Cantons of Switzerland

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This article is about the states of Switzerland. For other uses, see Canton.

Swiss cantons
Schweizer Kantone  (German) Cantons suisses  (French)
Cantoni Svizzeri  (Italian) Chantuns svizras  (Romansh)
  • Also known as:
  • Stände, États, Stati
CategoryFederated state
LocationSwitzerland
Found inCountry
Created
  • 13th century
Number26 cantons (as of 1979)
Populations16,003 – 1,487,969
Areas37 km2 (14 sq mi) – 7,105 km2 (2,743 sq mi)
Government
  • List of cantonal executives of Switzerland
Subdivisions
Politics of Switzerland
Coat of Arms of Switzerland (Pantone).svg
Constitution
Federal Council
Federal Assembly
Elections
Federal courts
Foreign relations
Administrative divisions
Flag of Switzerland.svg Switzerland portal
  • Other countries
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The 26 cantons of Switzerland (German: Kanton; French: canton; Italian: cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: cantun; Vallader and Puter: Chantun; Sutsilvan: cantùn; Rumantsch Grischun: chantun) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the Waldstätte. Two important periods in the development of the Old Swiss Confederacy are summarized by the terms Acht Orte ("Eight Cantons"; from 1353–1481) and Dreizehn Orte ("Thirteen Cantons", from 1513–1798).[1]

Each canton of the Old Swiss Confederacy, formerly also Ort (from before 1450), or Stand ("estate", from c. 1550), was a fully sovereign state with its own border controls, army, and currency from at least the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848, with a brief period of centralised government during the Helvetic Republic (1798–1803). The term Kanton has been widely used since the 19th century.[2]

The number of cantons was increased to 19 with the Act of Mediation (1803), with the recognition of former subject territories as full cantons. The Federal Treaty of 1815 increased the number to 22 due to the accession of former Old Swiss Confederacy Associates. The canton of Jura acceded as the 23rd canton with its secession from Bern in 1979.[3] The official number of cantons was increased to 26 in the federal constitution of 1999, which designated former half-cantons as cantons.

The areas of the cantons vary from 37 km2 (canton of Basel-Stadt) to 7,105 km2 (canton of the Grisons); the populations (as of 2018) range from 16,000 (canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden) to 1.5 million (canton of Zürich).

Terminology[]

The term canton, now also used as the English term for administrative subdivisions of other countries, originates in French usage in the late 15th century (recorded in Fribourg in 1467),[4] from a word for "edge, corner", at the time the literal translation of Early Modern High German ort.[5] After 1490, canton was increasingly used in French and Italian documents to refer to the members of the Swiss Confederacy.[2] English use of canton in reference to the Swiss Confederacy (as opposed to the heraldic sense) dates to the early 17th century.[6]

In the Old Swiss Confederacy, the term Ort (plural: Orte) was in use from the early 15th century as a generic term for the member cantons.[2] The founding cantons specifically were also known as Waldstätte "forest settlements", "forest cantons" (singular: Waldstatt). The formulaic Stette und Waldstette for the members of the early confederacy is recorded in the mid-14th century, used interchangeably with Stett und Lender ("cities and lands", "city cantons and rural cantons") until the late 15th century.[7] Ort was increasingly replaced by Stand (plural: Stände) "estate" about 1550, a term taken to imply liberty and sovereignty. Abolished in the Helvetic Republic, the term was revived in 1815 and remains in use today.[2]

The French term canton adopted into German after 1648, and then only in occasional use until the early 19th century: prominent usage of Ort and Stand gradually disappeared in German-speaking Switzerland from the time of the Helvetic Republic. Only with the Act of Mediation of 1803 did German Kanton become an official designation, retained in the Swiss Constitution of 1848.[2]

The term Stand (French: état, Italian: stato) remains in synonymous usage and is reflected in the name of the upper chamber of the Swiss Parliament, the Council of States (German: Ständerat, French: Conseil des États, Italian: Consiglio degli Stati, Romansh: Cussegl dals Stadis).

In the modern era, since Neuchâtel ceased to be a principality in 1848, all Swiss cantons can be considered to have a republican form of government. Some cantons formally describe themselves as republics in their constitutions. This applies to the Romance-speaking cantons in particular: Geneva (formally République et canton de Genève "Republic and canton of Geneva"), Jura, Neuchâtel, Valais,[8] Vaud[9] and Ticino.[10]

History[]

Main articles: Eight Cantons, Thirteen Cantons, Restoration and Regeneration in Switzerland, and Switzerland as a federal state
Further information: Flags and coats of arms of cantons of Switzerland
The "Thirteen-Canton Confederation" of the Old Swiss Confederacy (1513–1798)

In the 16th century, the Old Swiss Confederacy was composed of 13 sovereign confederate allies (the Thirteen Cantons; German: Die Dreizehn Alten Orte), and there were two different kinds: five rural states (German: Länder) – Uri, Schwyz (which became eponymous of the confederacy), Unterwalden, Glarus, Appenzell – and eight urban states (German: Städte) – Zürich, Bern, Luzern, Zug, Basel, Fribourg, Solothurn, Schaffhausen.

