124-524: Swiss Post ( French : La Poste suisse , Italian : La Posta Svizzera , German : Die Schweizerische Post , Romansh : La Posta Svizra ) is the national postal service of Switzerland . A public company owned by the Swiss Confederation , it is the country's second largest employer with about 54,000 employees. The group is based in Bern and has branches in 25 countries. Roberto Cirillo
248-744: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
372-499: A boathouse and buoy field on Churchill-Quai in Lucerne. The Brunnen water sports club (Wassersportclub Brunnen), founded in 1958, held on Lake Lucerne in the first years of its existence international motorboat races and water ski championships. In 1965 the association chose a new name for the club: Lake Lucerne Water Sports Club (Wassersport-Club Vierwaldstättersee). The Central Switzerland Motorboat Club (Motorbootclub Zentralschweiz)
496-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
620-520: A dog were in service to deliver the mail. At the beginning of the twentieth century, with technological progress, new significant means of communication arrived: the telephone and the telegraph . This led to the establishment in 1920 of the Postal Telegraph and Telephone (PTT), created from the merger of the federal telegraph administration and the general management. In 1964, Switzerland introduced Postal Codes for mail sorting, becoming
744-646: A fleet of around 2,400 vehicles. After 1844 the post delivered mail between Basel and Strasbourg in France and after 1847 also between Zürich and Baden. In 1857 post wagons owned by the Swiss Railways entered into service. In the post wagons the mail was sorted on train. By 1866 the Swiss Post decided to buy their own post wagons. In later years wagons with three and four axles were purchased. The wagons with 4 axles were equipped with compartments in which
868-555: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
992-670: A height of from 3,000 to 4,000 ft (910 to 1,220 m) above the water. The two highest summits are the Fronalpstock and the Rophaien (2078 m). Between them the steep glen or ravine of the Riemenstaldener Tal descends to Sisikon , the only village with Flüelen right on the shore on that side of the Urnersee. On the opposite or western shore, the mountains attain still greater dimensions. The Niederbauen Chulm
1116-652: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
1240-414: A rationalization of services, reducing the number of postal offices from approximately 3,500 to around 700. In 1849, the Swiss Post operated almost 500 carriages and 250 sleds. In 1849, the Swiss Post operated almost 500 carriages and 250 sleds pulled by horses . By 1913, the post used over 2,000 carriages and 1,000 sleds in its services. After its foundation, the post earned almost half its revenue from
1364-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
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#17327720069361488-683: A result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including the United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ,
1612-456: A route to Geneva and the Swiss Post had its first direct connection to the American continent. Subsequently, at other Swiss airports like Zurich or Basel , international airmail was also received and dispatched. By 1985, the Swiss Post used the services of many international airlines in addition to those of Swissair. Until the 1850s about 25% of the post offices were in taverns , but this
1736-547: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
1860-457: A working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As
1984-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
2108-472: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
2232-489: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
2356-522: Is divided into the cantons of Obwalden and Nidwalden ), as well as the canton of Lucerne , thus the name Vierwaldstättersee (lit.: Lake of the Four Forested Settlements). Many of the oldest communities of Switzerland are along the shore, including Küssnacht , Weggis , Vitznau , Gersau , Brunnen , Altdorf , Buochs , and Treib . Lake Lucerne is singularly irregular and appears to lie in four different valleys, all related to
2480-652: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
2604-563: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
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#17327720069362728-634: Is its CEO since April 2019. In 2021, Swiss Post was ranked as the world's best by the Universal Postal Union for the fifth time in a row. In December 2022, it was announced Swiss Post has acquired the St. Gallen -based sustainable packaging company, Kickbag GmbH. Before the establishment of a united postal service in Switzerland in 1848, postal services were often carried out by a variety of independent messengers and postal services such as
2852-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
2976-469: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
