What being Swiss means to these expats

Today isn’t a federal holiday for Swiss people living abroad, but many will be thinking about their homeland.

There are 760,200 Swiss citizens living outside of Switzerland, and they account for 10.6% of Swiss nationals. More than 60% of expat Swiss live in Europe; nearly a quarter live in the Americas, with 80,400 in the United States alone.

This summer we visited Swiss citizens living in Germany, Italy, France, Brazil, Argentina and the United States. We asked them: “What does being Swiss mean to you?” Here’s a selection of their responses.

Check out our other reports to find out what our interview partners think about the upcoming parliamentary elections, e-voting, and what it’s like to be a Swiss citizen living abroad.