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Swiss people
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<p>The Swiss people are the citizens of the multi-ethnic <a href="/facts/Switzerland/LcGuxeTe">Swiss Confederation</a> (Switzerland) regardless of ethno-cultural background or people of self-identified <a href="/facts/Swiss_abroad/vFlcWXtY">Swiss ancestry</a>. </p><p>The number of <a href="/facts/Swiss_nationality_law/BP1Q3jbV">Swiss nationals</a> has grown from 1.7 million in 1815 to 8.7 million in 2020. More than 1.5 million Swiss citizens hold <a href="/facts/Multiple_citizenship/kjN33Plr">multiple citizenship</a>. About 11% of citizens <a href="/facts/Swiss_abroad/vFlcWXtY">live abroad</a> (0.8 million, of whom 0.6 million hold multiple citizenship). About 60% of those living abroad reside in the <a href="/facts/European_Union/6GYcR8qM">European Union</a> (0.46 million). The largest groups of Swiss descendants and nationals outside Europe are found in the <a href="/facts/Swiss_Americans/Mc9lRRXs">United States</a>, <a href="/facts/Swiss_Brazilians/rhF2XnXt">Brazil</a>, and <a href="/facts/Swiss_Canadians/Vz79oLqg">Canada</a>. </p><p>Although the <a href="/facts/Switzerland_as_a_federal_state/wBBd6U7q">modern state of Switzerland</a> originated in 1848, the period of <a href="/facts/Romantic_nationalism/YCwgydvb">romantic nationalism</a>, Switzerland is not a <a href="/facts/Nation-state/1T5FVEJP">nation-state</a> and the Swiss are not a single <a href="/facts/Ethnic_group/XSp5l24t">ethnic group</a>. Rather, Switzerland is a <a href="/facts/Confederation/8BLyhA5U">confederacy</a> (<i><i><a href="/facts/Eidgenossenschaft/hPICWJxm">Eidgenossenschaft</a></i></i>) or <i><i><a href="/facts/Willensnation/xnpLV2Rf">Willensnation</a></i></i> ("nation of will", "nation by choice", that is, a <a href="/facts/Consociational_state/ExyxykRc">consociational state</a>), a term coined in conscious contrast to "<a href="/facts/Nation/ed3XkH6y">nation</a>" in the conventional linguistic or ethnic sense. </p><p>The demonym <i>Swiss</i> (formerly in English also called <i>Switzer</i>) and the <a href="/facts/Name_of_Switzerland/JhU1M3Bl">name of Switzerland</a> ultimately derive from the toponym <i><a href="/facts/Schwyz/CqndMpYJ">Schwyz</a></i>. Both have been widely used to refer to the <a href="/facts/Old_Swiss_Confederacy/0j0hp0V1">Old Swiss Confederacy</a> since the 16th century. </p>