3100-828: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
3224-753: Is possible to circumnavigate the lake by train and road, though the railway route circumvents the lake even on the north side of the Rigi via Arth-Goldau . Since 1980, the A2 motorway leads through the Seelisberg Tunnel in order to reach the route to the Gotthard Pass in just half an hour in Altdorf, Uri right south of the beginning of the lake in Flüelen. Steamers and other passenger boats ply between
3348-474: Is rather chilly all year round and therefore mostly very clear. In Lake Uri, at Sisikon, one can dive to a fragmented steep vertical wall, at the northern portal of the Schieferneggtunnel. The Lediwrack Bruno lies in front of Brunnen at a depth of 15 meters. Other well-known diving spots are in front of Vitznau, Weggis, Gersau and Hergiswil. The Swiss Armed Forces historically used Lake Lucerne as
3472-779: Is succeeded by the Oberbauenstock , and farther south, above the ridge of the Scharti, appear the snowy peaks of the Gitschen and the Uri Rotstock (2,928 m). In the centre opens the Reuss Valley, backed by the rugged summits of the Urner and Glarner Alps . The breadth of these various sections of the lake is very variable, but is usually between one and two miles (3 km). The lake's surface, whose mean height above
3596-639: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
3720-830: Is the Buochser Bucht , but the lake sharply turns north again through the narrow opening between the Unter Nas (lower nose) of the Bürgenstock to the west and the Ober Nas (upper nose) of the Rigi to the east to reach the Vitznauer Bucht . In front of Vitznau below the Rigi the lake turns sharply west again to reach the center of a four-arm cross, called the Chrütztrichter (Cross Funnel). Here converge
3844-523: Is the Dammastock at 3,630 metres above sea level. The name of Vierwaldstättersee is first used in the 16th century. Before the 16th century, the entire lake was known as Luzerner See "Lake Lucerne", as remains the English (and partly Italian, as Lago di Lucerna ) usage. The (three) " Waldstätte(n) " (lit.: "forested sites/settlements", in English usually translated as forest cantons ) since
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3968-553: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
4092-483: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
4216-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
4340-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
4464-764: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
4588-736: The Atlantic ocean landed in South and North America . From 1931 onwards, the newly founded Swissair facilitated the creation of a dense European network for airmail deliveries. During World War II , the services diminished until halted in 1944. The Swiss Post maintained a mail exchange with London and New York with seaplanes in the Atlantic on the Portuguese coast. In 1946 the American Trans World Airlines opened
4712-609: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
4836-517: The Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only a second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and
4960-509: The Duke of Thurn und Taxis conceded the postal rights of Schaffhausen to Switzerland in return for 150,000 CHF in 1853. In 1874, Switzerland organised the founding congress in Bern of the Universal Postal Union , of which it also became a member. After 1878, Swiss post offices on steamers and railways were tasked with accepting and delivering and also sorting out mail. Also donkeys, mules and even
5084-533: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
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5208-559: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
5332-668: The ISDN internet network, which was launched in 1988, and in 1987, the videotex/ teletext system was introduced. As part of the liberalization process, the Postal Act and the Federal Communications Act of 1997 (in effect from 1998) led to the split of the PTT into two companies. Postal services, including letters and parcels, payment traffic, and passenger transport, were assigned to Swiss Post (a public law entity of
5456-877: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
5580-420: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
5704-447: The Thurn und Taxis in Schaffhausen and the Fischerpost in Bern. After the French military complained to the government of the recently established Helvetic Republic about the different uniforms of the postal services, the decision to form a united postal service was approved by the Swiss Senate in September 1798. In 1799, Switzerland was divided into five postal zones centered in Basel, Zürich, St. Gallen, Schaffhausen and Bern but
5828-423: The Vitznauer Bucht with the Küssnachtersee from the north, the Luzernersee from the west, and the Horwer Bucht and the Stanser Trichter to the south, which is to be found right below the northeast side of the Pilatus and the west side of the Bürgenstock. At the very narrow pass between the east dropper of the Pilatus (called Lopper ) and Stansstad the lake reaches its southwestern arm at Alpnachstad on
