The first time I was in Switzerland was 1985, and even then, I would not call it "homogenous." The people at the time spoke French, German, Italian, and Romanisch. Switzerland is an excellent example of the "harmonious" rather than "homogenous": it manages to integrate people from four linguistic groups into a well-ordered society.

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rayiner 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

China has 8-10 major dialects that are not mutually intelligible, but many would say that China is pretty homogenous. 90% of the population is classified as "Han Chinese," even though the subgroups are quite visibly different from each other.

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throwaway85825 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Homogeneous in the modern use of the word.

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JumpCrisscross 3 hours ago | parent [-]

> Homogeneous in the modern use

What does it mean if it includes heterogenous populations from linguistic, historic, religious and even cultural backgrounds?

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throwaway85825 2 hours ago | parent [-]

While it's terribly fascinating for linguists it's generally understood that the languages and cultures within Switzerland are more related and generally homogeneous than when compared with for example asiatic language and culture.

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JumpCrisscross 2 hours ago | parent [-]

> the languages and cultures within Switzerland are more related and generally homogeneous than when compared with for example asiatic language and culture

Switzerland speaks languages from the Italic and Germanic clades of PIE [1]. That makes them about as dissimilar as Indo-Iranian and Slavic languages are from each of them.

Helvetia is a confederacy specifically because Switzerland has never been particularly homogenous. Homogeneity explains, in part, Nordic and Japanese success, though less and less the former in the modern era. It does not explain Switzerland’s.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_language

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throwaway85825 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Due to geography Swiss city states were able to maintain their independence and resist incorporation into larger principalities and subsequent empires. The Swiss militia that defended this was the basis for the American 2nd ammendment. Arguably it was the Swiss greater class homogeneity that explains their success.

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JumpCrisscross 2 hours ago | parent [-]

> Due to geography Swiss city states were able to maintain their independence and resist incorporation into larger principalities and subsequent empires

Swiss territory has been part of, variously, the Roman Empire, various Germanic kingdoms, the Carolingian Empire, the HRE and Napoleonic France. Swiss independence was really only enshrined at the Congress of Vienna, I believe at the courtesy of Metternich. Of Austria-Hungary.

> Swiss militia that defended this was the basis for the American 2nd ammendment

Source?

> the Swiss greater class homogeneity

Yes, Switzerland was universally poor and started becoming wealthy with less inequality than other nations in the 1920s. (Note that in the 1910s like 15% of Switzerland was foreign born.)

The homogeneity pitch just doesn’t work for Switzerland.

	▲	throwaway85825 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		>source Arguably common knowledge but if you must. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=...