The four national languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian, and Romansh.[3] German, French, and Italian maintain equal status as official languages at the national level within the Federal Administration of the Swiss Confederation, while Romansh is used in dealings with people who speak it.[4]Latin is occasionally used in some formal contexts, particularly to denote the country (Confoederatio Helvetica).[5]
In 2020, 62.3% of the population of Switzerland were native speakers of German (either Swiss or Standard German) at home; 22.8% French (mostly Swiss French, but including some Franco-Provençaldialects); 8% Italian (mostly Swiss Italian, but including Lombard); and 0.5% Romansh.[6] The German region (Deutschschweiz) is roughly in the east, north, and centre; the French part (la Romandie) in the west; and the Italian area (Svizzera italiana) in the south. There remains a small Romansh-speaking native population in Grisons in the east. The cantons of Freiburg, Bern, and Valais are officially bilingual; Grisons is officially trilingual.
History
The main languages of Swiss residents from 1950 to 2015, in percentages, were as follows:[7]
Overview of the native language of Swiss
Year
German
French
Italian
Romansh
Other
2015
63.7
22.7
8.4
0.6
5.3
2000
63.7
20.4
6.5
0.5
9.0
1990
63.6
19.2
7.6
0.6
8.9
1980
65.0
18.4
9.8
0.8
6.0
1970
64.9
18.1
11.9
0.8
4.3
1960
69.4
18.9
9.5
0.9
1.4
1950
72.1
20.3
5.9
1.0
0.7
In the 2012 survey, for the first time, respondents could indicate more than one language, causing the percentages to exceed 100%.[7]
Federal authorities
While the National Council offers simultaneous translation to and from German, French and Italian, the Council of States does not translate debates – its members are expected to understand at least German and French.
Employees of the federal government are expected to write documents in their native tongue. 77% of the original official documents were edited in German, 20% in French, and 1.98% in Italian. More than half of the Italian speakers employed by the federal government are translators.[8]
The Federal Supreme Court publishes its decisions only in one language, usually in the language used in the earlier instance. The so-called regest – a summary of the decision – will be offered in German, French and Italian, but only in important and influential cases (German "Leitentscheide").[9]
The German-speaking part of Switzerland (German: Deutschschweiz, French: Suisse alémanique, Italian: Svizzera tedesca, Romansh: Svizra tudestga) constitutes about 65% of Switzerland (North Western Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Central Switzerland, most of the Swiss Plateau and the greater part of the Swiss Alps).
While the French-speaking Swiss prefer to call themselves Romands and their part of the country is Romandy, the German-speaking Swiss used to (and, colloquially, still do) refer to the French-speaking Swiss as "Welsche", and to their area as Welschland, which has the same etymology as the English Welsh (see Walha).[11] Research shows that individuals with a French-sounding name in the German-speaking part suffer from social discrimination.[12][13]
Nevertheless, in 2017, 11.1%, or about 920,600 of the Swiss residents speak Standard German ("Hochdeutsch") at home, but this figure likely includes numerous German (and Austrian) immigrants.[14]
Geography of languages in Switzerland in the early 20th century. Page from a school atlas, in the Jewish Museum of Switzerland's collection.
By the Middle Ages, a marked difference had developed within the German-speaking part of Switzerland between the rural cantons (Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Glarus, Zug, Appenzell, Schaffhausen) and the city cantons (Lucerne, Berne, Zurich, Solothurn, Fribourg, Basel, St. Gallen), divided by views about trade and commerce. After the Reformation, all cantons were either Catholic or Protestant, and the denominational influences on culture added to the differences. Even today, when all cantons are somewhat denominationally mixed, the different historical denominations can be seen in the mountain villages, where Roman Catholic Central Switzerland abounds with chapels and statues of saints, and the farmhouses in the very similar landscape of the Protestant Bernese Oberland show Bible verses carved on the housefronts instead.
In addition to this more widespread notion of Swiss German dialect, there is also Walser German, another Highest Alemannic speech brought by Walser emigrants from Valais.
Because the largest part of Switzerland is German-speaking, many French, Italian, and Romansh speakers migrate to the rest of Switzerland, and the children of those non-German-speaking Swiss-born within the rest of Switzerland speak German.