5952-428: The Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by
6076-436: The World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
6200-497: The provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco; the Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to
6324-427: The ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in
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#17327720069366448-488: The 14th century were the confederate allies of Uri , Schwyz and Unterwalden . The notion of "Four Waldstätten" ( Vier Waldstätten ), with the addition of the canton of Lucerne , is first recorded in the 1450s, in an addition to the "Silver Book" of Egloff Etterlin of Lucerne. The nine different parts of the lake have individual designations: The lake is navigable, and has formed an important part of Switzerland's transport system for many centuries, and at least since
6572-455: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
6696-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
6820-402: The Alps. Lake Lucerne has twice been used as a venue for the European Rowing Championships : in 1908 and then in 1926 . The nearby Rotsee has since 1933 been used for rowing regattas instead. On the way south, the English discovered the mountains of central Switzerland. Several spa and bathing resorts such as Weggis or Gersau were created. In 1871, the very first rack railway in Europe,
6944-596: The Bürgenstock, the Stanserhorn , the Buochserhorn, and the two legends, the Urirotstock and the Fronalpstock are attractive panoramic mountains near Lake Lucerne. Most of them can be reached by mountain railways, some of which have their valley station near boat stations on the lake. There are numerous locations on the lake that are important in Swiss cultural and tourism history: Rütli, Tellsplatte, Tell Chapel, Carving Tower of Stansstad, Neu-Habsburg, Schillerstein, Treib, Astrid Chapel (Küssnacht) and Meggenhorn Castle. Different sports are possible in some separate areas due to
7068-510: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
7192-614: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
7316-557: The Confederation), while telecommunications services were assigned to Swisscom (a private-sector company with majority participation by the Confederation). Under the new legislation that came into effect between 2012 and 2013, PostFinance was spun off into a private limited company subject to the supervision of FINMA , while remaining entirely owned by Swiss Post. In 1850 the post was responsible for dispatching 16 million letters in total or 7 letters per person. By 1910 it delivered fifteen and in 1950 eighty-two letters per person. In 1870,
7440-408: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
7564-416: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
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#17327720069367688-410: The Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as a second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as
7812-402: The OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as a second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
7936-406: The Swiss Government was not able to nationalize the already functioning and well-established independent postal services. By 1803 the administration of the Swiss postal services was returned to the cantons. Between 1803 and 1848 the postal services were administrated by the cantons. The canton of Zürich was a major provider of postal services at the time, as it also operated the postal services in
8060-407: The Swiss Postal Services increased significantly and between 1887 and 1915 so-called "Postal Palaces" were built in several larger cities. The first one was in Basel, then others followed in Zürich, Bern, Geneva and Olten. By 1985 the Swiss Post owned about 1300 buildings and rented more than 4100. Due to changing societal habits and the rise of digital activities, between 2000 and 2024 there has been
8184-520: The Vitznau-Rigi Railway, was opened. In 1889 the steepest cog railway in the world was built from Alpnachstad to Mount Pilatus . Mark Twain described an ascent to the Rigi, which led to the blossoming of Swiss tourism in the United States in the 19th century. One of the largest steamship fleets in Europe operates with five steamships on Lake Lucerne. In the area surrounding the lake and on terraces at medium height (for example Morschach and Seelisberg) there are numerous places for tourists. The Rigi, Pilatus,
8308-438: The cantons Thurgau and Zug and its carriages were allowed to transit through the important Uri with its Gotthard Pass . From 1823 onwards, the postal services from Canton Zürich operated a carriage between Zürich via Rapperswil to Chur and from 1826 the carriage was in service on a daily basis. in 1829 a daily service between Basel and Zürich was established. In 1835 the service was expanded to Bern and three years later
