Switzerland is a unique country with a long history and culture. Those who have ever been there, of course, received a lot of impressions of the amazing pure nature, unique mountain landscapes, the surrounding cleanliness and standard of living of people. Of course, many people are also interested in the population in Switzerland, because within a small country there are four groups of people who, historically, communicate in completely different languages.
History of the formation of the state and the emergence of nationalities
The date of the formation of Switzerland is considered to be the day of its independence, which was proclaimed at the end of the 13th century and is celebrated every year on August 1. Initially, the country was a confederation, up to the 17th century. Historically, this was justified by the fact that representatives of four peoples, speaking different languages, represented by two different language groups: Germanic and Romance, participated in the formation of the country.
To date, one of the official names of the country remains the Swiss Confederation. In the future, with the formation and strengthening of statehood, the form of the device was changed to the Federation, which lasted until the 19th century. Later, the federal government was transformed into a federal charter. Until now, when communicating with the local population, one can rarely hear from them that they are Swiss. They will rather say that they are Lugansk, Zurich, Bernese, Geneva, because there are so many cities and cantons in the country, so many different nationalities represent them.
What is the population in Switzerland
Historically, there are four main peoples living in Switzerland who use their spoken languages. It:
- French Swiss, mainly speak French;
- Germanic Swiss speaking their own dialect represent the largest part of the Swiss population;
- Italians, speak Italian;
- Retro-Romans, otherwise referred to as romances or ladins, use the Retro-Roman language.
German remains the dominant language, as the population of Switzerland is 65% represented by native speakers of the German language group.
Here are some statistics. In 2014, the population of Switzerland amounted to 8,137,600 residents, among whom there are both Swiss and foreigners who have recently received citizenship of the country or have a residence permit. For comparison: back in the mid 60-ies of the last century, the population of the state amounted to just a little more than 5 million people. The rate of natural reproduction of the population is approximately 1.1, which is the average for Europe. The population of Switzerland is growing mainly due to the influx of immigrants.
"Restigraben" - an invisible border
More recently, the definition of Rostigraberi appeared in the media - this is the name of the line (conditional border), which stretches from the north of Switzerland to the very south of the country. This concept conditionally divided the population in Switzerland into:
- west (French-speaking);
- East (fluent in German).
The very name "restigraben" in translation means "a moat, covered with fried potatoes." Resti is one of the local dishes that is most popular in Bern. It represents a french fries so beloved by the Germans. And this dish is associated directly with the German Swiss, who in the eyes of the rest of the inhabitants look gloomy and terse, but practical in every way. It is about these people that the eastern population of Switzerland says that they can be relied on in serious matters at any moment.
An invisible border passing through the whole country gave the name to the peoples living in the east and west. So, for example, the French Swiss call their neighbors "Sasarin", that is, people living on the other side of the Sarin River. In turn, the eastern population of Switzerland - the Germans - name the river already in its own way - Zaane.
Great people of a small country
Despite the fact that the territory of Switzerland is relatively small, four nationalities coexist at once in it, who communicate in different languages. Moreover, each of them still has its own special dialect.
Despite this, the country's population is very cohesive, and the main distinguishing feature of the Swiss is their hard work. Nature did not give the inhabitants of this region a large amount of resources, did not endow it with vast expanses and fields. Therefore, the population of Switzerland has its own special, strong, persistent character and resourcefulness.
The words "cheese", "watch", "chocolate bars" are associated with this country. But the state is not only famous for this. On its territory such outstanding people were born, worked, as:
- Albert Einstein.
- Carl Jung.
- Jean Jacques Rousseau.
- Jean Calvin and many other famous personalities who have made a huge contribution to the development of science, art and simply to the formation of human society.