German is the language of 65 percent of the Swiss. An additional 18 percent speak French as a first language, 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 nat

Switzerland, long able to fare quite well both politically and economically as a neutral and economic independent, began to seriously European Community membership in light of rapid changes occurring in Europe in the late-1980s and early-1990s. More than anything else, the Swiss federal government and the country's major corporations do not want Switzerland to be shut out of what will likely become the world's largest economy (Pickens 48-52). From the perspective of the European Community, Switzerland would be an ideal applicant.

4. Textiles and clothing: seven percent.

ional 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.

McRae, Kenneth D. Conflict and Compromise in Multilingual Societies: Switzerland. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1988.

Economic activity, as measured by gross national product, declined in Switzerland between April 1992 and April 1993. Unemployment in March 1993 stood at 4.9 percent, up from 2.5 percent in March 1992 ("Economic and Financial Indicators" 113-114). Inflation, as measured by the change in consumer prices, was 3.6 percent for the March 1992-March 1993 period. All of these macroeconomic measures, however, began to improve in the last-half of 1993, and by the end of 1994, the Swiss economy was in a strong growth mode with both inflation and unemployment headed downward ("Switzerland"