Though they were technically part of the Holy Roman Empire, they had become de facto independent when the Swiss defeated Emperor Maximilian I in 1499 in Dornach.[11]

In the early modern period, the individual confederate allies came to be seen as republics; while the six traditional allies had a tradition of direct democracy in the form of the Landsgemeinde, the urban states operated via representation in city councils, de facto oligarchic systems dominated by families of the patriciate.[Note 1][clarification needed]

The old system was abandoned with the formation of the Helvetic Republic following the French invasion of Switzerland in 1798. The cantons of the Helvetic Republic had merely the status of an administrative subdivision with no sovereignty. The Helvetic Republic collapsed within five years, and cantonal sovereignty was restored with the Act of Mediation of 1803. The status of Switzerland as a federation of states was restored, at the time including 19 cantons (the six accessions to the early modern Thirteen Cantons being composed of former associates and subject territories: St. Gallen, Grisons, Aargau, Thurgau, Ticino, Vaud). Three additional western cantons, Valais, Neuchâtel and Geneva, acceded in 1815.

The process of "Restoration", completed by 1830, returned most of the former feudal rights to the cantonal patriciates, leading to rebellions among the rural population. The Liberal Radical Party embodied these democratic forces calling for a new federal constitution. This tension, paired with religious issues ("Jesuit question") escalated into armed conflict in the 1840s, with the brief Sonderbund War. The victory of the radical party resulted in the formation of Switzerland as a federal state in 1848. The cantons retained far-reaching sovereignty, but were no longer allowed to maintain individual standing armies or international relations. As the revolutions of 1848 in Western Europe had failed elsewhere, Switzerland during the later 19th century (and with the exception of the French Third Republic, until the end of World War I) found itself as an isolated democratic republic, surrounded by the restored monarchies of France, Italy, Austria-Hungary and Germany.

Constitutions and powers[]

See also: List of cantonal executives of Switzerland and List of cantonal legislatures of Switzerland
The 22 cantonal coats of arms (all but Jura, with the half-cantons represented jointly) in stained glass set in the dome of the Federal Palace of Switzerland (c. 1900)

The Swiss Federal Constitution[12] declares the cantons to be sovereign to the extent that their sovereignty is not limited by federal law.[13] Areas specifically reserved to the Confederation are the armed forces, currency, the postal service, telecommunications, immigration into and emigration from the country, granting asylum, conducting foreign relations with sovereign states, civil and criminal law, weights and measures, and customs duties.

Each canton has its own constitution, legislature, executive, police and courts.[13] Similar to the Confederation, a directorial system of government is followed by the cantons.

Most of the cantons' legislatures are unicameral parliaments, their size varying between 58 and 200 seats. A few legislatures also involve or did involve general popular assemblies known as Landsgemeinden; the use of this form of legislature has declined: at present it exists only in the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus. The cantonal executives consist of either five or seven members, depending on the canton.[14] For the names of the institutions, see the list of cantonal executives and list of cantonal legislatures.

The cantons retain all powers and competencies not delegated to the Confederation by the federal constitution or law: most significantly the cantons are responsible for healthcare, welfare, law enforcement, public education, and retain the power of taxation. Each canton defines its official language(s). Cantons may conclude treaties not only with other cantons but also with foreign states (respectively Articles 48 and 56 of the Federal Constitution).

The cantonal constitutions determine the internal organisation of the canton, including the degree of autonomy accorded to the municipalities, which varies but almost always includes the power to levy taxes and pass municipal laws; some municipalities have their own police forces.

As at the federal level, all cantons provide for some form of direct democracy. Citizens may demand a popular vote to amend the cantonal constitution or laws, or to veto laws or spending bills passed by the parliament. Other than in the instances of general popular assemblies in Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus, democratic rights are exercised by secret ballot. The right of foreigners to vote varies by canton, as does whether Swiss citizens living abroad (and registered to vote in a canton) can take part in cantonal voting.

Swiss citizens are citizens of a particular municipality (the place of origin) and the canton in which that municipality is part. Cantons therefore have a role in and set requirements for the granting of citizenship (naturalisation), though the process is typically undertaken at a municipal level and is subject to federal law.

Switzerland has only one federal public holiday (1 August); public holidays otherwise vary from canton to canton.

