Top 10 Facts About Switzerland
The Top Ten
1 In Switzerland citizens can challenge any law passed by Parliament –
provided they can gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100
days.
Best direct democracy
2 Switzerland was the origin of instant coffee when the
Nestlé Company, started by Swiss businessman Henri Nestlé in 1867,
created Nescafe in 1938
3 Switzerland is one of the only two countries to have a square flag – the Vatican has the only other square flag in the world. The Swiss flag is a red square with a white cross in the centre
4 With the
world's most stringent animal welfare laws, Switzerland judges isolation
for such animals as abuse.
5 According to the Economist Intelligence Unit's
(EIU) latest Where to be Born Index (2013), Switzerland was the best
country to be born
6 There are Swiss taxes for owning a dog – annual taxes
are determined by the dog's size and weight. Dog owners are also
required to take a training course to learn how to properly care for
their pets
7 Parents can be overruled on what they call their child –
in Switzerland it is prohibited to give a child a name that could
damage the child's interest.
8 Switzerland is also known as Confoederatio Helvetica –
which explains the abbreviation CH
9 Switzerland has four national languages although English is increasingly popular
– the four official languages are French, German, Italian and
Rhaeto-Romantsch (with Latin roots)
10 The Swiss eat more chocolate than any other nation in the world –
they eat a record of around 11kg per year.
The Contenders
11 Switzerland has been neutral since 1815
12 Switzerland ranks incredibly high on life expectancy, air and water sanitation, and World Happiness Index
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