As noted by the portal Swissinfo.ch, Switzerland is a country with perhaps the largest share of foreign population – in 2015 this figure was at 24.6%. A larger share of foreigners is observed only in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, as well as in the oil-producing states of the Middle East.
Where do foreigners living in the Confederation come from? Interestingly, 81.2% of them are from European countries, with natives of Germany, Italy, Portugal, and France making up just under half of the foreign diaspora in the country. The remaining foreigners are from Asia (10.1%), Africa (4.58%), America (3.85%), and Oceania (0.206%). The share of Ukrainians is only 0.314% of the total number of foreigners living in Switzerland.
It should also be noted that the share of foreign population in the overall population of Switzerland increased by 0.3% in just one year (in 2014 this figure was 24.3%). In the same year, Switzerland was the leader in the list of countries with the largest number of incoming foreigners per 1,000 population – 19. In Germany this figure does not exceed 11 people, in the UK 9.8, in Spain 6.6, and in France 5.1 per 1,000 population.
However, for Switzerland itself, this situation does not mean something radically new. Migration and the influx of refugees from abroad has been and remains a key socio-political issue here for at least the last half century. However, as noted earlier, Switzerland was already a country of refugees at the beginning of the 19th century. Referendums on migration issues are held regularly in this country.
LANGUAGE REGIONS OF SWITZERLAND
The share of foreign population can vary greatly from region to region. Several interesting patterns can be observed. For example, migrants from French-speaking countries settle in Switzerland closely following the contours of the western French-speaking zone of the country and practically do not cross the so-called 'Röstigraben' (a conditional political, cultural, and linguistic border dividing the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland from the French-speaking ones; named after the popular Swiss potato dish 'Rösti'). The same goes for German- and Italian-speaking migrants. Only the Portuguese diaspora settles equally willingly in both French- and Italian-speaking regions, while avoiding appearing in German cantons.
Let us also mention that children of migrants are not automatically granted Swiss citizenship, so many of them (the so-called 'secondos') live their lives being culturally and linguistically Swiss, but with the passport of their parents.
According to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (Bundesamt für Statistik – BFS), in 2015 there were 396,000 people living in the country who were born in the Confederation but did not have its citizenship, which is about 20% of the total number of foreigners permanently residing in Switzerland. Approximately 44% of foreigners born outside the Confederation have lived in the country for 10 years or more, thus formally having the right to apply for citizenship.