Switzerland Switzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation (Confœderatio Helvetica in Latin, hence its ISO country codes CH and CHE), is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe[note 4] where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to has no country-wide state religion A state religion is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state. Practically, a state without a state religion is called a secular state. The term state church is associated with Christianity, and is sometimes used to denote a specific national branch of Christianity. Closely related to state churches are what sociologists call, though most of the cantons The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848. The most recently created canton is the Canton of Jura, which separated from the Canton of (except for Geneva The Canton of Geneva is the westernmost canton or state of Switzerland, surrounded on almost all sides by France. The official name of this canton in French is République et Canton de Genève. Like some other Swiss cantons this canton calls itself a republic, as part of the Swiss confederation and Neuchâtel Neuchâtel is a canton of western Switzerland. In 2007, its population was 169,782 of which 39,654 (or 23.4%) were foreigners. The capital is Neuchâtel) recognize official churches (Landeskirchen In Germany and Switzerland, a Landeskirche is the church of a region. They originated as the national churches of the independent states, States of Germany (Länder) or Cantons of Switzerland (Kantone, Cantons), that later unified to form modern Germany (in 1871) or modern Switzerland (in 1848), respectively), in all cases including the Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with more than a billion members. The Church's leader is the Pope who holds supreme authority in concert with the College of Bishops of which he is the head. A communion of the Western church and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic churches (called and the Swiss Reformed Church The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Berne (Berchtold Haller and Niklaus Manuel), St. Gall (Joachim Vadian), to cities in southern Germany and via Alsace (Martin Bucer) to France. These churches, and in some cantons also the Old Catholic Church The Old Catholic Church is a Christian denomination originating with mainly German-speaking groups that split from the Holy See because they disagreed with the claim of universal papal jurisdiction and the solemn declaration of the doctrine of papal infallibility promulgated by the First Vatican Council . The church is not in formal communion with and Jewish congregations, are financed by official taxation of adherents Church tax is a tax imposed on members of some religious congregations in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Sweden and some parts of Switzerland.[1]
Christianity Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. Christianity comprises three major branches: Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy (the two split from one another in 1054 A.D.), and Protestantism (which came into existence during the Protestant Reformation of the 16 is the predominant religion of Switzerland (82% of total resident population). 11% of the total population are irreligious. The largest minority religion is Islam (4%, figures as of 2000).
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Demographics
Distribution of denominations in Switzerland in 2008 (green: Protestant, red: Catholic)The two major religious confessions are the Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with more than a billion members. The Church's leader is the Pope who holds supreme authority in concert with the College of Bishops of which he is the head. A communion of the Western church and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic churches (called (42% of the population) and the Swiss Reformed Church The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Berne (Berchtold Haller and Niklaus Manuel), St. Gall (Joachim Vadian), to cities in southern Germany and via Alsace (Martin Bucer) to France (35%). The country is historically about evenly balanced between Catholic and Protestant regions. The larger cities (Bern, Zürich, Basel, Geneva) are traditionally Protestant, while Central Switzerland and the Ticino are traditionally Catholic.
