Cantons of Switzerland
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.
Encyclopedia
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 . 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 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 relevant for election of the
Council of States 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.
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
|
|---|
| ZH | Zürich | 1351 | Zürich | 1,228,600 | 1,729 | 701 | 171 | German
|
|---|
| BE | Berne | 1353 | Berne | 947,100 | 5,959 | 158 | 399 | German, French
|
|---|
| LU | Lucerne | 1332 | Lucerne | 350,600 | 1,493 | 233 | 107 | German
|
|---|
| UR | Uri | 1291 | Altdorf | 35,000 | 1,077 | 33 | 20 | German
|
|---|
| SZ | Schwyz | 1291 | Schwyz | 131,400 | 908 | 143 | 30 | German
|
|---|
| OW | Obwalden | 1291 | Sarnen | 32,700 | 491 | 66 | 7 | German
|
|---|
| NW | Nidwalden | 1291 | Stans | 38,600 | 276 | 138 | 11 | German
|
|---|
| GL | Glarus | 1352 | Glarus | 38,300 | 685 | 51 | 28 | German
|
|---|
| ZG | Zug | 1352 | Zug | 100,900 | 239 | 416 | 11 | German
|
|---|
| FR | Fribourg | 1481 | Fribourg | 239,100 | 1,671 | 141 | 242 | French, German
|
|---|
| SO | Solothurn | 1481 | Solothurn | 245,500 | 791 | 308 | 126 | German
|
|---|
| BS | Basel-Stadt | 1501 | Basel | 186,700 | 37 | 5,072 | 3 | German
|
|---|
| BL | Basel-Landschaft | 1501 | Liestal | 261,400 | 518 | 502 | 86 | German
|
|---|
| SH | Schaffhausen | 1501 | Schaffhausen | 73,400 | 298 | 246 | 34 | German
|
|---|
| AR | Appenzell Ausserrhoden | 1513 | Herisau4 | 53,200 | 243 | 220 | 20 | German
|
|---|
| AI | Appenzell Innerrhoden | 1513 | Appenzell | 15,000 | 173 | 87 | 6 | German
|
|---|
| SG | St. Gallen | 1803 | St. Gallen | 452,600 | 2,026 | 222 | 90 | German
|
|---|
| GR | Graubünden | 1803 | Chur | 185,700 | 7,105 | 26 | 211 | German, Romansh, Italian
|
|---|
| AG | Aargau | 1803 | Aarau | 550,900 | 1,404 | 388 | 232 | German
|
|---|
| TG | Thurgau | 1803 | Frauenfeld | 228,200 | 991 | 229 | 80 | German
|
|---|
| TI | Ticino | 1803 | Bellinzona | 311,900 | 2,812 | 110 | 244 | Italian
|
|---|
| VD | Vaud | 1803 | Lausanne | 626,200 | 3,212 | 188 | 382 | French
|
|---|
| VS | Valais | 1815 | Sion | 278,200 | 5,224 | 53 | 160 | French, German
|
|---|
| NE | Neuchâtel | 1815 | Neuchâtel | 166,500 | 803 | 206 | 62 | French
|
|---|
| GE | Geneva | 1815 | Geneva | 414,300 | 282 | 1,442 | 45 | French
|
|---|
| JU | Jura | 1979 | Delémont | 69,100 | 838 | 82 | 83 | French
|
|---|
| CH
| Switzerland
|
| Bern
| 7,261,200 | 41,285
| 174
| 2,890
| German, French, Italian, Romansh
|
|---|
Notes:
1 As of 31 December 2001, ,
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 .
Names in other languages
Abbr
| English
| French
| Italian
| German
| Romansh
| Spanish
| Esperanto1
|
|---|
| AG | Aargau | Argovie | Argovia | Aargau | Argovia | Argovia | Argovio
|
|---|
| AI | Appenzell Innerrhoden | Appenzell Rhodes-Intérieures | Appenzello Interno | Appenzell Innerrhoden | Appenzell dadens | Appenzell Rodas Interiores |
|
|---|
| AR | Appenzell Ausserrhoden | Appenzell Rhodes-Extérieures | Appenzello Esterno | Appenzell Ausserrhoden | Appenzell dador | Appenzell Rodas Exteriores |
|
|---|
| BS | Basel-Stadt | Bâle-Ville | Basilea Città | Basel-Stadt | Basilea-Citad | Basilea Ciudad | Bazelo-Urbo
|
|---|
| BL | Basel-Land | 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 | Graubünden | Grisons | Grigioni | Graubünden | Grischun | Grisones | Grizono
|
|---|
| JU | Jura | Jura | Giura | Jura | Giura | Jura | Juraso
|
|---|
| 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 | Schaffhausen | Schaffhouse | Sciaffusa | Schaffhausen | Schaffusa | Schaffhausen | Ŝafhaŭzo
|
|---|
| SZ | Schwyz | Schwyz | Svitto | Schwyz | Sviz | Schwyz |
|
|---|
| SO | Solothurn | Soleure | Soletta | Solothurn | Soloturn | Soleura | Soleuro
|
|---|
| SG | St. Gallen | Saint-Gall | San Gallo | St. Gallen | Son Gagl | Sankt Gallen |
|
|---|
| TG | Thurgau | Thurgovie | Turgovia | Thurgau | Turgovia | Turgovia | Turgovio
|
|---|
| TI | Ticino | Tessin | Ticino | Tessin | Tessin | Tesino | Ticino
|
|---|
| UR | Uri | Uri | Uri | Uri | Uri | Uri |
|
|---|
| VS | Valais | Valais | Vallese | Wallis | Vallais | Valais | Valezo
|
|---|
| VD | Vaud | Vaud | Vaud | Waadt | Vad | Vaud | Vaudo
|
|---|
| ZG | Zug | Zoug | Zugo | Zug | Zug | Zug | Zugo
|
|---|
| ZH | Zürich | Zurich | Zurigo | Zürich | Turitg | Zurich | Zuriko
|
|---|
Notes: ¹where a version differing from German is available.
See also
External links
- - Assemble cantons on a Swiss map
- - Database on Swiss cantons and cities
