Culture of Switzerland

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Joshua Rubinstein Professor Pearce 12/19/13 Culture of Switzerland Every country in Europe has a unique culture. There are even many different subcultures within one individual country. One European country that has many unique cultures is Switzerland. It is located right in the middle of Europe and is a business hub; this brings in businessmen from around the world. Switzerland is also a country that I have lots of experience in; I lived in Geneva, Switzerland for my junior year in high school and my dad still lives in Zurich, Switzerland in which I make very frequent trips to visit. In addition, I have many friends that I met while living in Geneva that I still talk to on a regular basis. Living in Switzerland was a very important life experience for me. It shaped me to be who I am today and I was able to learn about many different cultures and different ways of life. More specifically, Switzerland is generally divided into four different cultures because of the four main languages that are spoken there: Italian, French, German, and Swiss-German. Where I lived, Geneva, French was spoken because it is located only 1-2 miles from France. However, there are not many people who are born and raised in Geneva that still live there. Most people living in Geneva are not from Switzerland at all. In fact, 45% of its population represents 200 different nationalities (Alexis, 2005, 1). This is because of the businesses and organizations that are in Geneva, over 200 international organizations. Geneva is well known for the banking that goes on there, and most of the employees are international. More importantly, the international headquarters of the United Nations and World Health Organization are located in Geneva (Alexis, 2005, 1). Therefore, most of the delegates and UN employees live in Geneva, and most of them are international as well. This

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