Minerals and Power Resources

Switzerland lacks all the valuable minerals for development. However the Geologists believe that oil can be drilled to sustain the country for sometime.

There is anthracite coal mined in Valais. The most productive source of fuel is still peat cutting in the upland Moors and ancient lake bottoms. Of more importance are the iron ores which are worked in the Gonzen and Fricktal.

The only reliable mineral resource is salt working in the Rhine valley above Basel and the Rhone Valley near Bex.

From all these problems of lack of valuable minerals as well as being landlocked one would not expect Switzerland to industrialize and develop the economy. The development is largely a result of utilization or tapping of river water for generation of HEP.

Power

The several thousand rivers and mountain torrents that flow off the Alps and Jura land, provide Switzerland inexhaustible supply of raw materials for the production of power in form of electricity.                                                                                       

Several thousand power stations, some 340 of them on the largest scale are capable of producing a peak production capacity of 8 million kilowatts,

Her abundance of water power has made this "white coal" become an important Source of the country's electric power.

The availability of cheap power has enabled Switzerland to  develop  her  industries and development of an electrically operated railway.

There is a wide spread use of electricity. The main users are private homes, agricultural sector, handcraft, industry and the Swiss railway.

 Transport

Switzerland as a highly developed country is dependent on imported raw materials while also having large scale interests in catering for foreigners, relies to a high degree on an efficient transport network. It has thus laid particular emphasis on building this network.

Switzerland has developed a well-distributed internal network of roads and railways in order to keep pace with the country's industrial growth.

The road network with a total length of 60,000 km, has sometimes been able to cope only with difficulty with the rapidly growing number of vehicles. The country's roads have to accommodate not only some 1.8 million vehicles registered in Switzerland but also those of countless foreign tourists. More than a dozen passes over the Alps and the Jura mountains climbing to over 2,000 metres above sea level.

 

The Swiss Railway System

Switzerland have had to develop a dense railway network in order to convey into the interior the large quantities of goods imported into the country at Port Basel and her extensive tourist industry. The network has now been electrified and comprises 655 kilometres of line which penetrates into the most distant valleys and even climbs as high as 3,500 metres.

Besides, the railways proper, there are almost 40 kilometres of funicular railways and aerial cableways enabling tourist to reach ski slopes and the mountain tops with ease.

Switzerland's central position in Europe makes her an important country for international rail connections of which five main lines cross Switzerland. These are:

  •  The chief of these is the Basel-Chiasso north - south line connecting Germany to Italy via the St. Gotthard Tunnel.
  • In the same direction, the Basel-Bern-Milan line passes through the Lotschberg and Simplon Tunnel.
  • Vallorbe - Lausanne -Brigne line which passes through the Rhone valley and the Simplon Tunnel taking traffic between France and Italy.
  • From west to east, the Geneva - Bern - Zurich line connects France to Germany and Austria. All these international routes make Switzerland an easily accessible country from outside and thus give added impetus to Switzerland tourist industry.

The Rhine - a Vital Link:

Navigation on the Rhine is of great importance for the flow of supplies into the country through the port of Basel. This Port handles the whole of the international river traffic to and from Switzerland. It is the fifth biggest port on the Rhine. Almost eight million tons of goods are loaded and unloaded in this port per year. The main commodities shipped along the Rhine are liquid and solid fuels, cereals, raw and semi-finished metals.

 

 

 

iDevice icon Reflection

(a)     Describe the tourist attractions found in

(i) Switzerland                

ii)  East Africa

b)       Why is the tourist industry in Switzerland more developed than in E. Africa?

(c)     Explain how the tourist industry in East Africa can be improved.