French
Arpitan language area map with place names in Arpitan and historic political divisions
Romandy (French: Romandie, la Suisse romande, German: Romandie, Welschland, Welschschweiz, or in some contexts: Westschweiz,[a]Italian: Svizzera romanda) is the French-speaking part of Switzerland. It covers the area of the cantons of Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel, and Jura as well as the French-speaking parts of the cantons of Bern (German-speaking majority), Valais (French-speaking majority), and Fribourg (French-speaking majority). 1.9 million people (or 24.4% of the Swiss population) live in Romandy.[15]
Standard Swiss French and the French of France are highly mutually intelligible, though some differences exist. For example, like most Francophone Belgians, speakers of Swiss French use septante (seventy) instead of soixante-dix (literally, "sixty ten") and nonante (ninety) instead of "quatre-vingt-dix" ("four twenty ten"). In the cantons of Vaud, Valais and Fribourg, speakers use huitante (eighty) instead of "quatre-vingts" (four twenties) used in most of the rest of the French-speaking world; the cantons of Geneva, Bern and Jura use "quatre-vingts".[16][17][18] "Sou" is used throughout Romandy for a 5-centime coin, as is "tune" (or "thune") when referring to a 5-Swiss-franc piece. Swiss French also uses "déjeuner, dîner, souper" for breakfast, lunch and dinner instead of "petit-déjeuner, déjeuner, dîner" used in France.
Historically, the vernacular language used by inhabitants of most parts of Romandy was Franco-Provençal. Franco-Provençal (also called Arpitan) is a language sometimes considered to be halfway between the langue d'oïl (the historical language of northern France and ancestor of French) and Occitan (the langue d'oc, spoken in southern France). Standard French and Franco-Provençal/Arpitan, linguistically, are distinct and mutual intelligibility is limited. Increasingly, Franco-Provençal/Arpitan is used only by members of the older generations.[19] In parts of Jura Franc-Comtois dialects are also spoken; these belong to the same Oïl bloc as Standard French.
The term Romandy does not formally exist in the political system, but is used to distinguish and unify the French-speaking population of Switzerland. The television channel Télévision Suisse Romande (TSR) served the Romande community across Switzerland and worldwide through TV5Monde until it was merged with the Radio Suisse Romande (RSR) and renamed RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse) in 2010.
The linguistic region covers an area of about 3,500km2 and has a total population of around 350,000,[20] with the number of Italophones residing in Switzerland being 545,274 (about 7% of the Swiss population).[21]
The proportion of Italian-speaking inhabitants had been decreasing since the 1970s, after reaching a high of 12% of the population during the same decade. This was entirely because of the reduced number of immigrants from Italy to Switzerland. However it has increased again during the last decade.[when?][7]
Languages of instruction in the traditionally Romansh-speaking areas of Grisons as of 2003
Romansh school
Bilingual Romansh-German school
German school, Romansh as a subject
German schooling only
Romansh is an official language in the trilingual Canton of Grisons, where the municipalities in turn are free to specify their own official languages. Romansh has been recognized as one of four "national languages" by the Swiss Federal Constitution since 1938. It was also declared an "official language" of the Confederation in 1996, meaning that Romansh speakers may use their language for correspondence with the federal government and expect to receive a Romansh response. Although Romansh is split into several dialects, the federal and cantonal authorities use the standardized version (Romansh Grischun) exclusively.
While learning one of the other national languages at school is important, many Swiss nowadays find it easier to use English as a lingua franca with other Swiss people of different linguistic backgrounds.[22] In 2022, Switzerland ranked 23rd in Europe in the English Proficiency Index of EF language school.[23]
Swissinfo, a multilingual outlet of Swiss Radio and Television, reported in 2021 that interview subjects are often asked technical questions in English, given that interviewers are often not proficient enough to do so in the local language. The interviewees then answer in their own local language. The interviews are later translated and dubbed over at the studio. A 2003 study on the online communication behavior of Swiss medical students showed that they quickly changed to English as soon as students from other languages were involved. The main drivers behind using English were the Italian-speaking students from Ticino, as students from other parts of the country rarely understood their messages.[24]
Inhabitants who mainly speak English in everyday life
Residents aged 15 or above; according to 2022 census data[25]
In advertising and sports, English slogans and labels are frequently used, as it reduces the need for regional branding. For example, Swiss railways sell tourism offers through the "RailAway" label since 1999, and many national sport federations have English names (e.g. Swiss Olympic and Swiss Super League), with their German or French names almost never being used.
Other languages
Franco-Provençal and Lombard
Besides the national languages and the many varieties of Swiss German, several regional Romance languages are spoken natively in Switzerland: Franco-Provençal and Lombard.
A Swiss five-franc coin with the Latin inscription Confoederatio HelveticaThe Federal Palace of Switzerland, with the Latin inscription Curia Confoederationis Helveticae
↑ Since 2010, statistics of languages in Switzerland provided by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office are based on a national structural survey of 200,000 people aged 15 years and older (corresponding to 2.5% of the total resident population). Data are extrapolated to obtain statistical results for the whole population (aged 15 years and older). These results are estimates subject to some degree of uncertainty indicated by a confidence interval. Therefore, the figures of the structural survey may not be entirely comparable to data collection before 2010 based on census figures (counting every person living in Switzerland).[27]
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central 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 9 million people are concentrated on the plateau, which hosts its largest cities and economic centres, including Zurich, Geneva, and Basel.