8432-408: The cities. In 1848 the postal services were regulated by the new constitution which demanded a centralised administration. On 1 January 1849 the Swiss National Post took over the fourteen cantonal post services. The postal charges for letters and packages were the same in all of Switzerland from October 1849 onwards. In 1850 the first stamps valid in all of Switzerland were issued. The same year
8556-419: The conformation of the adjoining mountains. The central portion of the lake lies in two parallel valleys whose direction is from west to east, the one lying north, the other south of the ridge of the Bürgenstock . These are connected through a narrow strait, scarcely one kilometre wide, between the two rocky promontories called respectively Unter Nas and Ober Nas (Lower and Upper Nose). It is not unlikely that
8680-426: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Lake Lucerne Lake Lucerne ( German : Vierwaldstättersee , literally 'Lake of the four forested settlements ' (in English usually translated as forest cantons ), French : lac des Quatre-Cantons , Italian : lago dei Quattro Cantoni ) is a lake in central Switzerland and
8804-403: The country was inaugurated, and in 1982, barcodes were introduced for mail processing, along with the creation of a new logo for Swiss Post by the typographer Adrian Frutiger. In 1985, the PostFinance system was integrated to include financial services such as current accounts and postal banking. Also under Nobel, in the first half of 1986, the postal service began the national implementation of
8928-455: The country's 700th anniversary in 1991. Archaeologists surveying the lake-bed (during the construction of a pipeline) from 2019 to 2021 found the remains of a Bronze Age village with artifacts dating to around 1000 BC. Later, the new findings indicated that the area was settled 2,000 years earlier than historians previously thought. Lake Lucerne borders on the three original Swiss cantons of Uri , Schwyz , and Unterwalden (which today
9052-622: The delivery time between Basel in the north of Switzerland and Milan in Italy was limited to fifty hours. From Basel the mail was transported to Lucerne, where it was shipped over Lake Lucerne to Flüelen in Uri, from where it was transported by carriage over the St. Gotthard to Bellinzona and Camerlata , from where it was loaded on a train to Milan. After four years of litigation before a court in Frankfurt ,
9176-519: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
9300-625: The different villages and towns on the lake. It is a popular tourist destination, both for native Swiss and foreigners, and there are many hotels and resorts along the shores. In addition, the meadow of the Rütli , traditional site of the founding of the Swiss Confederation , is on the Urnersee shore. A 35 km commemorative walkway, the Swiss Path , was built around the Lake of Uri to celebrate
9424-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
9548-594: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
9672-516: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
9796-502: The first steamboat on Lake Lucerne began to provide its services. Uri leased transit rights to the postal services of Zürich. The condition was that the employees had to be from Uri. In 1828 Uri gave the right of transit to the postal services of Lucerne. From Altdorf in Uri, a daily carriage crossed over the Gotthard, reaching Milan in Italy. The small Canton Glarus outsourced its postal services to two entrepreneurs until 1832,
9920-915: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
10044-498: The fourth largest in the country. The lake has a complicated shape, with several sharp bends and four arms. It starts in the south–north bound Reuss Valley between steep cliffs above the Urnersee from Flüelen towards Brunnen to the north before it makes a sharp bend to the west where it continues into the Gersauer Becken . Here is also the deepest point of the lake with 214 m (702 ft). Even further west of it
10168-829: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
10292-442: The gravel dredging industry that operates on the lake, using large dredgers to obtain sand and gravel for use in the construction industry . Beethoven 's Moonlight Sonata derives its name from an 1832 description of the first movement by poet and music critic Ludwig Rellstab , who compared it to moonlight shining upon Lake Lucerne. Gioacchino Rossini uses this in his William Tell Overture Section A: Sunrise over
10416-565: The lake of much of its through traffic, it continues to be used by a considerable number of vessels, both private and public. Much of this usage is tourist or leisure oriented, but the lake continues to provide practical public and cargo transport links between the smaller lakeside communities. Passenger boats of the Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees (SGV) provide services on the lake, including many run by historic paddle steamers . The SGV serves 32 places along