Immigration This article is about the demographic features of the population of Switzerland, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population has brought Islam (4.26% as of 2000, compared to 0.26% in 1970) and Eastern Orthodoxy The Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church [note 1] and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, asserts that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles almost 2,000 years ago. The Church is composed of several self-governing ecclesial bodies, each (1.8%) as sizeable minority religions.[2]. Other minority communities include various Protestant Protestantism is one of the four major divisions within Christianity together with the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Roman Catholic Church. The term is most closely tied to those groups that separated from the Catholic Church in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation denominations (totalling 1.9%), the New Apostolic Church The New Apostolic Church is a chiliastic church, numbered to Protestantism as a free church of the Catholic Apostolic Churches or Irvingism. The church has existed since 1879 in Germany and since 1897 in the Netherlands. It came forth from the Hamburg schism in 1863 in the Catholic Apostolic Church, which was founded in 1847 in England and started (0.45%), Hinduism Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as Sanātana Dharma by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as in Vaishnavism. Hinduism also includes yogic (0.38%), Buddhism Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by adherents as an (0.29%), Judaism Judaism is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people. Judaism, originating in the Hebrew Bible and explored in later texts such as the Talmud, is considered by Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship God developed with the Children of Israel. According to traditional Rabbinic Judaism, God revealed (0.25%), Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism; they report convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual Memorial attendance of over 18 million. They are (0.23%) and the Old Catholic Church The Old Catholic Church is a Christian denomination originating with mainly German-speaking groups that split from the Holy See because they disagreed with the claim of universal papal jurisdiction and the solemn declaration of the doctrine of papal infallibility promulgated by the First Vatican Council . The church is not in formal communion with (0.18%). Various other communities account for 0.31%. 11.1% of the Swiss were irreligious Irreligion is an absence of, indifference towards or hostility towards religion. Depending on the context, it may be understood as referring to atheism, nontheism, agnosticism, ignosticism, antireligion, skepticism, freethought, antitheism or secular humanism.[citation needed] Irreligious people may have convictions as strongly held as those of as of 2000, another 4.3% refused to make a statement.[3]
Regarding personal belief, the 2005 Eurobarometer Poll Eurobarometer is a series of surveys regularly performed on behalf of the European Commission since 1973. It produces reports of public opinion of certain issues relating to the European Union across the member states. The Eurobarometer results are published by the Public Opinion Analysis Sector of the European Commission - Directorate General found that 48% of Swiss citizens expressed belief "that there is a God", 39% expressed belief in "some sort of spirit or life force" while 9% answered that that they did not believe that "there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force"[4]
Legislation
Minaret at the mosque of the local Turkish cultural association in Wangen bei Olten. Inaugurated in July 2009, after four years of legal and political controversy, this minaret, a Turkey-made plastic construction placed on the roof of the Turkish cultural center, was the initial motivation for the popular initiative voted upon later in 2009 which led to a nation-wide ban of further minarets.[5]The Swiss constitution The Federal Constitution of 18 April 1999 is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland. It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of 26 cantons (states), contains a catalogue of individual and popular rights (including the right to call for popular referendums on federal laws and constitutional amendments), of 1848, under the recent impression of the clashes of Catholic vs. Protestant cantons that culminated in the Sonderbundskrieg The Sonderbund war of November 1847 was a civil war in Switzerland. It ensued after seven Catholic cantons formed the Sonderbund ("separate alliance", in German) in 1845 in order to protect their interests against a centralization of power, consciously defines a consociational state Consociationalism is a form of government involving guaranteed group representation, and is often suggested for managing conflict in deeply divided societies. It is often viewed as synonymous with power-sharing, although it is technically only one form of power-sharing. Consociationalism is often seen as having close affinities with corporatism;, allowing the peaceful co-existence of Catholics and Protestants.
The settlement restrictions placed on Swiss Jews Swiss Jews have a long and varied history. The 2000 official census reports close to 18,000 Jews living in Switzerland but the figure is closer to 75,000 Jews living in Switzerland including foreigners and un-official non-registered Jews residing in Switzerland, with 38 Synagogues in the entire country as of 2009 in various instances between the 14th and 18th centuries were lifted with the revised Swiss Constitution The Federal Constitution of 18 April 1999 is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland. It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of 26 cantons (states), contains a catalogue of individual and popular rights (including the right to call for popular referendums on federal laws and constitutional amendments), of 1874. The Jesuits (Societas Jesu) were banned from all activities in either clerical or pedagogical functions by the Swiss constitution The Federal Constitution of 18 April 1999 is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland. It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of 26 cantons (states), contains a catalogue of individual and popular rights (including the right to call for popular referendums on federal laws and constitutional amendments), between 1848 and 1973. The reason was the perceived threat resulting from Jesuit advocacy of traditionalist Catholicism to the stability of the state, informed by the 1847 civil war The Sonderbund war of November 1847 was a civil war in Switzerland. It ensued after seven Catholic cantons formed the Sonderbund ("separate alliance", in German) in 1845 in order to protect their interests against a centralization of power between the Catholic and the Protestant cantons.
