Directory in Switzerland

Switzerland is a country that has four national languages, which are the German language, the French language, the Italian language, and the Romansh language. In actuality, it is dialects of German, French and Italian that are spoken in Switzerland, and only a tiny minority uses the Romansh language. The German, Italian and French areas of Switzerland all have slightly different cultures.

There is but one public national holiday observed in Switzerland, and that is August 1, the Swiss national day. However, each of the individual cantons within Switzerland do have their own regional holidays, which makes each canton almost like a different country; with Obwald not recognizing New Year's Day as a public holiday, or Good Friday not being accorded public holiday status in the cantons of Valais and Ticino. However, all of the cantons in Switzerland have made Christmas and Ascension public holidays, though they are not at the Federal level.

Switzerland is a very mountainous country that is high up in the Alps. In some areas there is a traditional type of singing known as yodeling. There is also a long traditional type of musical instrument played in Switzerland known as the alp-horn. In the German Swiss areas, children will hold processions in the Autumn carrying lanterns carved out of turnips. Popular activities in Switzerland include skiing and mountain climbing. Other sports like wrestling, shooting, tennis, golf, hockey and soccer football are also popular among Swiss fans. Wood carving is another highly developed tradition found among the Swiss, and is used to decorate many things. Embroidery is also a quintessential Swiss tradition, and traditional Swiss clothes, today only worn for special reasons, is quite highly embroidered.