List[]

The cantons are listed in their order of precedence given in the federal constitution.[Note 2] This reflects the historical order of precedence of the Eight Cantons in the 15th century, followed by the remaining cantons in the order of their historical accession to the confederacy.[15]

Arms
[16] 		Code Name in official language(s) Name in English As a Swiss canton since Capital GDP (2017)[17]
in million CHF 		GDP per
capita (2017)[18]
in CHF 		Population
[Note 3] 		Area (km2) Density
(per km2) [Note 4] 		No. munic. (2018)[19] Official languages
1 Coat of arms of Zürich

      

ZH Zürich Zurich 1351 Zurich 143,044 95,680 1,539,275 1,729 890 166 German
2 Coat of arms of Bern

      

BE Bern; Berne Berne / Bern 1353 Berne / Bern 78,278 76,085 1,039,474 5,960 174 347 German, French
3 Coat of arms of Luzern

      

LU Luzern Lucerne 1332 Lucerne 26,992 66,655 413,120 1,494 277 83 German
4 Coat of arms of Uri

      

UR Uri Uri 1291
[Note 5] 		Altdorf 1,900 52,468 36,703 1,077 34 20 German
5 Coat of arms of Schwyz

      

SZ Schwyz Schwyz 1291
[Note 5] 		Schwyz 9,444 60,313 160,480 908 177 30 German
6 Coat of arms of Obwalden

      

OW Obwalden Obwald / Obwalden 1291
[Note 5] or 1315 (as part of Unterwalden) 		Sarnen 2,510 66,970 37,930 491 77 7 German
7 Coat of arms of Nidwalden

      

NW Nidwalden Nidwald / Nidwalden 1291
[Note 5] (as Unterwalden) 		Stans 3,050 71,329 43,087 276 156 11 German
8 Coat of arms of Glarus

      

GL Glarus Glarus 1352 Glaris / Glarus 2,764 68,671 40,590 685 59 3 German
9 Coat of arms of Zug

      

ZG Zug Zoug / Zug 1352 Zoug / Zug 18,921 151,747 127,642 239 535 11 German
10 Coat of arms of Fribourg

      

FR Fribourg; Freiburg Friburg / Fribourg 1481 Friburg / Fribourg 18,635 59,444 321,783 1,671 193 136 French, German
11 Coat of arms of Solothurn

      

SO Solothurn Soleure / Solothurn 1481 Soleure / Solothurn 17,702 65,459 275,247 790 348 109 German
12 Coat of arms of Basel-City

      

BS Basel-Stadt Basle-City / Basel-City / Basel-Stadt 1501 (as Basel until 1833/1999) Basle / Basel 35,955 185,826 201,469 37 5,452 3 German
13 Coat of arms of Basel-Country

      

BL Basel-Landschaft Basle-Country / Basel-Country / Basel-Landschaft 1501 (as Basel until 1833/1999) Liestal 20,347 71,065 290,765 518 562 86 German
14 Coat of arms of Schaffhausen

      

SH Schaffhausen Schaffhouse / Schaffhausen 1501 Schaffhouse / Schaffhausen 6,963 85,895 82,348 298 276 26 German
15 Coat of arms of Appenzell Ausserrhoden

      

AR Appenzell Ausserrhoden Appenzell Outer-Rhodes / Appenzell Ausserrhoden 1513 (as Appenzell until 1597/1999) Herisau[Note 6] 3,086 56,038 55,445 243 228 20 German
16 Coat of arms of Appenzell Innerrhoden

      

AI Appenzell Innerrhoden Appenzell Inner-Rhodes / Appenzell Innerrhoden 1513 (as Appenzell until 1597/1999) Appenzell 989 61,633 16,128 172 94 6 German
17 Coat of arms of St. Gallen

      

SG St. Gallen St. Gall / St. Gallen 1803
[Note 7] 		St. Gall / St. Gallen 36,794 73,059 510,734 2,031 252 77 German
18 Coat of arms of Graubünden

      

GR Graubünden; Grischun; Grigioni Grisons / Graubünden 1803
[Note 8] 		Chur 14,020 70,909 199,021 7,105 28 108 German, Romansh, Italian
19 Coat of arms of Aargau

      

AG Aargau Argovia / Aargau 1803
[Note 9] 		Aarau 41,592 62,337 685,845 1,404 489 212 German
20 Coat of arms of Thurgau

      

TG Thurgau Thurgovia / Thurgau 1803
[Note 10] 		Frauenfeld[Note 11] 16,374 60,143 279,547 992 282 80 German
21 Coat of arms of Ticino

      

TI Ticino Tessin / Ticino 1803
[Note 12] 		Bellinzona 28,512 80,532 351,491 2,812 125 115 Italian
22 Coat of arms of Vaud

