| Organisation / Group | Aim | status |
|---|---|---|
| Asian Development Bank | to promote regional economic cooperation | nonregional member |
| African Development Bank Group | to promote economic development and social progress | nonregional member |
| Latin American Integration Association | to promote freer regional trade | observer |
| Organization of American States | to promote regional peace and security as well as economic and social development | observer |
| Australia Group | to consult on and coordinate export controls related to chemical and biological weapons | |
| Bank for International Settlements | to promote cooperation among central banks in international financial settlements | |
| Council of Europe | to promote increased unity and quality of life in Europe | |
| European Organization for Nuclear Research | to foster nuclear research for peaceful purposes only | |
| Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council | to discuss cooperation on mutual political and security issues | |
| European Bank for Reconstruction and Development | to facilitate the transition of seven centrally planned economies in Europe (Bulgaria, former Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, former USSR, and former Yugoslavia) to market economies by committing 60% of its loans to privatization | |
| European Free Trade Association | to promote expansion of free trade | |
| European Space Agency | to promote peaceful cooperation in space research and technology | |
| Food and Agriculture Organization | to raise living standards and increase availability of agricultural products;a UN specialized agency | |
| Financial Action Task Force | to develop and promote policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing | |
| Group of 10 | to coordinate credit policy | |
| Inter-American Development Bank | to promote economic and social development in Latin America | |
| International Atomic Energy Agency | to promote peaceful uses of atomic energy | |
| International Bank for Reconstruction and Development | to provide economic development loans;a UN specialized agency | |
| International Civil Aviation Organization | to promote international cooperation in civil aviation;a UN specialized agency | |
| International Chamber of Commerce | to promote free trade and private enterprise and to represent business interests at national and international levels | |
| International Criminal Court | to hold all individuals and countries accountable to international laws of conduct; to specify international standards of conduct;to provide an important mechanism for implementing these standards;to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice | |
| International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement | to promote worldwide humanitarian aid through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in wartime, and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS;formerly League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies or LORCS) in peacetime | |
| International Development Association | to provide economic loans for low-income countries;UN specialized agency and IBRD affiliate | |
| International Energy Agency | to promote cooperation on energy matters, especially emergency oil sharing and relations between oil consumers and oil producers;established by the OECD | |
| International Fund for Agricultural Development | to promote agricultural development;a UN specialized agency | |
| International Finance Corporation | to support private enterprise in international economic development;a UN specialized agency and IBRD affiliate | |
| International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies | to organize, coordinate, and direct international relief actions;to promote humanitarian activities;to represent and encourage the development of National Societies;to bring help to victims of armed conflicts, refugees, and displaced people;to reduce the vulnerability of people through development programs | |
| International Labor Organization | to deal with world labor issues;a UN specialized agency | |
| International Monetary Fund | to promote world monetary stability and economic development;a UN specialized agency | |
| International Maritime Organization | to deal with international maritime affairs;a UN specialized agency | |
| International Mobile Satellite Organization | acts as watchdog over Inmarsat (International Maritime Satellite Organization), a private company, to make sure it follows ICAO standards and recommended practices;plays an active role in the development of international telecommunications policies | |
| International Criminal Police Organization | to promote international cooperation among police authorities in fighting crime | |
| International Olympic Committee | to promote the Olympic ideals and administer the Olympic games: 2012 Summer Olympics in London, UK;2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia | |
| International Organization for Migration | to facilitate orderly international emigration and immigration | |
| Inter-Parliamentary Union | fosters contacts among parliamentarians, considers and expresses views of international interest and concern with the purpose of bringing about action by parliaments and parliamentarians, contributes to the defense and promotion of human rights, contributes to better knowledge of representative institutions | |
| International Organization for Standardization | to promote the development of international standards with a view to facilitating international exchange of goods and services and to developing cooperation in the sphere of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity | |
| International Telecommunications Satellites Organization | to act as a watchdog over Intelsat, Ltd., a private company, to make sure it provides on a global and non-discriminatory basis public telecommunication services | |
| International Telecommunication Union | to deal with world telecommunications issues;a UN specialized agency | |
| International Trade Union Confederation | to promote the trade union movement | |
| Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency | encourages flow of foreign direct investment among member countries by offering investment insurance, consultation, and negotiation on conditions for foreign investment and technical assistance;a UN specialized agency | |
| United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo | to establish contacts with the signatories to the cease-fire agreement and to plan for the observation of the cease-fire and disengagement of forces | |
