Cantons of Switzerland

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Image:KARTE schweiz verwaltungsgliederung.png The twenty-six cantons of Switzerland are the states of the federal state of Switzerland. Historically and until the mid-19th century, each canton in the then-confederation was a sovereign state, with its own borders, army, and currency; the current federal structure was established in 1848.

During the sixteenth century, the Swiss Confederation was composed of thirteen self-governed states. These states were called cantons, and there were two different kinds of cantons: the six forest cantons and seven urban cantons. Though they were technically part of the Holy Roman Empire, they had become almost completely independent when the Swiss defeated Emperor Maximillian in 1499.

The six forest cantons were democratic republics, while the seven urban cantons were governed by city councils. However, these city councils were controlled by small oligarchies of wealthy citizens. The urban cantons included Zürich, Bern, and Basel.

Each canton has its own constitution, legislature, government and courts. Most of the cantons' legislatures are unicameral parliaments, their size varying between fifty-eight and two hundred seats. A few legislatures are general assemblies (Landsgemeinden). The cantonal governments consist of either five or seven members, depending on the canton. For the names of the institutions, see List of legislative and executive councils of the Cantons of Switzerland.

All tasks that do not explicitly fall within the Confederation according to the Swiss Constitution are matters of the cantons. The cantons determine the degree of autonomy of the municipalities, thus this varies greatly. The sizes of the cantons are extremely different: from just 37 to 7,105 square km; the populations vary from 14,900 to 1,244,400.

In cantonal matters, direct democracy in the form of general assemblies (Landsgemeinde) is now confined to the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus. In all other cantons democratic rights are expressed using the ballot box. Since the creation of the Canton of Jura in 1978 there have been no new cantons. According to the constitution of 1999 , the number of cantons is officially twenty-six, but the number of states (Stände) relevant for election of the Council of States (Ständerat) and voting in federal Initiatives, is twenty-three: the cantons of Unterwalden, Appenzell, and Basel are counted as two half-cantons each. Unterwalden is divided into Obwalden and Nidwalden, Appenzell into Innerrhoden and Ausserrhoden, while Basel is divided into Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft.

Contents

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List and map

The table below lists the cantons in the order of the constitution.

Flag Abbr Canton Since Capital Population1 Area2 Density3 Nr. of mun.s1 Official languages
Image:Flag of Canton of Zürich.svgZHZürich (Zurich)1351Zürich1,228,6001,729701171German
Image:Flag of Canton of Bern.svgBEBern (Berne)1353Bern947,1005,959158399German, French
Image:Flag of Canton of Lucerne.svgLULucerne1332Lucerne350,6001,493233107German
Image:Flag of Canton of Uri.svgURUri1291Altdorf35,0001,0773320German
Image:Flag of Canton of Schwyz.svgSZSchwyz1291Schwyz131,40090814330German
Image:Flag of Canton of Obwalden.svgOWObwalden (Obwald)1291Sarnen32,700491667German
Image:Flag of Canton of Nidwalden.svgNWNidwalden (Nidwald)1291Stans38,60027613811German
Image:Flag of Canton of Glarus.svgGLGlarus1352Glarus38,3006855128German
Image:Flag of Canton of Zug.svgZGZug1352Zug100,90023941611German
Image:Flag of Canton of Fribourg.svgFRFribourg1481Fribourg239,1001,671141242French, German
Image:Flag of Canton of Solothurn.svgSOSolothurn1481Solothurn245,500791308126German
Image:Flag of Canton of Basel.svgBSBasel-Stadt (Basle-City)1501Basel186,700375,0723German
Image:Flag of Canton of Basel Land.svgBLBasel-Landschaft (Basle-Country)1501Liestal261,40051850286German
Image:Flag of Canton of Schaffhausen.svgSHSchaffhausen1501Schaffhausen73,40029824634German
Image:Flag of Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden.svgARAppenzell Ausserrhoden (Outer Rhodes)1513Herisau453,20024322020German
Image:Flag of Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden.svgAIAppenzell Innerrhoden (Inner Rhodes)1513Appenzell15,000173876German
Image:Flag of Canton of Sankt Gallen.svgSGSt. Gallen (St. Gall)1803St. Gallen452,6002,02622290German
Image:Flag of Canton of Graubünden.svgGRGraubünden (Grisons)1803Chur185,7007,10526211German, Romansh, Italian
Image:Flag of Canton of Aargau.svgAGAargau (Argovia)1803Aarau550,9001,404388232German
Image:Flag of Canton of Thurgau.svgTGThurgau (Thurgovia)1803Frauenfeld228,20099122980German
Image:Flag of Canton of Tessin.svgTITicino1803Bellinzona311,9002,812110244Italian
Image:Flag of Canton of Vaud.svgVDVaud1803Lausanne626,2003,212188382French
Image:Flag of Canton of Valais.svgVSValais1815Sion278,2005,22453160French, German
Image:Flag of Canton of Neuchâtel.svgNENeuchâtel1815Neuchâtel166,50080320662French
Image:Flag of Canton of Geneva.svgGEGeneva1815Geneva414,3002821,44245French
Image:Flag of Canton of Jura.svgJUJura1979Delémont69,1008388283French
Image:Flag of Switzerland.svg CH Switzerland   Bern 7,261,20041,285 174 2,890 German, French, Italian, Romansh

