while 12 percent speak Italian, one-percent speak Romanish, all four of which are official languages in Switzerland, and the remaining five-percent of the population speak a variety of other languages as their first language.
The adult literacy rate in Switzerland is 100 percent (World Bank 179). Secondary school enrollment is the equivalent of 100 percent of the appropriate age group, while enrollment in institutions of higher education is the equivalent of 60 percent of the 20-24 age group.
Ethnic relations within Switzerland are good and are characterized by compromise and accommodation when one is considering French-Swiss, German-Swiss, and Italian-Swiss (McRae 74). Ethnic toleration on the part of the Swiss for non Swiss population minorities, however, is lower (Asiatic Escape 77).
Switzerland has the world's highest per capita gross national product--US$28,000 (World Bank 179). The country's average annual rate of inflation for the 1981-1990 period was 3.8 percent. Following a problem with inflation in the early-1990s, inflation in Switzerland was brought under control in 1994 ("Switzerland" B64-B65). Gross national product growth averaged 1.9 percent per annum over the 1981-1990 period. Economic growth was minimal in the early-1990s; however, stronger growth began in the last-half of 1994, and this growth trend is expected to continue through the last-half of the 1990s ("Switzerland" 110-111). Switzerland's GNP approximates US$200 billion per annum.
Swiss manufacturing is diversified. A summary of Swiss manufacturing activity by sector is as follows (World Bank 189):
1. Machinery and transport equipment: 31 percent.
2. Food, beverages, and tobacco: 10 percent.
4. Textiles and clothing: seven percent.
As the data presented above indicate, Swiss manufacturing is heavily oriented toward durable goods. Durable goods manufacturing provides most of the export products for Switzerland.
The dis...