Cantons of Switzerland

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Categories: Lists of subnational entities | Cantons of Switzerland | Cantons | Switzerland

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 officialy 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 zh.pngZHZürich (Zurich)1351Zürich1,228,6001,729701171German
Image:Switzerland canton flag be.pngBEBern (Berne)1353Bern947,1005,959158399German, French
Image:Switzerland canton flag lu.pngLULucerne1332Lucerne350,6001,493233107German
Image:Switzerland canton flag ur.pngURUri1291Altdorf35,0001,0773320German
Image:Switzerland canton flag sz.pngSZSchwyz1291Schwyz131,40090814330German
Image:Switzerland canton flag ow.pngOWObwalden (Obwald)1291Sarnen32,700491667German
Image:Switzerland canton flag nw.pngNWNidwalden (Nidwald)1291Stans38,60027613811German
Image:Switzerland canton flag gl.pngGLGlarus1352Glarus38,3006855128German
Image:Switzerland canton flag zg.pngZGZug1352Zug100,90023941611German
Image:Switzerland canton flag fr.pngFRFribourg1481Fribourg239,1001,671141242French, German
Image:Switzerland canton flag so.pngSOSolothurn1481Solothurn245,500791308126German
Image:Switzerland canton flag bs.pngBSBasel-Stadt (Basle-City)1501Basel186,700375,0723German
Image:Switzerland canton flag bl.pngBLBasel-Landschaft (Basle-Country)1501Liestal261,40051850286German
Image:Switzerland canton flag sh.pngSHSchaffhausen1501Schaffhausen73,40029824634German
Image:Switzerland canton flag ar.pngARAppenzell Ausserrhoden (Outer Rhodes)1513Herisau453,20024322020German
Image:Switzerland canton flag ai.pngAIAppenzell Innerrhoden (Inner Rhodes)1513Appenzell15,000173876German
Image:Switzerland canton flag sg.pngSGSt. Gallen (St. Gall)1803St. Gallen452,6002,02622290German
Image:Switzerland canton flag gr.pngGRGraubünden (Grisons)1803Chur185,7007,10526211German, Romansh, Italian
Image:Aargau flag.pngAGAargau (Argovia)1803Aarau550,9001,404388232German
Image:Switzerland canton flag tg.pngTGThurgau (Thurgovia)1803Frauenfeld228,20099122980German
Image:Switzerland canton flag ti.pngTITicino1803Bellinzona311,9002,812110244Italian
Image:Switzerland canton flag vd.pngVDVaud1803Lausanne626,2003,212188382French
Image:Switzerland canton flag vs.pngVSValais1815Sion278,2005,22453160French, German
Image:Switzerland canton flag ne.pngNENeuchâtel1815Neuchâtel166,50080320662French
Image:Switzerland canton flag ge.pngGEGeneva1815Geneva414,3002821,44245French
Image:Switzerland canton flag ju.pngJUJura1979Delémont69,1008388283French
Image:Switzerland flag large.png 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 Argovy Argovie Argovia Aargau Argovia Argovia Argovio
AI Appenzell Inner-Rhodes Appenzell Rhodes-Intérieures Appenzello Interno Appenzell Innerhoden Appenzell dadens Appenzell Rodas Interiores  
AR Appenzell Outer-Rhodes Appenzell Rhodes-Extérieures Appenzello Esterno Appenzell Ausserrhoden Appenzell dador Appenzell Rodas Exteriores  
BS Basle-City Bâle-Ville Basilea Città Basel-Stadt Basilea-Citad Basilea Ciudad Bazelo-Urbo
BL Basle-Country Bâle-Campagne Basilea Campagna Basel-Landschaft Basilea-Champagna Basilea-Campaña Bazelo-Kamparo
BE Berne Berne Berna Bern Berna Berna Berno
FR Fribourg Fribourg Friburgo Freiburg Friburg Friburgo Friburgo
GE Geneva Genève Ginevra Genf Genevra Ginebra Ĝenevo
GL Glarus Glaris Glarona Glarus Glaruna Glaris  
GR Grisons Grisons Grigioni Graubünden Grischun Grisones Grizono
JU Jura Jura Giura Jura Giura Jura Ĵuraso
LU Lucerne Lucerne Lucerna Luzern Lucerna Lucerna Lucerno
NE Neuchâtel Neuchâtel Neuchâtel Neuenburg Neuchâtel Neuchatel Novkastelo
NW Nidwalden Nidwald Nidvaldo Nidwalden Sutsilvana Unterwalden Bajo Nidvaldo
OW Obwalden Obwald Obvaldo Obwalden Sursilvania Unterwalden Alto Obvaldo
SH Schaffhouse Schaffhouse Sciaffusa Schaffhausen Schaffusa Schaffhausen Ŝafhaŭzo
SZ Schwyz Schwyz (or Schwytz) Svitto Schwyz Sviz Schwyz  
SO Solothurn Soleure Soletta Solothurn Soloturn Soleura Soleŭro
SG St. Gallen Saint-Gall San Gallo St. Gallen Son Gagl Sankt Gallen  
TG Thurgovy Thurgovie Turgovia Thurgau Turgovia Turgovia Turgovio
TI Tessin Tessin Ticino Tessin Tessin Tesino Tiĉino
UR Uri Uri Uri Uri Uri Uri  
VS Valais Valais Vallese Wallis Vallais Valais Valezo
VD Vaud Vaud Vaud Waadt Vad Vaud Vaŭdo
ZG Zug Zoug Zugo Zug Zug Zug Zugo
ZH Zurich Zurich Zurigo Zürich 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:ISO 3166-2:CH de:Kanton (Schweiz) als:Kanton (Schweiz) es:Cantones de Suiza fr:Cantons suisses 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