Q 01/05

How many cantons make up the Swiss Confederation?

A) 26

B) 28

C) 30

D) 32

Answer · why

A) 26

Six of them are so-called half-cantons with only one seat in the Council of States; Jura, the newest, split from Bern in 1979.

Q 02/05

Which city is Switzerland's de facto capital, known as the "federal city"?

A) Bern

B) Zurich

C) Geneva

D) Lausanne

Answer · why

A) Bern

The Federal Assembly voted to put the seat of government there in November 1848, sending the future ETH to Zurich as a compromise.

Q 03/05

How many national languages does Switzerland have?

A) Four

B) Two

C) Three

D) Five

Answer · why

A) Four

German, French, Italian and Romansh, the last spoken by about 0.5% of the population in the canton of Grisons.

Q 04/05

Roughly what share of Swiss residents speak German as their native language?

A) 62%

B) 67%

C) 72%

D) 77%

Answer · why

A) 62%

French accounts for about 23% and Italian for 8%.

Q 05/05

The country code CH and the internet domain .ch come from Switzerland's Latin name. What is it?

A) Civitas Helvetiorum

B) Communitas Helvetia

C) Corona Helvetica

D) Confoederatio Helvetica

Answer · why

D) Confoederatio Helvetica

Helvetica recalls the Helvetii, a Gaulish tribe of the Swiss Plateau; the neutral Latin avoids favouring any of the four languages.