Zug - Overview:
Zug is situated near the Zuger See (Lake Zug), approximately 22 kilometres north west of Lucerne and 23 kilometres south of Zurich, and has a multinational population that has doubled in the last 40 years to around 22,000 people. The city is also capital of the canton of the same name, which is one of the smallest cantons in the country, covering an area of just 240 square kilometres and having about 93,000 inhabitants.
The canton of Zug is comprised of 11 communities. Oberägeri, Unterägeri, Menzingen and Neuheim are located in the mountainous regions to the south and west of the canton, while Zug, Baar, Steinhausen, Cham, Huenenberg and Walchwil are situated in the valley region around Lake Zug, which together with the Lake of Ägeri makes up a considerable part of the cantons area. German is the official language of the area, but English is also widely spoken, especially among the business community.
According to the Swiss Federal Statistics Office, there are just over 66,000 (2001) fully and partly employed persons working in the canton of Zug, while the unemployment rate for 2002 stood at 3.2 per cent. The economy is quite diverse with both the industrial and service sectors well represented by leading companies. Figures from the canton of Zug administration show that trade and services are responsible for well over half of the region's economy, while industry accounts for just over 40 per cent and agriculture makes up the rest. The canton is particularly well known as an important trading centre, while companies operating in the fields of electronics and electro technology play a significant role in its industrial sector. The success of Zug's economy is largely based on its low taxes, which are less many of the other Swiss cantons and have attracted significant numbers of multinational companies to establish offices in the city.
Zug benefits from a strategic position in the centre of the country and is well connected to Switzerland's other main cities. Motorways link the canton's roads with other areas, while Lucerne and Zurich can both be reached in less than half an hour from the city of Zug via rail. There are also railway lines which run along the shores of Lake Zug to Arth-Goldau station, from where trains go to Austria, Italy, Germany and west to the French part of Switzerland. Two inter-regional trains operate every hour and provide a direct service between Zug and Zurich airport, which offers flights to and from approximately 180 destinations in 83 countries located in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.
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