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History of Switzerland
Early history	(before 1291)
Old Swiss Confederacy
Growth	(1291–1516)
Reformation	(1516–1648)
Ancien Régime	(1648–1798)
Transitional period
Napoleonic era	(1798–1814)
Restauration	(1814–1847)
Switzerland
Federal state	(1848–1914)
World Wars	(1914–1945)
Modern history	(1945–present)
Topical
Military history

Contents 1 Postwar period 2 Government 3 Domestic 4 Foreign relations 5 External links

After World War II, Swiss authorities considered the construction of a nuclear bomb. Leading nuclear physicists at the Federal Institute of Technology such as Paul Scherrer made this a realistic possibility, and in 1962 the population clearly voted in favour of the bomb. However, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968 was seen as a valid alternative, and the bomb was never built.

see also Politics of Switzerland

From 1959, the Federal Council, elected by the parliament, is composed of members of the four major parties, the liberal Free Democrats, the Catholic Christian Democrats, the left-wing Social Democrats and the right-wing People's Party, essentially creating a system without a sizeable parliamentary opposition (see concordance system), reflecting the powerful position of an opposition in a Direct Democracy.

Women were granted the right to vote federally in 1971, however women where only given the vote cantonally gradually and the in the last remaining canton (Appenzell Innerrhoden) only in 1992, and then by a judicial decision against the will of the resisting canton.

See also Demographics of Switzerland.

In 1979, parts of the canton of Berne attained independence while remaining in the Federation, thus forming the new canton of Jura.

The Demographics of Switzerland has changed in similar ways as in other states in Western Europe. Since 1945, the population of Switzerland has grown from roughly 4.5 to 7.5 million, mostly between 1945 and 1970, with a brief negative growth in the late 1970s, and a population growth hovering around 0.5% per year since the 1990s, mostly due to immigration. With a population composed of a roughly balanced combination of Roman Catholics and Protestants, together amounting to more than 95%, the population without any religious affiliation has grown to more than 10% in the 2000s, while the Muslim population grew from practically nil to some 4% over the past decades. Italians had been the largest group of resident foreigners since the 1920, but with the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, large-scale immigration of refugees has changed this picture, and residents with Balkanese origins now constitute the largest group of resident foreigners, with some 200,000 people (roughly 3% of the population).

see also Foreign relations of Switzerland.

In 1963, Switzerland joined the Council of Europe.

Switzerland's role in many United Nations and international organizations helped to mitigate the country's concern for neutrality. In 2002, following extensive and intensive campaigning by government and media but against considerable nationalistic elements, Switzerland was officially ratified as a member of the United Nations — the only country joining after agreement by a popular vote.

Switzerland is not a member state of the EU, but has been (together with Liechtenstein) surrounded by EU territory since the joining of Austria in 1995. In 2005, Switzerland agreed to join the Schengen treaty and Dublin Convention by popular vote.

• Swiss Diplomatic Documents (DDS)