| Nuclear Energy Agency | to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear energy;associated with OECD | |
| Nuclear Suppliers Group | to establish guidelines for exports of nuclear materials, processing equipment for uranium enrichment, and technical information to countries of proliferation concern and regions of conflict and instability | |
| Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development | to promote economic cooperation and development | |
| International Organization of the French-speaking World | founded around a common language to promote and spread the cultures of its members and to reinforce cultural and technical cooperation between them | |
| Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons | to enforce the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling, and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction;to provide a forum for consultation and cooperation among the signatories of the Convention | |
| Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe | to foster the implementation of human rights, fundamental freedoms, democracy, and the rule of law;to act as an instrument of early warning, conflict prevention, and crisis management;and to serve as a framework for conventional arms control and confidence building measures | |
| Paris Club | to provide a forum for debtor countries to negotiate rescheduling of debt service payments or loans extended by governments or official agencies of participating countries;to help restore normal trade and project finance to debtor countries | |
| Permanent Court of Arbitration | to facilitate the settlement of international disputes | |
| Partnership for Peace | to expand and intensify political and military cooperation throughout Europe, increase stability, diminish threats to peace, and build relationships by promoting the spirit of practical cooperation and commitment to democratic principles that underpin NATO;program under the auspices of NATO | |
| United Nations | to maintain international peace and security and to promote cooperation involving economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian problems | |
| United Nations Conference on Trade and Development | to promote international trade | |
| United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization | to promote cooperation in education, science, and culture | |
| United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees | to ensure the humanitarian treatment of refugees and find permanent solutions to refugee problems | |
| United Nations Industrial Development Organization | UN specialized agency that promotes industrial development especially among the members | |
| United Nations Institute for Training and Research | to help the UN become more effective through training and research | |
| United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East | to provide assistance to Palestinian refugees | |
| United Nations Truce Supervision Organization | to supervise the 1948 Arab-Israeli cease-fire;currently supports timely deployment of reinforcements to other peacekeeping operations in the region as needed;initially established by the UN Security Council | |
| World Tourism Organization | to promote tourism as a means of contributing to economic development, international understanding, and peace | |
| Universal Postal Union | to promote international postal cooperation;a UN specialized agency | |
| World Customs Organization | to promote international cooperation in customs matters | |
| World Federation of Trade Unions | to promote the trade union movement | |
| World Health Organization | to deal with health matters worldwide;a UN specialized agency | |
| World Intellectual Property Organization | to furnish protection for literary, artistic, and scientific works;a UN specialized agency | |
| World Meteorological Organization | to sponsor meteorological cooperation;a UN specialized agency | |
| World Trade Organization | to provide a forum to resolve trade conflicts between members and to carry on negotiations with the goal of further lowering and/or eliminating tariffs and other trade barriers | |
| Zangger Committee | to establish guidelines for the export control provisions of the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) |
Names
Description
The Swiss Confederation was founded in 1291 as a defensive alliance among three cantons. In succeeding years, other localities joined the original three. The Swiss Confederation secured its independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1499. A constitution of 1848, subsequently modified in 1874, replaced the confederation with a centralized federal government. Switzerland's sovereignty and neutrality have long been honored by the major European powers, and the country was not involved in either of the two World Wars. The political and economic integration of Europe over the past half century, as well as Switzerland's role in many UN and international organizations, has strengthened Switzerland's ties with its neighbors. However, the country did not officially become a UN member until 2002. Switzerland remains active in many UN and international organizations but retains a strong commitment to neutrality.
Government type
formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic
Religions
Roman Catholic 41.8%, Protestant 35.3%, Muslim 4.3%, Orthodox 1.8%, other Christian 0.4%, other 1%, unspecified 4.3%, none 11.1% (2000 census)
Natural Resources
hydropower potential, timber, salt
Export commodities
machinery, chemicals, metals, watches, agricultural products
Associations involved (25)
has property
- Area of Switzerland
- Birth rate of Switzerland
- Death rate of Switzerland
- Electricity production of Switzerland
- GDP - per capita (PPP) of Switzerland
- GDP growth rate of Switzerland
- GDP of Switzerland
- HIV/AIDS - Adult Prevalence Rate of Switzerland
- HIV/AIDS - deaths of Switzerland
- Industrial production growth rate of Switzerland
- Infant Mortality Rate of Switzerland
- Inflation rate of Switzerland
- Life Expectancy at Birth of Switzerland
- Location of Switzerland
- Natural gas consumption of Switzerland
- Natural gas production of Switzerland
- Net Migration Rate of Switzerland
- Oil consumption of Switzerland
- Oil production of Switzerland
- People living with HIV/AIDS of Switzerland
- Population growth rate of Switzerland
- Population size of Switzerland
- Total Fertility Rate of Switzerland
- Unemployment rate of Switzerland
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