provides four different ways of publications with Swiss people living abroad. These services include: Voting and electoral right, Consular services, Organization of the Swiss Abroad and the Swiss Revue The service "" provided by the FDFA is available to all Swiss abroad.
Swiss expatriate regions
As of 31 December 2016, a total of 774,923 Swiss citizens were registered as living abroad. For reference, in 2007, a total of 668,107 Swiss citizens were registered as living abroad.
A majority held dual citizenship; vast majority of these had citizenship of another European Economic Area country, namely and primarily France, Germany, Belgium, Italy or the United Kingdom or were citizens of United States, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. Swiss Jews form a small group in Israel.
The statistics below are:
all taken from the 31 December 2016 statistics
the 2015 data is shown in brackets
+/- indicates the amount by which the figure has increased or decreased compared to the previous year; the previous's year's figure is shown immediately after.
The Schweizerischer Hülfsverein in Ceylon was founded on 15 September 1933. In the beginning, its main purpose was to provide assistance to Swiss citizens in need. In 1956, the Swiss Circle Colombo was established to promote social activities among Swiss nationals in Ceylon. It is now known as Swiss Circle Sri Lanka.
Europe
482,194 Swiss abroad
Albania
76 Swiss abroad
Austria
16,602 Swiss abroad
France
200,730 Swiss abroad
The largest number of Swiss immigrants arrived in France between the 1850s and the 1930s. Many of them settled in Alsace and in the cities of Paris, Marseille and Lyon.
Germany
89,390 Swiss abroad
Italy
51,895 Swiss abroad
Russia
Significant emigration of Swiss people to the Russian Empire occurred from the late 17th to the late 19th century. The late 18th and early 19th century saw a flow of Swiss farmers forming colonies such as Şaba. The Russian-Swiss generally prospered, partly merging with German diaspora populations. As at the end of 2016, 776 Swiss citizens live in Russia.
By 1940, some 44,000 Swiss had emigrated to Argentina, settling mainly in the provinces of Córdoba and Santa Fe, and to a lesser extent, in Buenos Aires. In 1856 the colony farm of Esperanza was founded in Santa Fe becoming the mother of agricultural colonies in Argentina, and thus beginning a long process of European colonization and immigration on Argentine soil. Current estimates state 150,000 Swiss descendants residing in Argentina.
Brazil
15,321 Swiss abroad
Up to 500,000 Swiss descendants.
The history of Swiss immigration to Brazil began with the foundation of the colony of Nova Friburgo in 1819. Nova Friburgo was the first colonial company contracted by the Portuguese government. The immigrant colonists wrote letters for publication in Swiss newspapers of the period, and these documents reveal the migrants' perceptions, information and expectations. On 4 July 1819 1,088 Swiss, including 830 from the Canton of Fribourg, departed from Estavayer-le-Lac on Lake Neuchâtel. They included Jean-Claude Marchon, his wife Marie Prostasie Chavannaz Marchon, his brother Antoine Marchon and fiancée Marieanne Elizabeth Clerc. They travelled first to Basle, the meeting point of the Swiss Transmigration for Brasil. And then 2.000 Swiss, by the Rhein River, go to Holland and after a lot of peripetia they depart from St. Gravendeel, near Dordrecht, in the Daphne, for the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, on September 11. Their arrival in Rio de Janeiro was on November 4, spending 55 days, a very good time for the epoch. And, finally, they arrive in Morro-Queimado on November 15, 1819 – about 12000 kilometers in 105 days, approximately 114 kilometers a day.
The percentage of Swiss in Chile is small, despite having a relatively large number of members. This is because their linguistic and cultural characteristics are commonly confused with Germans, Italians and French. Swiss migration to Chile took place at the end of the nineteenth century, between 1883 and 1900, particularly in the area of Araucanía, especially in Victoria and Traiguén. It is estimated that more than 8,000 families received grants of land. Between April 1876 and May 1877 a contingent of Swiss immigrants comprising 119 families came to the area of Magellanes, mostly peasants from the canton of Fribourg. Later, during the period from 1915 to 1950, was the last recorded mass exodus of Swiss to Chile. 30,000 people settled in the central area of the country, primarily in Santiago and Valparaíso. There are currently 5,000 Swiss citizens residing in Chile and between 90,000 to 100,000 Swiss descendants.
Colombia
2,627 Swiss abroad
Uruguay
Venezuela
1,449 Swiss abroad
Joaquin Ritz and Melchor Grubel arrived in Venezuela in 1529 and 1535 respectively - the first Swiss who came to South America. As of 2009, 1,900 Swiss citizens lived in Venezuela.
Swiss American
Swiss Argentine
Swiss Canadian
Swiss Chilean
Swiss Brazilian
Swiss Australian