A popular vote in March 1981 on the complete separation of church and state Reflecting a concept often credited in its original form to the English political philosopher John Locke, the phrase separation of church and state is generally traced to the letter written by Thomas Jefferson in 1802 to the Danbury Baptists, in which he referred to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution as creating a "wall of was clearly opposed to such a change, with only 21.1% voting in support, to the effect of the retention of the Landeskirchen In Germany and Switzerland, a Landeskirche is the church of a region. They originated as the national churches of the independent states, States of Germany (Länder) or Cantons of Switzerland (Kantone, Cantons), that later unified to form modern Germany (in 1871) or modern Switzerland (in 1848), respectively system.[6]
In November 2009, 57.5% of Swiss voters (54% turnout) approved of a popular initiative to ban the construction of minarets Minarets (Turkish: minare, from Arabic manāra منارة, usually مئذنة) are distinctive architectural features of Islamic mosques- generally tall spires with onion-shaped or conical crowns, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure; the basic form includes a base, shaft, and gallery. Styles vary regionally in Switzerland. The four existing Swiss minarets, at mosques in Zurich Zürich or Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. While the municipality itself has 380,500 inhabitants, the Zürich metropolitan area is an urbanised area of international importance constituted by a population of nearly 2, Geneva Geneva (Arpitan: Genèva, IPA: [ˈd͡zənɛva]; French: Genève, IPA: [ʒənɛv]; German: Genf, IPA: [ˈɡɛnf] ; Italian: Ginevra; Romansh: Genevra) is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and is the most populous city of Romandie (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). Situated where the Rhône River exits Lake Geneva (, Winterthur Winterthur is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. It has the country's sixth largest population with an estimate of more than 100,000 people. In the local dialect and by its inhabitants, it is usually abbreviated to Winti. Today Winterthur is a service and high tech industry centre, but many people make use of its proximity to and Wangen bei Olten are not affected by the ban.[7]
History
Traces of the pre-Christian religions of the area that is now Switzerland include the Bronze Age The Bronze Age in Europe succeeds the Neolithic in the late 3rd millennium BC , and spans the entire 2nd millennium BC (Unetice culture, Urnfield culture, Tumulus culture, Terramare culture, Lusatian culture) in Northern Europe lasting until ca. 600 BC "fire dogs "Fire dog", also moon idol or moon horn , also refers to an artifact type of late Bronze Age Europe (ca. 1300 to 800 BC), typically made of clay, found in the area of modern France, Switzerland and Germany, associated with the Urnfield culture". The Gaulish The Gaulish language is an extinct Celtic language that was spoken by the Gauls, a people who inhabited the region known as Gaul (Cisalpine and Transalpine) from the Iron Age through the Roman period. It was historically spoken through what are now France, Switzerland, eastern Belgium, Luxembourg and western Germany before being supplanted by Helvetii The Helvetii were a people, on the territory of what is now Switzerland, believed by classical writers to have belonged to the Celtic language-speaking population of Europe. They were divided into districts. Based on the possibility that at least one of the districts had not originally been Celtic, the degree to which they were ethnically and, who became part of Gallo-Roman The term Gallo-Roman describes the Romanized culture of Gaul under the rule of the Roman Empire. This was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman mores and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context. The well-studied meld of cultures in Gaul give historians a model against which to compare and contrast parallel developments of culture under the Roman Empire The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor, Augustus, left only scarce traces of their religion like the statue of dea Artio Artio was a Celtic bear goddess. Evidence of her worship has notably been found at Bern (Switzerland) whose name according to legend is derived from the word Bär, "bear"[citation needed], a bear goddess, found near Berne The city of Bern or Berne (German: Bern, pronounced [ˈbɛrn] ; French: Berne [bɛʁn]; Italian: Berna [ˈbɛrna]; Romansh: Berna [ˈbɛrnə]; Bernese German: Bärn [b̥æːrn]) is the Bundesstadt (federal city, de facto capital) of Switzerland, and, with (as of December 2009) a population of 123,466, the fourth most populous city in Switzerland. A known Roman sanctuary to Mercury Mercury (pronounced /ˈmɜrkjʉri/, Latin: Mercurius listen (help·info)) was a messenger, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx ("merchandise"; compare merchant, commerce, etc.), mercari (to trade), and merces (wages). In his earliest forms, he appears to was on a hill north-east of Baar.[8] St. Peter in Zürich Zürich or Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. While the municipality itself has 380,500 inhabitants, the Zürich metropolitan area is an urbanised area of international importance constituted by a population of nearly 2 was the location of a temple to Jupiter In Roman mythology, Jupiter or Jove was the king of the gods, and the god of sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon. He was called Iuppiter Optimus Maximus ("Father God the Best and Greatest") As the patron deity of ancient Rome, he ruled over laws and social order. He was the chief god of the Capitoline.
