's climate and geologic structure. The major soil groups consist of gray-brown podzolic soils and brown forest soils, loess, glacial drift, and alluvium in the Mittelland; brown forest soils, rendzinas, and the heavier glacial clays in the Jura valleys; and the lithosol and podzolized soils of the high Alps. The people Skiers relaxing at the lodge, Jakobshorn ski area, Davos, Switzerland. Etruscans, Rhaetians, Celts, Romans, and Germanic peoples have left their imprint on Switzerland in the course of its historical evolution. The present population shows traces mainly of the Alpine, Nordic, and southern Slav or Dinaric peoples. To survive as a cohesive unit, the disparate elements of the Swiss people have had to learn a mutual cooperation to protect the neutrality that has been their safeguard. Their outlook has been shaped largely by economic and political necessity, which has made them realistic, cautious, and prudent in accepting innovation and creative in the use of what resources they have. Switzerland's human resource has been effectively educated and efficiently utilized to transform what was a predominantly mountainous, rural, and landlocked country with limited natural resources into one of the most diversified and important industrial and commercial nations in the world. Switzerland encompasses the area in which the major cultural regions of western continental EuropeGerman, French, and Italiancome into contact. Thus, one of the distinctive features of the Swiss Confederation is the variety of its languages. In the early 1990s 65 percent of the total population spoke German, 18 percent French, about 10 percent Italian, and about 1 percent Romansh (Rhaeto-Romanic). The latter is a linguistic relic preserved in the mountainous regions between the Gotthard massif and the eastern Alps; it is subdivided into even smaller dialect regions. In 1938 a federal popular vote formally recognized Romansh as a fourth national, and a referendum in 1996 gave it semiofficial status as a federal, language. Switzerland also exhibits diversity in the area of religion; however, the distribution of religions does not coincide with that of languages. The great internal population shift caused by industrialization has also resulted in a greater mixture of the religions. The Swiss are divided almost equally into Protestants and Roman Catholics, with a tiny Jewish community. The constitution of 1874 guaranteed full religious liberty but repeated the 1848 constitution's prohibition of settlement by Jesuits (members of the Roman Catholic Society of Jesus) and their affiliated societies in Switzerland. This anti-Jesuit article was repealed in a national referendum in 1973.