It's August 1st again, Switzerland's national holiday. Chocolate, cheese, watches and banks - the clichés about the Alpine nation in the heart of Europe are well known. But did you know ...
2.... that around 70% of Switzerland consists of mountains? 208 of them are over 3,000 meters high, 24 over 4,000 meters. And the highest peak, the Dufourspitze (canton of Valais), is 4,634 meters above sea level, while the lowest point in Switzerland is on the shores of Lake Maggiore (canton of Ticino) and is just 195 meters above sea level. This point is only 70 kilometers away from the highest Swiss mountain, which was named after a former Swiss general, Guillaume-Henri Dufour.
3.... that it is illegal to keep guinea pigs individually in Switzerland? You have to own at least two of them. On the other hand, Swiss men and women get married relatively late in life. On average, men don't get married until they are 31.8 years old, women at 29.6. Whether the marriage lasts forever is another question. The divorce rate is 41.3%.
4. ... that Switzerland ranks among the top countries in the world for cannabis consumption? According to estimates, around 600,000 stoners smoke around 100 tons of hashish and marijuana every year. It is no different with alcohol. In 2012, the Swiss drank around 56 liters of beer and 36 liters of wine per capita. Most of this was produced and consumed in Switzerland, leaving only around 2% of Swiss wine for export.
5. ... that 18 Swiss chocolate manufacturers produced around 172,376 tons of chocolate in the same year? Apparently, the average Swiss person consumes around 10 kilos of chocolate per year, while the average American only eats around half that amount (5.3 kilos).
6. ... that women in Switzerland, despite the progressive social system, were only granted the right to vote at federal level in 1971? In the canton of Appenzell, women have only been allowed to go to the polls since 1990. But we have four official national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh.
7. ... that Switzerland is the world recycling champion? In Switzerland, bottles are taken to glass collection points for recycling, where you can also dispose of your aluminum and can waste. PET bottles and empty batteries are collected and recycled separately. Paper and cardboard is neatly bundled, placed by the roadside and collected weekly. Household waste is packed in chargeable bags and also collected. Garden waste is either placed in the in-house compost or put in a green waste container, which is emptied once every two weeks. It is understood that these collection services take place on different days and may vary depending on where you live - if you move house, this complex waste calendar must be taken into account.
8. ... that the herb butter mix "Café de Paris" does not actually come from Paris, but is named after the Geneva restaurant Café de Paris, where it was invented in the 1930s. You can buy it in any supermarket with a 1000 Swiss franc banknote, the highest denomination banknote in the world.
9. ... that Switzerland currently has around 8.57 million inhabitants - slightly more than New York City with around 8.4 million? The area of Switzerland is also only 41,285 square kilometers, which is less than a third of the area of New York State (141,299 square kilometers). One person who also lived in Switzerland was none other than one of the most important physicists in world history. Albert Einstein graduated from the Alte Kantonsschule in Aarau (not far from Lenzburg) and was working at the Bern Patent Office when he published his theory of relativity.
10. ... that one of the most popular fonts in the world was invented in Switzerland? The name suggests it - Helvetica - was developed in 1957 by graphic designer Max Miedinger in Basel.
And now we wish everyone a happy August 1st, celebrating one of the only two square national flags (besides the Vatican) in the world. The ground and forests are dry - which is why our beautiful Switzerland can be celebrated without fireworks; we don't want the Swiss Air Force to be called out, as they are only available during office hours ;-)
