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Economy
About two third of the area of Switzerland is covered with lakes, forest and
mountains. Since Switzerland hasn't mineral resources, it must import,
process and resell them as products. "Services" are the most important part
of the economy. This includes banking, tourism and assurances.
Farming is also an important part of the economy. However Switzerland must
rely on imported goods from other countries.
The economy in Switzerland is divided into three sectors:
1. Landwirtschaft ("agriculture")
2. Industrie ("industry")
3. Dienstleistungen ("services")
Less than 10% of the population is employed in the Landwirtschaft
("agriculture"), also considered the primary sector. This sector is strongly
supported by the government.
About 40% of the population are employed in the Industrie, Gewerbe und
Handwerk, also considered the secondary sector. This sector includes the
Maschinen- und Metallindustrie ("machine and metal industry"),
Textilindustrie ("textile industry") and the Uhrenindustrie ("watch
industry"). All of them export much of their products to foreign countries
and suffer a lot because of the expensive Swiss Franc. The fact that
Switzerland does not belong to the European Union additionally slows down
the Swiss exports.
More than 50% of the population are employed in the Dienstleistungssektor
("services"), also considered the tertiary sector. This sector includes
banking, tourism, assurances and so on. Banking is one of the most important
businesses in Switzerland. Many of the banks have started to use the
Internet for business purposes. You can open your swiss bank account easy.
Click to open your swiss bank account, now.
Also you can check the directory of Swiss
banks. |
The Swiss currency is called "Schweizerfranken"
("Swiss Francs") or short "Franken". One hundred
"Rappen" make up one Swiss Franc. CHF
is the ISO representation for Swiss francs; however, the old
notation sFr. is still used quite often.
This is a 5 Franken coin, called a "Fünfliber"
The currency is available in the following coins:
1 Rappen "Räppler", no longer in use
2 Rappen "Zweiräppler", no longer in use
5 Rappen "Fünfer"
10 Rappen
"Zehner"
20 Rappen
"Zwanziger"
½ Franken
("Fünfziger")
1 Franken
("Fränkler")
2 Franken
("Zweifränkler")
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