Interesting facts about Switzerland

Free drinking water in Switzerland: One thing people often don’t realise when arriving in Switzerland is that the water in almost all the fountains in Switzerland is free, drinkable and tastes delicious! In Zürich alone there are over 1,200 fountains with fresh drinking water.

Swiss people have a lot of power at their disposal. They are directly able to decide the fate of their country by participating in the polls held every quarter on major issues. In short, they have the direct ability to influence the government.

Switzerland shares a land border with five countries in Europe: Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy, and France.

Swiss city Geneva houses the second-largest office site of the United Nations.

St Peter’s Church in the old town of Zürich features the largest Church Clock Face in Europe, even bigger than London’s Big Ben!

Mountaineering, snowboarding, and skiing are some of the popular sports in Switzerland.

Switzerland provides nearly all CO2-friendly electricity to its citizens. 39% of electricity comes from nuclear power plants, while 56% is generated by hydroelectric power plants.

Highly skilled people form the basis for Switzerland’s economy. Sectors such as banking, insurance, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, microtechnology, etc. employ these skilled people.

Since 1815, Switzerland has not been involved in any military conflict. Switzerland was not involved in any of the two world wars.

The very first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Jean-Henri Dunant, a Swiss, in 1901. He is the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Switzerland is also the only country in the world to have built an airplane that is powered by solar energy.

Three-quarters of Swiss population lives in towns and cities, making the country mainly urban.

Jungfraujoch railway station in Interlaken, Switzerland is the highest railway station in Europe. It is built at an altitude of 11,332 ft above sea level.

Diversity is the spice of life in Switzerland. Switzerland has four languages and cultural differences between the people living in the mountains, mountain valley, big cities, and on the central plateau.

Despite the fact that it is a land locked country, there are around 1,500 lakes in Switzerland. Lake Geneva is the largest freshwater lake in Switzerland.

* This article is compiled using open source information