Country's Full Name:
Swiss Confederation/Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera/Svizra

Brief History:
It was formerly called as Helvetia, Switzerland was league of cantons under the Roman Empire. The Swiss confederation was formed under the Roman Empire with 3 German districts Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden on 1 August 1291. The confederation slowly added new cantons in subsequent years. Switzerland became independent from the Holy Roman Empire after the treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Drafted in 1848, the federal constitution in line of US was recognized in 1874 providing much more power to the cantons (presently 26) and a strong central government. Still committed to neutrality, this landlocked country never engaged itself in confrontations in either of the World Wars. It formally became a member of United Nations in 2002.

What is the country known for:
Switzerland is the seat of power of major United Nation organizations.
It remained strictly neutral in both the world wars.
Switzerland maintains a high level of secrecy in banking transactions making it a safe haven for investors.
Cheese, chocolates, watches, Swiss army knives also make Switzerland famous.
Colorful carnival festival in all towns can be seen in February.

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

Main Trading Partners:
Exports: $200.1 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery, chemicals, metals, watches, agricultural products
Exports - partners: Germany 22%, Italy 8.4%, France 8.4%, US 8.4%, Austria 4.5% (2007)
Imports: $187.1 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery, chemicals, vehicles, metals; agricultural products, textiles
Imports - partners: Germany 27.7%, Italy 10.2%, US 9.4%, France 7.9%, UK 4.3%, Belgium 4.2% (2007)

Major Cities:
Zurich, 971,800 (metro. area), 348,100 (city proper); Geneva, 178,900; Basel, 162,800; Lausanne, 117,400

Location:
Central Europe, east of France, north of Italy

Geographic coordinates: 47 00 N, 8 00 E

Size:
Total: 41,290 sq km
Land: 39,770 sq km
Water: 1,520 sq km

Slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey

Time Zone: UTC 1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) 
Daylight saving time:  1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Type of Government:
Formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic. A bicameral Federal Assembly or Bundesversammlung (in German), Assemblee Federale (in French), Assemblea Federale (in Italian) consists of the Council of States or Standerat (in German), Conseil des Etats (in French), Consiglio degli Stati (in Italian) (46 seats; membership consists of 2 representatives from each canton and 1 from each half canton; to serve four-year terms) and the National Council or Nationalrat (in German), Conseil National (in French), Consiglio Nazionale (in Italian) (200 seats; members are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms) 

National Holidays:

2010
1 Jan New Year's Day.
2 Jan * Berchtold's Day.
2 Apr * Good Friday.
5 Apr * Easter Monday.
13 May * Ascension.
24 May * Whit Monday.
1 Aug National Day.
25 Dec Christmas Day.
26 Dec Boxing Day.

Note
(a) * These holidays may not be observed in certain cantons. (b) There are additional regional holidays which are observed in certain cantons only.

Population:
7,581,520 (July 2008 est.)

0-14 years: 15.8% (male 623,213/female 577,430) 
15-64 years: 68.2% (male 2,605,044/female 2,562,354) 
65 years and over: 16% (male 501,699/female 711,780) (2008 est.)

Religion:
Roman Catholic 42%, Protestant 35%, Orthodox 2%, Muslim 4%, none 11% (2000)

Language:
The country doesn’t have any “Swiss” language with majority of natives speaking German.
German 64%, French 20%, Italian 7% (all official); Romansch 0.5% (national)

Local Customs:
* Talking loudly in public places is impropriate.
* Respect privacy; don't ask personal questions to the locals.
* In business dealing understatement and discretion is appreciated. Don't hype values unnecessarily.
* Be polite when addressing. Start with "hello", "excuse me", "please". When departing say "thank you, have a nice day/evening/weekend/, goodbye".
* Being late to 15 minutes is not considered rude.

Best Time to go:
Many believe April - May the best months to visit when trees bloom, waking up after a long winter. June – August are pleasant but expect more rains at this time.

Currency:
1 US Dollar = 1.13789 Swiss Franc
1 Swiss Franc (CHF) = 0.87882 US Dollar (USD)

1 Euro = 1.52549 Swiss Franc
1 Swiss Franc (CHF) = 0.65553 Euro (EUR)

1 British Pound = 1.96679 Swiss Franc
1 Swiss Franc (CHF) = 0.50844 British Pound (GBP)

Customs Regulations:
Tobaccos and spirits: These limits apply only to persons older than 17 years - 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250 grams of pipe-tobacco - 2 liters of alcohol (up to 15% vol.) and 1 liter of alcohol (over 15% vol.)

Tipping:
Restaurants: Service charge is inclusive in the menu prices. It is advisable to pay the waiter a tip of 5% of the bill especially to help translate the menu.
Hotels: Tip 1-2 Swiss Francs per bag. Hotel maid may be paid CHF 1 per day.
Taxis: In Zurich the largest city in Switzerland, service charge includes the fare.
Barbers and hairdressers: 15 % of the charge.