Religions and languages in Switzerland

Switzerland is one of the most democratically developed countries in the world. That is why the state language here isn’t just one. There are three of them, German, French, and Italian. In these languages, state legislative acts are drawn up and meetings with federal government bodies are held. Most of Swiss speak the German dialect, Schweizerdeutsch. About 20 percent of the population speaks French. It is distributed in the adjoining lands of Geneva, Friborg and Valais. No more than 5 percent of Swiss citizens speak Italian. Even Rhaeto-Roman has the status of the national language. It is considered a derivative of the old Latin language, and only about 1 percent of the population speaks it. It is distributed mainly in the mountainous region of Graubünden.

Historically, Switzerland has an extremely religious population. Christianity has always had a huge impact on the development of the state, although it was divided into the Catholic and Protestant regions. To date, the church is completely separated from the state, and the country is recognized as absolutely secular. Citizens of the country are free in their religious preferences; the state isn’t engaged in the propaganda of a certain religion. Statistics show that about half of Switzerland population considers themselves to be believers. Such holidays as Easter, Christmas, and the Assumption of the Virgin are celebrated in every city. Moreover, even the religious strata of the population are absolutely not fanatical. They almost do not attend temples and churches, because of what perishes suffer a significant decline and gradually close. State support does not apply to them.

The number of Catholics and Protestants in the country is almost the same. Catholic faith is more prevalent in the central and southern parts of Ticino. Virtually all major cities, including Bern, Zurich, and Geneva adhere to Protestantism. The disputes of these two faiths have ceased long ago, and now citizens can get along with each other. Although a few centuries ago, real bloody trials were played out because of religion. Modern Swiss people are absolutely tolerant to any existing religion on earth, so Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim communities form there. About one and a half percent of residents are Orthodox Christians. Copyright www.orangesmile.com