Notes: 1 As of 31 December 2001, National Statistics, 2 km², 3 per km², based on 2000 population 4 seat of government and parliament, the seat of the judicial authorities is Trogen.

The two-letter abbreviations for Swiss cantons are widely used, e.g. on car license plates and in the ISO 3166-2 codes (with the prefix "CH-", i.e. CH-SZ for the canton of Schwyz).

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Names in other languages

Abbr English French Italian German Romansh Spanish Esperanto1
AG Aargau (rare: Argovia) Argovie Argovia Template:Audio Argovia Argovia Argovio
AI Appenzell Innerrhoden (Appenzell Inner-Rhodes)Appenzell Rhodes-Intérieures Appenzello Interno Template:Audio Appenzell dadens Appenzell Rodas Interiores  
AR Appenzell Ausserrhoden (Appenzell Outer-Rhodes)Appenzell Rhodes-Extérieures Appenzello Esterno Template:Audio Appenzell dador Appenzell Rodas Exteriores  
BS Basel-Stadt (Basel or Basle-City)Bâle-Ville Basilea Città Template:Audio Basilea-Citad Basilea Ciudad Bazelo-Urbo
BL Basel-Landschaft (Basel or Basle-Country)Bâle-Campagne Basilea Campagna Template:Audio Basilea-Champagna Basilea-Campaña Bazelo-Kamparo
BE Bern (Berne)Berne Berna Template:Audio Berna Berna Berno
FR Fribourg Fribourg Friburgo Template:Audio Friburg Friburgo Friburgo
GE Geneva Genève Ginevra Template:Audio Genevra Ginebra Ĝenevo
GL Glarus Glaris Glarona Template:Audio Glaruna Glaris  
GR Graubünden (Grisons)Grisons Grigioni Template:Audio Grischun Grisones Grizono
JU Jura Jura Giura Template:Audio Giura Jura Ĵuraso
LU Lucerne Lucerne Lucerna Template:Audio Lucerna Lucerna Lucerno
NE Neuchâtel Neuchâtel Neuchâtel Template:Audio Neuchâtel Neuchatel Novkastelo
NW Nidwalden Nidwald Nidvaldo Template:Audio Sutsilvana Unterwalden Bajo Nidvaldo
OW Obwalden Obwald Obvaldo Template:Audio Sursilvania Unterwalden Alto Obvaldo
SH Schaffhausen (Schaffhouse)Schaffhouse Sciaffusa Template:Audio Schaffusa Schaffhausen Ŝafhaŭzo
SZ Schwyz Schwyz (or Schwytz) Svitto Template:Audio Sviz Schwyz  
SO Solothurn Soleure Soletta Template:Audio Soloturn Soleura Soleŭro
SG St. Gallen (St. Gall) Saint-Gall San Gallo Template:Audio Son Gagl Sankt Gallen  
TG Thurgau (Thurgovia)Thurgovie Turgovia Template:Audio Turgovia Turgovia Turgovio
TI Ticino Tessin Ticino Template:Audio Tessin Tesino Tiĉino
UR Uri Uri Uri Template:Audio Uri Uri  
VS Valais Valais Vallese Template:Audio Vallais Valais Valezo
VD Vaud Vaud Vaud Template:Audio Vad Vaud Vaŭdo
ZG Zug Zoug Zugo Template:Audio Zug Zug Zugo
ZH Zürich (Zurich)Zurich Zurigo Template:Audio Turitg Zurich Zuriko

Notes: ¹where a version differing from German is available.

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See also

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External links

ca:Cantons de Suïssa cs:Kanton de:Kanton (Schweiz) als:Kanton (Schweiz) es:Cantones de Suiza eu:Suitzako kantoi fr:Cantons suisses he:הקנטונים של שווייץ ko:스위스의 주 it:Cantoni svizzeri lb:Lëscht vun de Schwäizer Kantonen nl:Kanton (Zwitserland) nn:Kantonane i Sveits ja:スイスの地方行政区画 pl:Kanton (Szwajcaria) pt:Cantões da Suíça ro:Cantoanele Elveţiei ru:Кантон simple:Canton sv:Schweiz kantoner

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