A fifth of Switzerland’s residents are dual nationals; government plans to eliminate traffic jams on the national road network; and other news in our roundup this Friday.
A fifth of Switzerland’s residents are dual nationals
In 2024 – for which new data has just been published – 21 percent of Swiss citizens had at least one foreign nationality as well, according to a study published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Thursday.
Most bi-nationals – 31 percent – live in Ticino, followed by French-speaking regions (30 percent), and Swiss-German areas (17 percent).
In terms of nationality, most people who obtained Swiss citizenship via naturalisation while still maintaining their original one are from Kosovo (91.7 percent), followed by Serbia and North Macedonia (88.6 and 86.6, respectively), Portugal (82.3), Germany (72.9), Spain (60.2), the UK (58 ), Italy (55.5), and France (45.1).
Government aims to eliminate traffic jams on the national road network
Certain motorways in Switzerland, especially those near urban centres, are more prone to congestion.
The Federal Council wants to begin by eliminating Switzerland’s two biggest bottlenecks on the A1 by widening it to six lanes between Aarau-Ost and the Birrfeld junction in the canton of Aargau, and between Perly and Bernex in the canton of Geneva.
Other measures, such as the repurposing of the emergency lanes are also planned to prevent traffic jams.
READ MORE: Which Swiss cities are the worst for traffic jams?
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Geneva’s minimum wage has a “positive” and “substantial” effect on lower-paid employees, new study reveals
After its introduction in 2020, the share of salaries below the minimum wage level (currently 24.59 francs per hour), has fallen from 7.4 to 4 percent, according to a study published on Thursday by the Department of Economy and Employment from the Geneva School of Business Administration and the University of Geneva.
It confirms that women are the principal beneficiaries, with the share of wages below the minimum wage in the private sector decreasing from 10.7 to 5.3 percent.
For men, this figure has fallen from 5 to 3 percent. The average wage gap compared to the legal minimum has also narrowed considerably – from 14 to 6.9 percent.
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Swiss researchers develop facial recognition system for… bears
If you have been losing sleep wondering how to distinguish one bear from another, you can breathe a sigh of relief.
That’s because a team from the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) announced on Thursday they have developed an AI program – aptly named ‘Who’s who’ – especially for this purpose.
The program also works if the bears are emaciated after hibernation or have put on a lot of fat for the winter – good news overall.
And since Switzerland doesn’t exactly teem with brown bears roaming through the countryside, the program will be used in…Alaska.
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at news@thelocal.ch
