Swiss Population

Excerpts from "Switzerland", © 1993 Kümmerly & Frey, Geographical Publishers, Berne, Switzerland

Typical industrial and service state

By way of contrast to Third World countries with their high birthrates, natural growth plays a less dramatic role in highly industralized countries such as Switzerland because experience has shown that the number of live infants settles down at a much lower level. Today, interaction with foreign countries plays a much more significant role, though regional changes with all their social and economic consequences are decisive factors in the Swiss residential scene, e.g. depopulation of remote areas, shift of residential population from city centres to outlying areas or the influx into built-up areas and secondary centres.

Population growth through complex interrelationships

Population growth until the middle of the last century can only be roughly estimated. However, since 1850, regular censuses have been taken from which we can get an accurate picture of demographic movements.

The industrialization during the 19th century created a lot of jobs and was responsible for the first major increase in population.

There was another big jump in population figures around the turn of the century followed by steady growth from 1940 onwards with another significant bulge between 1950 and 1970 when the population of Switzerland increased by one-third.

After a period of slow growth in the 1970's (1.5%) the population of Switzerland increased by 8% between 1980 and 1990, a rate of growth which is clearly higher than that of the previous decade. This increase in population corresponds approximately to the population of the canton of Aargau or the combined population of the cities of Zurich and Berne.

The basic difference between 1980 - 1990 and the previous decade is the dominant role played by the movement of foreigners. While the previous rise in population was mainly due to an excess of births over deaths, this aspect made up only one-third of the increase in population between 1980 and 1990 (excess of births 1991: 3.5%)

Towards the outskirts

More than 50% of the total population of Switzerland live in urban areas - in 1970 the figure was 57.6%, in 1988, 60.2%, Urban conglomerations (or urban regions), that is to say town centres and their suburbs, have also grown considerably. As service industries (banks, insurance companies and other offices) have taken over town centre accommodation, pushing up rental charges, many people have been moving out to the outskirts which are, by the way, less noisy.

Demographic Movements (‰)

Total area and permanent resident population early in 1992

Multi-facetted culture with or without foreigners

The number of foreigners in Switzerland remained low for many years; in 1860 they accounted for less than 6% of the populations.

Foreigners with annual or permanent residence permits are counted as members of the resident population while the following foreigners are not; foreign-based seasonal workers whose numbers fluctuate considerably depending on the season; workers from just across the border resident abroad; international civil servants and officials of foreign administrations; foreigners who have applied for asylum and foreigners with permission to reside in Switzerland for less than one year.

Population movement among foreigners permanently resident in Switzerland is determined by emigration marriage, births, deaths and shifts from seasonal to annual permit-holder status, by the granting of asylum to officially recognized refugees and the conferring of Swiss citizenship.

The high rate of increase which developed under the influence of the immigration boom at the beginning of the 1960's was counteracted by limiting the number of people allowed into the country (1963).

The sources of foreign labour in Switzerland are shifting to the traditional recruiting countries. In view of the present stream of refugees into Switzerland this trend is likely to remain stable.

Foreigners permanently resident in Switzerland

Total Percentage of population

Employed foreigners

Swiss abroad

Few people realise today that for several hundred years up until the First World War Switzerland was a typical country of emigrants. The barren soil which could not feed its people was for a long time the main reason why Swiss people emigrated temporarily or permanently. Since the emigrants came mainly from the rural cantons, they naturally preferred to work as farmers or artisans rather than in industry in their country of adoption. But religious persecution, a sense of adventure and self-realisation were also important factors in the decision to emigrate and settle abroad. The boroughs and cantons encouraged emigration financially in the 19th century in order to avoid having to support the poorer population.

The choice of a career as a mercenary also has its roots in economic necessity. From the end of the 14th century until 1859, when it became illegal to serve in a foreign army, over a million Swiss mercenaries fought on battlefields all over Europe.

Today emigration for economic reasons has been replaced by individual and temporary emigration. It is mainly specialists who emigrated today for a limited time (under contract) or who offer their skills to promote Swiss exports, cultural and economic cooperation or in scientific research.

'The Fifth Switzerland' is the term used for the Swiss community living abroad. Today they number around 500'000 and are to be found in almost every country in the world. Two-thirds have dual nationality. In 1966 the Swiss constitution was extended to include an article which serves as a basis for the law which applies in particular to the status of the Swiss resident abroad (including welfare, military service and political rights). Their interests in Switzerland are represented by the Secretariat for Swiss Nationals Resident Abroad in Berne and the Office for Swiss Nationals Resident Abroad, which is part of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. These institutions also offer advice and other services to Swiss people living abroad. In addition the Secretariat publishes a regular magazine which is free to all Swiss people registered abroad.

