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Events from 2005 in Switzerland.
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Events from 2005 in Switzerland.
Public holidays in one or several cantons of Switzerland are marked (¹).
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located at the confluence of Western, Central and Southern Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is geographically divided among the Swiss Plateau, the Alps and the Jura; the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, whereas most of the country's population of 9 million are concentrated on the plateau, which hosts the largest cities and economic centres, including Zürich, Geneva and Basel.
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the Waldstätte. Two important periods in the development of the Old Swiss Confederacy are summarized by the terms Acht Orte and Dreizehn Orte.
The Council of States is the upper house of the Federal Assembly, and the lower house being the National Council. It comprises 46 members.
Appenzell Innerrhoden, in English sometimes Appenzell Inner-Rhodes, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of six districts. The seat of the government and parliament is Appenzell. It is traditionally considered a "half-canton", the other half being Appenzell Ausserrhoden.
The Liberal Party of Switzerland was a political party in Switzerland with economically liberal policies. It was known as a party of the upper class. On 1 January 2009 it merged with the larger Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) to establish FDP.The Liberals.
Districts of Switzerland are a political subdivision for cantons. In the federally constituted Switzerland, each canton is completely free to decide its own internal organisation. Therefore, there exists a variety of structures and terminology for the subnational entities between canton and municipality, loosely termed districts. Most cantons are divided into Bezirke. They are also termed Ämter, Amtsbezirke, district or distretto. The Bezirke generally provide only administration and court organization. However, for historical reasons districts in cantons Graubünden and Schwyz are their own legal entities with jurisdiction over tax and often have their own Landsgemeinde.
The Swiss Confederation comprises the 26 cantons of Switzerland.
Voting in Switzerland is the process by which Swiss citizens make decisions about governance and elect officials. The history of voting rights in Switzerland mirrors the complexity of the nation itself. The polling stations are opened on Saturdays and Sunday mornings but most people vote by post in advance. At noon on Sunday, voting ends and the results are usually known during the afternoon.
Cannabis in Switzerland is illegal, though minor possession was decriminalised to a fine in 2012. Several cantons began to allow adults to cultivate and use cannabis in 2012, but this was struck down by federal courts. In 2016, four cities stated they were looking into establishing pilot cannabis clubs. The number of cannabis users in Switzerland is estimated to be around 500,000 among a population of 8 million.
This local electoral calendar for the year 2011 lists the subnational elections held in 2011 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states. By-elections and sub-national referendums are also included.
This local electoral calendar for the year 2010 lists the subnational elections held in 2010 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states. By-elections and sub-national referendums are also included.
This local electoral calendar for 2012 lists the subnational elections held in 2012. Referendums, recall and retention elections, and national by-elections are also included.
Women in Switzerland gained the right to vote in federal elections after a referendum in February 1971. The first federal vote in which women were able to participate was the 31 October 1971 election of the Federal Assembly. However it was not until a 1990 decision by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland that women gained full voting rights in the final Swiss canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden.
The Federal Day of Thanksgiving, Repentance and Prayer is a public holiday in Switzerland. It is an interfaith feast observed by Roman Catholic dioceses, the Old Catholic Church, the Jewish and Muslim congregations and the Reformed church bodies as well as other Christian denominations.
Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 26 October 1851. The Radical Left remained the largest group in the National Council, winning 78 of the 120 seats.
Non-citizen suffrage in Switzerland is an ongoing political issue in the country. Switzerland is a federal nation. As such, the cantons have extensive powers to enact their own legislation. For this reason, the rules regarding the rights of non-citizen residents to vote differ considerably throughout Switzerland.
Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 20 October 2019 to elect all members of both houses of the Federal Assembly. This was followed by the 2019 election to the Swiss Federal Council, the federal executive, by the United Federal Assembly.
Eidgenössische Schützenfeste are the Swiss federal shooting competitions organized by the Schweizerischer Schützenverein since 1824.
