German

Switzerland is a small country in the middle of Europe, famous for its beautiful scenery, its unique banking facilities, and the excellence of its manufactured products, especially watches and clocks. The country is a federal republic and is officially known as the Swiss confederation. Its total area is 15,940 square miles, and the population in 1995 was 6,905,000. It is bounded on the north by Germany, on the east by Austria, on the south by Italy, and on the west by France. The capital city is Berne.
     The people of Switzerland fall into four distinct groups, each speaking a separate language and generally following different religious practices: the German Swiss, the French Swiss, the Italian Swiss, and the Rhaeto-Roman Swiss. However, the good will that exists among them enables them to live and work together. The Swiss are known all over the world for their devotion to work, their efficiency, and heir keen business sense. They love to travel, and many of them live outside of Switzerland without giving up their Swiss nationality. Now over 160,000 of them are living abroad, mainly in France, Germany, Italy, and the United States.
     There are four official languages in Switzerland. German, in the form of the Swiss dialect,’ is spoken by about 72 percent of the population, and is spreading into the French-speaking areas. French, the next most widely-spoken language, is used by about 20 percent, mostly in the neighborhood of Lake Geneva in the southwestern part of the country and along the French border. Italian is spoken by 6 percent of the population, almost exclusively in the southeast, next to Italy. Finally about 1 percent of the population speak Romansch, a language derived from Latin, like Italian and French, but different from them.