Switzerland

Switzerland's vegetation region is the tundra region. The tundra region is very cold and dry. It contains a layer of what is called permafrost. Permafrost is a frozen layer of soil that is thirty-six inches deep. About five inches of it thaws out in the spring and in the summer. There is a lot of sleet and snow here because it is so cold in the alps. The winters in the tundra are very cold with bellow freezing temperatures. In the summer it is fair weather like a normal one of our springs. That is what the vegetation region of Switzerland is.

Switzerland is almost completely covered by forest. The most common type is deciduous forest. This means there a lot of pine trees, evergreens, and hollies. All these trees have leaves that stay on all year. There are also some oak and birch trees as well. Those are the forests and trees of Switzerland.

There are many interesting facts about Switzerland. One cool thing is that the kids here only go to school four days a week. They go to school on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Another is that Switzerland is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the country that eats the most chocolate. They are the founders of Swiss cheese. In their Christmas Santa is not a big part of the day. They celebrate and think of it more as the birthday of Jesus than a day when you get gifts and give out gifts. Those are some interesting facts about Switzerland.

Swiss cheese comes from Switzerland. It is only made from the purest and best tasting milk from their best cows. It is very simple to churn and go through all of the steps. People wonder why there are holes in Swiss cheese. The real reason why is because that during churning the cheese fills with carbon dioxide. Then when the cheese comes out of the churner to harden and dry the carbon dioxide in the cheese expands and makes bubbles. Then the bubbles explode and make the holes. That is how Swiss cheese is made and where it comes from.

The history of Switzerland is very interesting. During the Roman Period (58B.C. -400A.D.) The Swiss people moved toward southern France. On their way they get stopped by Commander C. Julius Cesar. They got occupied by the Roman troops. This is what sparked the start of Swiss history. During the Middle Ages (400-1,500) The People of Switzerland set out to build new states and empires in Europe. This slowly starts to happen. Then feudalism takes in. Feudalism is a process where people called Serfs raised crops and gave them to their king. Fore this the serfs got protection from the King and enough food to survive on. If the serfs refused to work fore the king they would not be protected by the king. Then monasteries develop new agriculture methods. Switzerland became an independent nation by its neighbors through a peace treaty in 1291. Now the Swiss people celebrate a national holiday on August 1. During the Old Swiss Confederacy three valleys in central Europe and unite against counts of Habsburg and fought fore autonomy to join the confederacy. They conquer territories in northern and southern Switzerland. The Swiss Revolution happened in 1798.

Switzerland is thought of one of the first democracies in the world. If you look precisely at the country you see that the majority does not believe in this although many people did. They dominated minor democracy to a true democracy. This is one of the revolutions of foreign troops fail to conquer democracy and start parliamentary democracy. This is the fallback that started the periods of changes that happened little by little. From 1914-1918 Switzerland was neutral of World War One. Then in the 1930's-1940's many people in were Nazis. Some people fought in World War Two with the Germans under Aldolf Hitler's command. They worked at some of the concentration camps that tortured the Jews. This is because of the stock market crash there similar to ours in America. Many Germans blamed it on the Jews and took them against their will under Aldolf Hitler's command. That is what the history of Switzerland was like.

One very famous person who lived in Switzerland for a very long time is Albert Einstein. Albert was born in on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Germany. Before Albert had his first birthday his family moved to Munich. This is where his very close sister, Maja, was born. There Albert started to enjoy books, music, and family outings. As he grew up he seemed a very slow learner. This fact had worried his mother and father. At five years old Albert's dad gave him a compass. He loved the compass and tried to learn how it worked. This triggered his lifetime love of science and geography.