10540-454: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
10664-479: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
10788-612: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
10912-479: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
11036-625: The line over the Gotthard Pass to Italy. They were the official post service in the cantons of Solothurn , Fribourg and Geneva . Their position was rather dominant, much more so after Emanuel Friedrich von Fischer [ de ] of the Fischer family was elected the president of the Bernese Republic [ de ] . The Fischer dynasty ended in 1832, as the new Bernese liberal Government expropriated them. Lucerne
11160-515: The line reached Fribourg, Lausanne and Geneva. In 1835 the first steamboat was operated on Lake Zürich and in 1847 the first railway of Switzerland went into service between Zürich and Baden . In 1843, the cantonal post of Zürich issued the first stamp in Switzerland so the postman was relieved of the duty of collecting the money from the clients. In Canton Bern the Fischerpost was the official provider of postal services, and it also operated
11284-489: The mail was sorted and by 1965, over sixty postal train lines had come into service. In 1964, the Postal Codes were established and from then the mail was sorted more in specific centres. In 1986, there were 600 post wagons in the service of the Swiss Post. The first air mail was delivered mainly as a demonstration in the early 1910s. In January 1919, a regular military airmail service was established which by April 1919
11408-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
11532-589: The north-east branch forms the long arm of Küssnacht , Küssnachtersee . These both lie in the direct line of a valley that stretches with scarcely a break in between the Uri Alps and the Emmental Alps . At the eastern end of the Gersauer Becken, where the containing walls of the lake-valley are directed from east to west, it is joined at an acute angle by the arm of Uri, or the Urnersee , lying in
11656-631: The northern prolongation of the deep cleft that gives a passage to the Reuss , between the Uri Alps and the Glarus Alps . The Urnersee occupies the northernmost and deep portion of the great cleft of the Reuss Valley, which has cut through the Alpine ranges from the St Gotthard Pass to the neighbourhood of Schwyz . From its eastern shore the mountains rise in almost bare walls of rock to
11780-444: The opening of the first track across the Gotthard Pass in 1230. This trade grew with the opening of a new mail coach road across the pass in 1830. This road had its northern terminus at Flüelen at the extreme eastern end of the lake, and the lake provided the only practical onward link to Lucerne , and hence the cities of northern Switzerland and beyond. Whilst the development of Switzerland's road and rail networks has relieved
11904-534: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
12028-471: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
12152-471: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
12276-561: The sea is 434 metres, is the lowest point of the cantons of Uri, Obwalden and Nidwalden. Originally the lake was susceptible to variations in level and flooding along its shoreline. Between 1859 and 1860, the introduction of a needle dam in the Reuss in the city of Lucerne, just upstream from the Spreuerbrücke , allowed the lake level to be stabilised. The culminating point of the lake's drainage basin, as well as Central Switzerland,
12400-506: The shore of the lake, with interchange to both main line and mountain railways at various points. Under separate management, the Autofähre Beckenried-Gersau provides a car ferry service between Beckenried , on the south bank of the lake, and Gersau on the north. Cargo barges , to a local design known as Nauen , are still used on the lake. Some have been converted for use as party boats. Other barges are used by
12524-583: The shoreline rises steeply into mountains up to 1,500 m above the lake, resulting in many picturesque views including those of the mountains Rigi and Pilatus. The Reuss enters the lake at Flüelen, in the part called Urnersee ( Lake of Uri , in the canton of Uri ) and exits at Lucerne. The lake also receives the Muota at Brunnen, the Engelberger Aa at Buochs , and the Sarner Aa at Alpnachstad. It
12648-487: The southern of these two divisions of the lake—called Buochser Bucht —formerly extended to the west over the isthmus whereon stands the town of Stans , thus forming an island of the Bürgenstock. The west end of the main branch of the lake, whence a comparatively shallow bay extends to the town of Lucerne, is intersected obliquely by a deep trench whose south-west end is occupied by the branch called Alpnachersee , while