Switzerland has 9 million inhabitants, as of June 2024. Its population quadrupled over the period 1800 to 1990. Population growth was steepest in the period after World War II, it slowed during the 1970s and 1980s but has since increased to 1% during the 2000s.
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 Republic and Canton of Jura, less formally the Canton of Jura or Canton Jura, is the newest of the 26 Swiss cantons, located in the northwestern part of Switzerland. The capital is Delémont. It shares borders with the canton of Basel-Landschaft, the canton of Bern, the canton of Neuchatel, the canton of Solothurn, and the French regions of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Grand Est.
Vaud, more formally the Canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms bears the motto "Liberté et patrie" on a white-green bicolour.
The canton of Fribourg, also canton of Freiburg, is located in western Switzerland. The canton is bilingual, with French spoken by more than two thirds of the citizens and German by a little more than a quarter. Both are official languages in the canton. The canton takes its name from its capital city of Fribourg.
The Liberal Party of Switzerland or Swiss Liberal Party 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 form FDP.The Liberals.
Franco-Provençal is a language within the Gallo-Romance family, originally spoken in east-central France, western Switzerland, northwestern and southeastern Italy.
Neuchâtel is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel. Since the fusion in 2021 of the municipalities of Neuchâtel, Corcelles-Cormondrèche, Peseux, and Valangin, the city has approximately 33,000 inhabitants. The city is sometimes referred to historically by the German name Neuenburg; both the French and German names mean "New Castle".
Municipalities are the lowest level of administrative division in Switzerland. Each municipality is part of one of the Swiss cantons, which form the Swiss Confederation. In most cantons, municipalities are also part of districts or other sub-cantonal administrative divisions.
The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is the Swiss public broadcasting association, founded in 1931, the holding company of 24 radio and television channels. Headquartered in Bern, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is a non-profit organisation, funded mainly through radio and television licence fees (79%) and making the remaining income from advertising and sponsorship.
Romandy is the French-speaking historical and cultural region of Switzerland. In 2020, about 2 million people, or 22.8% of the Swiss population, lived in Romandy. The majority of the romand population lives in the western part of the country, especially the Arc Lémanique region along Lake Geneva, connecting Geneva, Vaud, and the Lower Valais.
Röstigraben is a term used to refer to the cultural boundary between German-speaking Switzerland and Romandy, the French-speaking parts. There is also the term Polentagraben, referring to the boundary between German-speaking cantons and the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino.
Puplinge is a municipality in the canton of Geneva in Switzerland.
The Swiss people are the citizens of the multi-ethnic Swiss Confederation (Switzerland) regardless of ethno-cultural background or people of self-identified Swiss ancestry.
The Romansh people are a Romance ethnic group, the speakers of the Romansh language, native to the Swiss canton of Grisons (Graubünden).
Television in Switzerland was introduced in 1950, with regular broadcasts commencing in 1953. People who live in Switzerland are required by law to pay a television licence fee, which is used to finance the public radio and television service SRG SSR. Since 1 January 2021, the Licence fee cost in all the linguistic regions of Switzerland is 335 CHF per year or 83.75 CHF quarterly, counting both radio and television licences. All licence fee payers are entitled under the law to services of equal quality. The fee is charged per household and not per person, with empty dwellings being exempt. The fee is determined by the Federal Council.
The German-speaking part of Switzerland comprises about 65 percent of Switzerland.
Arabs in Switzerland are Swiss citizens or residents of Arab ethnic, cultural or linguistic heritage from Arab countries, particularly North Africa, Levant, and Iraq, also small groups from Palestine, Yemen, and Sudan, who emigrated from their native nations and currently reside in Switzerland.
↑ Thibault, André (2004). "huitante". Dictionnaire suisse romand: particularités lexicales du français contemporain[Swiss French Dictionary: lexical particularities of contemporary French] (in French). Pierre Knecht (Nouvelle éd. revue et augmentéeed.). Carouge (Geneva): Zoé. p.457. ISBN978-2-88182-870-6. OCLC828226325. Local. VD, VS, FR; les autres cantons emploient quatre-vingt(s), comme en français de référence.[Local. VD, VS, FR; the other cantons use quatre-vingt(s) like in Standard French.]
↑ "Tableau 7: Population résidante selon la langue principale avec au moins 600 locuteurs, en nombres absolus, en 2000". Neuchâtel, Switzerland: Swiss Federal Statistical Office. according to the 2000 census (over 1,000 speakers){{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
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