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5 Signs that Switzerland is Indeed a Small Country

Switzerland is a very small country. Not as small as tiny Luxembourg or Liechtenstein but still very small. Especially, if you compare it's size to countries outside of Europe. In fact, Switzerland would fit over 200 times into Canada or the US. Being small helps a lot to stay organized and clean - two characteristics that are very typical of Switzerland and its inhabitants.

Signs that Switzerland is a Small Country

Even in every day life, the small size of Switzerland is sometimes noticeable. I've found 5 signs that show that Switzerland is indeed a very small country.
  1. Postal codes are made of four ciphers only and go from 1000 in Geneva to the 9000s in St. Gallen. There is one system of postal codes for the whole country (and not one for each state or province!). Most other countries have ZIP codes of 5 or more ciphers.
  2. Driving from Germany to Italy (north to south) through Switzerland takes about 3 hours, driving from France to Austria (west to east) through Switzerland takes approx. 4 hours. If you want to drive more than that and stay inside Switzerland, you'll have to start driving in circles. In many other countries you can drive for hours and hours and still not cross a border!
  3. Pretty much everyone living in Switzerland has been to the five largest cities of the country: Zurich, Basel, Geneva, Lausanne and Berne. None of which have more than 400'000 inhabitants. Do you think the same is true for Americans or Germans? 
  4. When a Swiss person has to drive 2 hours to go visit friends or family it is considered a LONG journey and often avoided. In other countries, a two hour drive is quite normal.
  5. Most people who drive in Switzerland have driven on all highways in Switzerland. No surprise as there are only 16 federally maintained highways and about a dozen cantonal ones. There are probably only few people who have driven on all US or Canadian highways. 

Switzerland (blue) compared to Canada (red)




© 2013 IRENE WYRSCH "A HUMOROUS GUIDE TO SWITZERLAND" ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Comments

  1. Singapore GirlNovember 7, 2013 at 9:48 AM

    Points 2, 4 and 5 sounds a lot like Singapore. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Irene WyrschDecember 4, 2019 at 3:46 PM

      Definitely. And Singapore is even smaller than Switzerland!

      Delete

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