Study Document
Switzerland History, Culture and Lifestyle Thesis
Pages:8 (2117 words)
Sources:5
Subject:Health
Topic:Healthy Lifestyle
Document Type:Thesis
Document:#7335408
In most of Switzerland's cantons, the main religion is represented by Christianity. It is estimated that 41.8% of the population belong to the Catholic Church, while 35.3% belong to Protestant denominations. Other religions, which were brought by immigrants include Islam accounting for 4.3%, and Eastern Orthodoxy accounting for 1.8% of the population.
Demographics in Switzerland
The country's population in 2009 reached 7,604,467. The age structure is the following: 0 -- 14 years: 15.6%, 15 -- 64 years: 68.1%, 65 years and over: 16.3%. The median age is estimated at 41 years. The population growth rate in 2009 reached 0.276% (CIA, 2009).
Ethnic groups in Switzerland are represented by German 65%, French 18%, Italian 10%, Romansch 1%, other 6%.
The national and official languages in Switzerland are: German 63.7%, French 20.4%, Italian 6.5%, and Romansch 0.5%. Other languages include Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.2%, English 1%, and other 2.8%.
Holiday Celebration in Switzerland
The most important holiday in Switzerland is Christmas, which is celebrated in a similar way compared to the U.S. And other European countries. For example, the Christmas tree is decorated on Christmas Eve in general, presents are exchanged among family, friends, and colleagues.
Santa Claus is also present in the Swiss Christmas celebration (California Mall, 2009). However, the Swiss seem to follow more and more the American celebration style, by decorating outdoors and indoors locations all through December.
Another popular holiday celebration is obviously New Year's Eve. The moment is celebrated by most people in the same style as it is celebrated in other corners of the world.
Other holidays include Berchtold's Day, Easter, Labor Day, National Holiday on August 1st, and others (About, 2006).
There is a series of other local holiday celebrations that vary from one canton to another, in accordance with the characteristics of each region, the religion practiced in each canton, and other specific traits.
Fashion in Switzerland
Much like the country's gastronomy and arts, Switzerland's fashion is also quite diversified amongst its cantons. The German, French, and Italian regimes have influenced the respective regions' dressing style in different manners.
The German dressing style is a stricter one, very simple, very pragmatic, oriented more on the comfort and functionality of clothes, rather than on esthetics.
The French and the Italian dressing styles are quite the opposite, focusing on the esthetics of the clothes, rather than on their functionality. They pay a lot of interest towards accessories, and clothes are sometimes very charged with certain embellishments.
Tradition and Customs in Switzerland
The country's continuous modernization process has replaced many traditions and customs with new habits. Customs in Switzerland are also diversified, varying from one region to another (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2009).
But one of the common traditions is represented by the country's orientation towards ecology, recycling waste material, and the preservation of nature.
Conclusions
The practical application of sociology as a science is represented by the study of human societies. This paper focuses on presenting an overview of the Swiss society, by providing information on the aspects that compose the life of the Swiss nation.
The paper analyzes important aspects addressed by sociology, like culture, economy, history, traditions, religion, demographics, and others. For example, the section referring to economy is important from sociology's point-of-view because of the fact that it allows to observe the economic context of the country and how this affects its citizens, the standards of living, and the country's possibilities.
The paper also provides an image of the Swiss citizens' lifestyle, their way of thinking and acting both on individual level and as a society.
Reference list:
1. Richards, C. (2005). Living in Switzerland. Transitions Abroad. Retrieved December 11,…
Sample Source(s) Used
Reference list:
1. Richards, C. (2005). Living in Switzerland. Transitions Abroad. Retrieved December 11, 2009 from http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0507/living_in_switzerland.shtml.
2. Switzerland (2009). Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook. Retrieved December 11, 2009 from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sz.html.
3. Holiday Traditions in Switzerland (2009). California Mall. Retrieved December 11, 2009 from http://www.californiamall.com/holidaytraditions/traditions-Switzerland.htm.
4. Holidays in Switzerland (2006). About.ch. Retrieved December 11, 2009 from http://www.about.ch/various/holidays.html.
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