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Swiss Facts

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Name:

Switzerland is also known as "Confoederatio Helvetica", therefore the abbreviation CH. "Confoederatio" stands for "confederation", "Helvetica" derives from the Latin word "Helvetier", the name of the people who lived in the area which became later Switzerland.

Flag:

The white cross on the red back (see top left on each page) has a religious background. The cross represents the cross, Jesus was put on, the red colour represents his blood.
Each arm of the cross has to be of the same size and must be 1/6 longer than wide.

National motto, flower, animal

There are no such things as a national motto, a national flower or a national animal. However, some cantons do have a motto or an animal.
The "Edelweiss" has the status of an unoffical national flower.

Capital:

The capital of Switzerland is Bern City, also the capital of the canton Bern.

Administrative divisions:

Switzerland is broken up into the following administrative divisions ("top down"):

Eidgenossenschaft:

The Eidgenossenschaft (confederation) consists of the following authorities:

Bundesversammlung ("federal assembly"), legislative authority:

The federal assembly or parliament meets in the Bundeshaus in Bern and consists of two houses or Kammern (chambers):

Ständerat: also called the kleine Kammer ("small chamber") with two representatives of each canton, or one representative of each split-canton, regardless of the size of the population of the canton.
Nationalrat: also called the grosse Kammer ("large chamber") with 200 representatives. the number of representatives is proportional to the population of the cantons, but there is at least one representative of a canton.

Bundesrat, executive authority:

The Bundesrat consists of seven members, elected by the Vereinigte Bundesversammlung, a combined assembly of both chambers. Elections take place every four years. The president of the Bundesrat, called Bundespräsident / Bundespräsidentin, changes every year. The seven Bundesräte / Bundesrätinnen head the following departments (Departement):

Foreign Affairs (für auswärtige Angelegenheiten)
Home Affairs (des Innern)
Justice and Police (Justiz- und Polizei-)
Defence, Civil Protection and Sports (für Verteidigung, Bevölkerungsschutz und Sport)
Finance (Finanz-)
Economic Affairs (Volkswirtschafts-)
Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (für Umwelt, Verkehr, Energie und Kommunikation)

Bundesgericht ("federal court"), judicial authority:

The federal court in Lausanne, VD is the highest court in the country. It protects the constitutional rights of the Swiss citizens against arbitrariness of the authorities and administration.

The duties of the confederation are defined in the Bundesverfassung ("federal constitution") and include:

Protection of the country and its citizens
Postal services, telephone and telecommunications (PTT)
Monetary system (Nationalbank, "national bank")
Transportation (Nationalstrassen (motor ways), railway)
Military
Customs
Diplomatic relations with other countries

People can take direct influence by two means:

Initiative: 100'000 citizens can request a voting about a change or extension of the Bundesverfassung ("constitution") or the Bundesgesetzt ("federal law").
Referendum: If the Bundesrat wants to change or extend the Bundesverfassung ("constitution") or the Bundesgesetz ("federal law"), 50'000 citizens can request a voting about it.

Cantons:

Switzerland consists of 23 Kantone (singular Kanton, cantons or states), 3 of them are divided into Halb-Kantone ("split states") with the following authorities:

Grosser Rat, Kantonsrat or Landesrat(the name varies between the cantons), legislative authority
Kantonsregierung, executive authority
Kantonsgericht, judicial authority

The cantons Appenzell, Glarus and Unterwalden do not perform elections and voting, but a so called Landsgemeinde, an out door assembly of all its citizens. The attendees raise their hands to show if they agree with or deny a particular request.

The duties of the cantons are defined in their Kantonsverfassung ("cantonal constitution") and include:

Education
Transportation (Kantonsstrassen, "cantonal roads"))
Social institutions

This is a list of all cantons in the official order of the constitution:

Districts:

Each canton consists of a number of Bezirke (singular Bezirk, districts) with the following authorities:

People be voting and elections, legislative authority
Bezirksrat, executive authority
Bezirksgericht, judicial authority

The duties of the districts include:

Education
Judicature

Municipalities:

Each district consists of a number of Gemeinden (singular Gemeinde, municipalities). There are a 2929 municipalities in Switzerland. A municipality with more than 10'000 citizens is considered a Stadt ("town"), smaller municipalities are called a Dorf ("village"). However, some smaller villages have the status of a town for historical reasons. Municipalities have the following authorities:

Gemeindeversammlung, an assembly of all citizens, or people by voting and elections, legislative authority
Gemeinderat or Stadtrat, executive authority
Friedensrichter ("lay magistrate"), judicial authority

The duties of the municipalities include:

Local services (electricity, water, fire brigade, police etc.)
Transportation (Gemeindestrassen, "local roads")
Schools
Taxes (they vary significantly between the municipalities !)

Link collection related to Swiss Administration

This is a small collection of links that might be useful for people interested in Switzerland's Administration:

Swiss Administration

Swiss Parliament

Swiss Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgericht)

List of Swiss embassies, consuls and missions

Swiss Political Links

Swiss Quote
I don't like Switzerland - it has produced nothing but theologians and waiters. Oscar Wilde