Basilique de Valère The Valère basilica , also called Valère castle (Château de Valère), is a fortified church situated in Sion in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is situated on a hill and faces the Château de Tourbillon, located on the opposite hill (12th century) in SionThe Bishopric of Basel was established in AD 346, that of Sion The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sion , in the Swiss canton of Valais, is the oldest bishopric in Switzerland and one of the oldest north of the Alps. The cathedral at Sion, "Notre-Dame du Glarier" was fortified by walls and crowns one of the two hills on which the city is built. The history of the Bishops of Sion, of the Abbey of Saint- before 381, that of Geneva in ca. 400, that of Vindonissa in 517 (now united as the Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg), the Diocese of Chur before 451. Germanic paganism briefly reached Switzerland with the immigration of the Alemanni from the 6th century, who were gradually converted to Christianity in the course of the 6th and 7th centuries, with the Bishopric of Constance established in ca. 585 as the bishop of Vindonissa moved there, the Abbey of St. Gall rising to an important center of learning in the Early Middle Ages.
The Old Swiss Confederacy was Roman Catholic as a matter of course until the Reformation of the 1520s which resulted into a lasting split of the Confederacy into a Protestant and a Catholic part, leading to a number of violent outbreaks in Early Modern times. The secular Helvetic Republic was a brief intermezzo and tensions immediately resurfaced after 1815, leading to the formation of the modern federal state in 1848, which recognizes Landeskirchen on a cantonal basis: the Roman Catholic and the Reformed Churches in each canton, and since the 1870s (following the controversies triggered by the First Vatican Council) the Christian Catholic Church in some cantons.
The Jesuits (Societas Jesu) were the subject of a bitter controversy in 19th century Switzerland. The order had been dissolved in 1773 by Clement XIV, but it was re-instated in 1814 by Pius VII.
A modern church, the Church of San Giovanni Battista, designed by Mario Botta in MognoOver the following years, the Jesuits returned to the Swiss colleges they had owned prior to 1773, in Brig (1814), Sion (1814), Fribourg (1818) and Lucerne (1845), and especially Fribourg became a center of the Council of Trent. The Protestant cantons felt threatened by the re-appearance of the Jesuits and their program of traditionalist Catholicism, which contributed to religious unrest and the formation of the Sonderbund of the Catholic cantons, and at the Tagsatzung of 1844 in vain demanded the expulsion of the Jesuit order from the territory of the Swiss confederacy. The Protestant victory of the Sonderbundskrieg of 1847 led to the realization of such a ban in the 1848 Swiss Constitution, expanded even further in the revised constitution of 1874, so that all activity of Jesuits either in clerical or in educational function was outlawed in Switzerland until 1973, when the paragraph was removed from the constitution by a popular vote.[9]
Notes
- ^ state.gov - Switzerland
- ^ CIA World Factbook section on Switzerland
- ^ Federal Statistics Office, figures for 2000.
- ^ "Eurobarometer on Social Values, Science and technology 2005 - page 11". http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
- ^ NZZ, 21 July 2009
- ^ Swiss Statistical Office
- ^ Swiss vote to ban construction of minarets on mosques, The Guardian 29 November 2009
- ^ Baarburg at 47°12′18″N 8°33′18″E / 47.205°N 8.555°E; Tages-Anzeiger 5 June 2008[1]
- ^ Franz Xaver Bischof: Jesuits in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland. Version of 2008.
See also
- Reformation in Switzerland
- Roman Catholicism in Switzerland
- Islam in Switzerland
- History of the Jews in Switzerland
- Buddhism in Switzerland
- Hinduism in Switzerland
- Demographics of Switzerland
- Religion by country
- Religion in Europe
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sheik yer'mami
Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:29:00 GM
Switzerland. is home to some 4000 Muslims and has just four minarets. After Christianity, Islam is the most widespread . religion in Switzerland. , but it remains relatively hidden. There are unofficial Muslim prayer rooms, and planning ...
