Switzerland

The central European country of Switzerland is characterized by linguistic, ethnic, and religious diversity. The Swiss “model,” if it exists in terms of religion, is distinguished by a management of pluralism inscribed in the history of the country. A biconfessional land since the 16th-century Protestant reform, like Germany and Holland, Switzerland showed its inclination for independence from the German Roman Empire very early and adopted an imposing federal system regarding religious matters.

Remarkable statistical and analytical material is available in Switzerland due partly to an official record of the population's makeup that is taken every 10 years, including data about religion, and partly to numerous studies in religious sociology, a discipline that developed late but steadily in Switzerland. The last available figures from 2000 indicate that ...