Four national languages

As we have already seen, the country's quadrilinguism stems from the invasions after the romanization. But today's language 'boundaries' were not firmly fixed until much later. The Rhaeto-Roman language (Romansh) for instance, spoken in the Rhine valley north of Chur and in the Lower Prättigau, came under pressure from the Walser settlers of the 13th century, but did not disappear compeletely until the 14th and 15th centuries.

Elsewhere, the Bernese Anabaptists settled in the French-speaking Jura to form solid enclaves of German-speaking settlers, thus complicating the linguistic and cultural destiny of that region.

Inside the main language groups one still finds many local dialects, although in French-speaking Switzerland, these Franco-provençal idioms have almost entirely died out: now French is spoken. In Ticino and the southern Grison valleys, the official language - Italian - is always used, except in rural areas where local people prefer to communicate between themselves in their own Lombard dialect.

Rhaeto-Roman (Romansh), accepted by the electorate in 1938 as the fourth national language, is only spoken by a minority and comes under constant pressure from the major language groups in surrounding areas. A decline in the numbers of Romansh-speaking citizens has been accentuated by the increase in the German-speaking population. But there are other factors which have hindered the wider use of the language. Unfortunately, there is no major cultural and commercial centre and, more importantly, the language itself lacks unity as it is formed of no fewer than five distinct dialects (creating, nonetheless, an incomparable range of expression). Obviously, this multiplicity causes great problems in the struggle to preserve the Romansh culture and language.

Distribution of population in Switzerland according to language

The widest variety of local dialects is found in German-speaking Switzerland. They are a geographical rather than a sociological phenomenon, and there are many more - and more individual - dialects than those of the major cantons, such as Bern, Basle and Zurich. Isolated villages and valleys often cling tenaciously to their own, highly distinctive idiom. The German dialects used in everyday conversations are unlikely to give way to Standard German as used in official matters as well as in writing. One may even say that there has recently been a renewed interest in the use of dialects.

Religion

Merchants and Roman soldiers spread the message of Christianity very quickly in Switzerland. The first bishops were installed in Geneva, Martigny and Chur, but it was not until the beginning of the Middle Ages that the general populace was converted to Christianity. This came about partly by the efforts of the clergy and the aristocracy, but mainly through the teachings of itinerant Irish monks, such as Columban and Gallus. Later on, monasteries and convents were active in creating a wider spiritual awareness and instilling Christian virtues into everyday life. They all played a part in enriching the cultural life of the country at the time.

The Reformation, instigated in Zurich by Zwingli, a theologian much impressed by Erasmus's Humanism, soon captured the imagination of the German-speaking people, except for those in Central Switzerland. Those in the French-speaking regions and Ticino remained impervious to the new ideas until the region of Vaud was conquered by Berne in 1536. Others were converted through the teachings of Calvin in Geneva.

Finally in 1848 the Constitution recognized the right of the individual to choose his own faith. We must not forget, however, that the Reformation and Counter-Reformation were not conducted entirely peacefully: Switzerland was shaken by bloody religious wars during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Distribution of population in Switzerland according to religion

Socio-economic structure

In the middle of the 19th century, more than half the working population was employed in agriculture; in 1960, this figure has dropped to 13% and has since dwindled to just 5.5%.

The de-population of the Jura and Alpine areas in favour of the Central Plateau (including the Basle agglomeration) reflects the shift in working patterns from the primary sector (agriculture) to the secondary (industry and crafts) and tertiary sectors (service industries).

However, the 'rural exodus' has had a less devastating effect in Switzerland than in other industrialized nations. Mostly for historic reasons (cottage industries developed under the 'ancien régime'), much of Swiss industry is firmly based in the countryside.

Since the turn of the century, the proportion of self-employed citizens had dropped from 26% to 10%; formerly a nation of 'entrepreneurs', Switzerland has now become a nation of employees. Naturally, the economic and social structure of any particular community can alter greatly over the years. The construction of a hydro-electric power station, a dam or a major road for example, can swell the population of a small community for several years. If a village or valley suddenly realizes its tourist potential, this, too, brings about more jobs and a consequent expansion of the population. This has happened most of all in the mountain regions over the last few decades.