SWITZERLAND: Scaling the Heights...
Student Text Page No. 1: "As a Nation"

By March 21, 1999, the men in the hot-air balloon had set four world records! Cramped within the balloon's gondola, 20 miles above Earth, Bertrand Piccard (Swiss) and Brian Jones (British) had just co-piloted the Breitling Orbiter 3 higher, farther, and for a longer time than anyone before.... They were the first balloonists to circle the globe non-stop!

Fans everywhere applauded their courage. And the Swiss celebrated a family tradition: In 1932, Piccard's grandfather, Auguste, had pioneered balloon flight into the stratosphere. And, in 1960, Auguste's son Jacques had co-piloted the first deep-sea bathyscaphe to plumb the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench....

Patents, prizes. Such courage is highly prized by the Swiss. Their ancestors chose to live in a country almost completely ringed by mountains and with few resources. For centuries, they dwelled in small villages, sometimes separated from the nearest settlement by an avalanche-buried trail. One's life often depended on being self-sufficient, observant, persevering.
     The Swiss no longer live in isolated villages. And, by now, those early life-sustaining traits have evolved into skills that make great scientists and entrepreneurs. Indeed, over the years, Swiss citizens have garnered an impressive number of patent registrations and Nobel Prizes. And with good effect: The CIA World Factbook reveals that Switzerland's per-capita gross domestic product was the seventh highest in the world, by 2002!

Exports, exports. What's Switzerland's secret? How do its 7.3 million people turn out a gross domestic product (GDP) worth $233.4 billion (2002), when they can't grow enough food for their own needs and have to import materials for their industries to process? Answer: They make and export goods (precision machinery, e.g.) and services (banking) that the world values highly. Swiss exports equal 43 percent of the country's GDP. The sale of machines, electronics, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals accounts for more than half the value of those exports! Its tourist industry draws millions of visitors eager to ski the Alps and enjoy Swiss festivals. And the Swiss manage all this with just 1.9 percent unemployment (2002), low corporate taxes, and only 0.5 percent inflation (2002).

Di-ver-si-ty. The most amazing part of this success story is the diversity of the people behind it. Switzerland is a confederation of 26 cantons (states), each of which has its own predominant language, religion, and culture. There's no "Swiss language" — or even a "Swiss culture" in the ethnic sense. That's because early migrants to Switzerland came from nearby regions in Europe and wished to preserve their particular cultural heritage. Thus, a Swiss citizen today is likely to be Protestant or Catholic and to speak one of four national languages — German (spoken by a big majority), French, Italian, or Romansch.
     Then, what makes Switzerland a "nation"? The cantons' decisions, over the centuries, to cooperate in various ways. Their choice in 1848 to form a federal republic — and a common market that could compete with the world's new industrial economies. Most of all: Switzerland is a nation because its people want it to be. Democracy, Swiss style.

Key Questions. Like others in today's world, the Swiss are grappling with big questions. Is Switzerland ready for the challenges of the new millennium? Can its economy adapt to a constantly changing world market? Will the Swiss maintain their unique heritage in what is called the new "global culture"? One thing seems sure: If the Piccards' accomplishments are any example of how the Swiss tackle challenges, there's little to worry about. You can read more about Bertrand's trip in this article:
     Hall, Alan. "Riding High." Scientific American. March 29, 1999.