12772-574: The steep southern foothills of the Pilatus, the Alpnachersee . The lake drains its water into the Reuss in Lucerne from its arm called Luzernersee (which literally translates as Lake of Lucerne ). The entire lake has a total area of 114 km (44 sq mi) at an elevation of 434 m (1,424 ft) a.s.l., and a maximum depth of 214 m (702 ft). Its volume is 11.8 km . Much of
12896-461: The third country after the United States and Germany to do so. Under Guido Nobel , Swiss Post introduced several innovations: in 1975, the first national mobile telephone network ( Nationales Autotelefonnetz , from which the name Natel is derived) was established. In 1985, the first fiber optic cable was installed, connecting Bern to Neuchâtel . In 1978, the first Postomat ( ATM ) in
13020-466: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
13144-401: The transportation of passengers. In 1849, the Swiss Post operated almost 500 carriages and 250 sleds, which were also operating the popular express lines in the night. After the 1860s, the transportation of passengers was taken over increasingly by railway lines established along the same route as the most profitable carriages. In 2023, Swiss Post transported 175 million people via PostBus, with
13268-694: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
13392-562: The urban centres were responsible for about 25% of the letters sent while accounting for only 9% of the population. In 1950 the post delivered 900 million letters, of which about 8% had a destination outside of Switzerland. In 1963 the mail volume rose to 2.5 billion letters. In 2020, Swiss Post handled between 600,000 and 900,000 parcels each day. In 2023, the Swiss post delivered approximately 1,647 billion letters and 185 million parcels. The number of post offices increased from 1,502 in 1849 to over 4,000 in 1914. The volumes of mail delivered by
13516-568: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
13640-485: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
13764-608: The water and wind conditions. The lake is accessible from boat and yacht harbors, to lake resorts and pools (e.g. the Lido pool in Lucerne, built in 1929 by Arnold Berger). Therefore, the lake can be easily accessible from both shores. The See-Club Luzern was founded in 1881, which is now Switzerland's largest rowing club, as well as the Reuss Luzern rowing club (Ruderclub Reuss Luzern) in 1904. The Lucerne Yacht Club (Yachtclub Luzern) has existed since 1941 and has been running since 1966
13888-599: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
14012-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
14136-503: The world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share the official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in
14260-422: The year it began to operate the post through a cantonal administration. The location of Basel at the northern border of Switzerland made the city a prominent centre for international mail exchange. In 1839 Basel ordered that post boxes accessible to the public be installed in the major squares of the city. After the train line between Basel and Strasbourg was inaugurated in 1844, it also transported mail between
14384-819: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
14508-574: Was established in 1980 and the Hergiswil Water Sports Club (Wassersportclub Hergiswil) in 1986. SchweizMobil has created a canoe tour across Lake Lucerne between Brunnen and Gersau. Due to the wind in the Reuss Valley, the southern part of Lake Uri between the campground at Gruonbachstrand in Flüelen and Isleten is a center of windsurfing. There are about ten places where you can dive without a boat in Lake Lucerne. The water
14632-477: Was expanded also for civilian mail. But the service was not profitable enough and was discontinued in October the same year. Despite the initial difficulties, air mail became a success and the Swiss Post soon expanded the service first to Germany, then to Europe, while still depending on the services of foreign airlines. Before the 1930s Swiss air mail reached Africa and Asia and by the 1930s seaplanes flying from
14756-463: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
14880-652: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
15004-594: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
15128-539: Was soon forbidden by the Swiss Post as the vicinity of wine and post offices led to problems. In the 1950s a St. Bernhard dog pulled the mail carriage in Adelboden . French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from
15252-570: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
15376-486: Was the only canton which wanted to keep the post under a national administration, and had to withstand the Fischer family who attempted to obtain the postal rights from the canton in 1809 and again in 1814. Lucerne expanded its own service to the south in the Ticino , and its messengers were given transit rights through the cantons of Schwyz and Uri . From Lucerne carriages departed to St. Gallen , Olten and Basel. In 1839
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