Banking in Switzerland dates to the early 18th century through Switzerland's merchant trade and has, over the centuries, grown into a complex, regulated, and international industry. Banking is seen as emblematic of Switzerland. The country has a long history of banking secrecy and client confidentiality reaching back to the early 1700s. Starting as a way to protect wealthy European banking interests, Swiss banking secrecy was codified in 1934 with the passage of a landmark federal law, the Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks. These laws, which were used to protect assets of persons being persecuted by Nazi authorities, have also been used by people and institutions seeking to illegally evade taxes, hide assets, or generally commit financial crime.
The Gotthard Base Tunnel is a railway tunnel through the Alps in Switzerland. It opened in June 2016 and full service began the following December. With a route length of 57.09 km (35.5 mi), it is the world's longest railway and deepest traffic tunnel and the first flat, low-level route through the Alps. It lies at the heart of the Gotthard axis and constitutes the third tunnel connecting the cantons of Uri and Ticino, after the Gotthard Tunnel and the Gotthard Road Tunnel.
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.
Schweizer Fernsehen was the German-language division of SRG SSR, in charge of production and distribution of television programmes in Switzerland for German-speaking Switzerland. It had its head office in Zürich. Its most viewed programme was Tagesschau (news), daily at 7:30 pm.
Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha, formerly known as Radio e Televisiun Rumantscha, is a Swiss broadcasting company which offers programming to Romansh-speakers in Switzerland and around the world.
With its four national languages, its cultural diversity and economical status, Switzerland has long had one of the best developed and most complete mass media sectors in Europe.
Crime in Switzerland is combated mainly by cantonal police. The Federal Office of Police investigates organised crime, money laundering and terrorism.
The Swiss diaspora refers to Swiss people living abroad, also referred to as "fifth Switzerland", alluding to the fourfold linguistic division within the country. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) cares for Swiss people living abroad.
Russia–Switzerland relations are foreign relations between Russia and Switzerland. Switzerland opened a consulate in Saint Petersburg in 1816, upgrading it to a legation 90 years later. The two countries broke off diplomatic relations in 1923, when Russia was going through a period of revolutionary turmoil – and they were not resumed until 1946. Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, relations became tense after Switzerland imposed sanctions against Russia. Russia placed Switzerland on a list of "unfriendly countries".
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 355 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.
Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen is a Swiss broadcasting company created on 1 January 2011 through the merger of radio company Schweizer Radio DRS and television company Schweizer Fernsehen (SF). The new business unit of SRG SSR became the largest electronic media house of German-speaking Switzerland. About 2,150 employees work for SRF in the four main studios in Basel, Bern, and Zürich.
Kurds in Switzerland are residents in Switzerland of full or partial Kurds origin. The Kurds in Switzerland mainly reside in the Cantons of Zurich, Aargau and Basel-Stadt and are descendants of migrants of refugees from the regions around Pazarcık, Kahraranmaraş or Erzincan. There are also shia kurdish migrants from Iranian Kurdistan, the region around Ilam and Kermanshah along with Feyli Kurds from Baghdad who mainly reside Geneva and Zürich
Regula Rytz is a Swiss historian and politician of the Green Party of Switzerland. She was a member of the National Council from 2011 to 2022. From 2012 to 2016, she was the co-president of the Green Party of Switzerland. She was the party president from 2016 to 2020.
Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Apollo" written by Elias Näslin, Nicolas Günthardt and Alessandra Günthardt. The song was performed by the band Timebelle. The Swiss entry for the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine was selected through the national final ESC 2017 – die Entscheidungsshow, organised by the Swiss broadcaster Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. Artists that were interested in entering the Swiss national final had the opportunity to apply during a submission period organised by SRG SSR. A total of 21 entries were selected to advance to an "Live Check" round held on 4 December 2016 and involved nineteen experts evaluating the live performances of the 21 entries and selecting six entries to advance to the televised national final. The six finalists performed during the national final on 5 February 2017 where public voting ultimately selected "Apollo" performed by Timebelle as the winner.
Selina Chönz or Selina Choenz was a Swiss children's author. Her most famous work is A Bell for Ursli, a children's book illustrated by Alois Carigiet.
Urs Christian Timotheus Guldimann abbreviated as Tim Guldimann is a Swiss political scientist and former diplomat and politician who previously served on the National Council (Switzerland) for the Social Democratic Party from 2015 to 2018. He was the first Swiss abroad ever elected to federal office.
Larissa Margot Bieler is a Swiss journalist. She is the director and editor-in-chief of Swissinfo.
Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 22 October 2023 to elect all members of the National Council and Council of States. The elections were followed by elections to the Federal Council, Switzerland's government and collegial presidency, on 13 December.
Barbara Schmid-Federer is a Swiss politician, educator, and philanthropist. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland, she was elected to a seat in the National Council in 2007, serving until 2018. As a member of the National Council, Schmid-Federer spearheaded family policy and children's safety initiatives, including public breastfeeding and cyberbullying prevention in her platforms. She was appointed as president of Pro Juventute in 2019 and served in that capacity until 2022, when she assumed the role of Vice President. She served as President of the Swiss Red Cross between 2022 and 2023.
Switzerland is set to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden, with "The Code" performed by Nemo. The Swiss broadcaster Swiss Broadcasting Corporation internally selected the country's representative for the contest.
