Sunday, September 13, 2015

15 intriguing facts about Switzerland

The tiny landlocked nation of Switzerland is known for its beauty, landscape, cheese and above all as a financial haven. But did you know that...


1. The average salary of a teacher in Switzerland in 2010 was $112'000 per year.
2. In Switzerland, it is illegal to deny that the holocaust happened.
3. Switzerland is unique for having enough nuclear fallout shelters to accommodate its entire human population.
4. In Switzerland, it is illegal to keep just one guinea pig. You got to have them in pairs.
5. Men in Switzerland are required to keep the firearms they are issued during their military service at home even after they leave the military to have the countries men ready to mobilize in the event of a threat.
6. There is a 500-year-old statue of a man eating a sack of babies in Bern, Switzerland, and nobody is sure why.


7. A Swiss Jeweler made a $68 million ring that was made entirely out of diamond.
8. One of Switzerland’s main defense strategies is to demolish every main access into the country via roads, bridges, and railways. There are at least 3,000 locations currently prepared to blow at a moment’s notice in case of an attack.
9. In Switzerland, a group of citizens may challenge a law passed by Parliament, if they are able to gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days. A national vote is scheduled where voters decide by a simple majority whether to accept or reject the law.
10. Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland. It is also legal in Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and three American states (Oregon, Washington, and Montana).
11. The German township of Büsingen am Hochrhein is entirely surrounded by Switzerland.


12. Switzerland claimed neutrality during WW2 and therefore thousands of people deposited their hard-earned money in Switzerland. When the depositors died, the relatives were denied any access to their funds, funds that the banks continued to make interest off. They also funneled hundreds of millions into Nazi Germany.
13. There has been an ongoing research in Switzerland about using LSD to alleviate end of life anxiety for terminally ill cancer patients coping with their impending deaths. The preliminary results from the study are being deemed “promising”.
14. Switzerland has no single Head of State. It instead has a seven-member executive council, which serves as the Swiss collective head of state.
15. About 56% of electricity generated in Switzerland is from hydroelectricity and another 39% from nuclear power, resulting in a nearly CO2-free electricity-generating network.

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