      

VD Vaud Vaud 1803
[Note 13] 		Lausanne 53,731 68,102 805,098 3,212 251 309 French
23 Coat of arms of Valais

      

VS Valais; Wallis Wallis / Valais 1815
[Note 14] 		Sion 18,405 54,083 345,525 5,224 66 126 French, German
24 Coat of arms of Neuchâtel

      

NE Neuchâtel Neuchâtel 1815/1857
[Note 15] 		Neuchâtel 15,435 86,584 176,496 802 220 31 French
25 Coat of arms of Geneva

      

GE Genève Geneva 1815
[Note 16] 		Geneva 49,467 100,464 504,128 282 1,785 45 French
26 Coat of arms of Jura

      

JU Jura Jura 1979
[Note 17] 		Delémont 4,629 63,236 73,584 839 88 55 French
- Coat of arms of Switzerland CH Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft; Confédération suisse; Confederazione Svizzera; Confederaziun svizra Swiss Confederation 1815/1848
[Note 18] 		(Berne / Bern) 669,542 79,218 8,606,033 41,291 208 2,222 German, French, Italian, Romansh

The two-letter abbreviations for Swiss cantons are widely used, e.g. on car license plates. They are also used in the ISO 3166-2 codes of Switzerland with the prefix "CH-" (Confœderatio Helvetica—Helvetian Confederation—Helvetia having been the ancient Roman name of the region). CH-SZ, for example, is used for the canton of Schwyz.

Half-cantons[]

Six of the 26 cantons are traditionally, but no longer officially, called "half-cantons" (German: Halbkanton, French: demi-canton, Italian: semicantone, Romansh: mez-chantun). In two instances (Basel and Appenzell) this was a consequence of a historic division, whilst in the case of Unterwalden a historic mutual association, resulting in three pairs of half-cantons. The other 20 cantons were, and in some instances still are[47]—though only in a context where it is needed to distinguish them from any half-cantons—typically termed "full" cantons in English.[48]

The first article of the 1848 and 1874 constitutions constituted the Confederation as the union of "twenty-two sovereign cantons", referring to the half-cantons as "Unterwalden (ob und nid dem Wald [‘above and beneath the woods’])", "Basel (Stadt und Landschaft [‘city and country’])" and "Appenzell (beider Rhoden [‘both Rhoden’])".[49] The 1874 constitution was amended to list 23 cantons with the accession of the Canton of Jura in 1978.

The historic half-cantons, and their pairings, are still recognizable in the first article of the Swiss Federal Constitution of 1999 by being joined to their other "half" with the conjunction "and":

The People and the cantons of Zürich, Bern, Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden and Nidwalden, Glarus, Zug, Fribourg, Solothurn, Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft, Schaffhausen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden, St. Gallen, Graubünden, Aargau, Thurgau, Ticino, Vaud, Valais, Neuchâtel, Geneva, and Jura form the Swiss Confederation.

— Article 1 of the Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation[50]

The 1999 constitutional revision retained the traditional distinction, on the request of the six cantonal governments, as a way to mark the historic association of the half-cantons to each other.[51] While the older constitutions referred to these states as "half-cantons", a term that remains in popular use, the 1999 revision and official terminology since then use the appellation "cantons with half of a cantonal vote".[52]

The 1⁄2, 1 and 2 francs coins as minted since 1874 represent the number of cantons by 22 stars surrounding the figure of Helvetia on the obverse. The design of the coins was altered to show 23 stars, including Jura, beginning with the 1983 batch. The design has remained unchanged since, and does not reflect the official number of "26 cantons" introduced in 1999.[53]

Caricature of the division of Basel, 1833

The reasons for the existence of the three pairs of half-cantons are varied:

  • Unterwalden never consisted of a single unified jurisdiction. Originally, Obwalden, Nidwalden, and the Abbey of Engelberg formed distinct communities. The collective term Unterwalden remains in use, however, for the area that partook in the creation of the original Swiss confederation in 1291 with Uri and Schwyz. The Federal Charter of 1291 called for representatives from each of the three "areas".[54][55]
  • The historical canton of Appenzell divided itself into "inner" and "outer" halves (Rhoden) as a consequence of the Reformation in Switzerland in 1597:[56] Appenzell Innerrhoden (Catholic) and Appenzell Ausserrhoden (Protestant).
  • The historical canton of Basel was divided in 1833 after the Basel countryside (which became the canton of Basel-Landschaft) declared its independence from the city of Basel (which became the canton of Basel-Stadt), following a period of protest and armed conflict about the under-representation of the more populous countryside in the canton's political system.

With their original circumstances of partition now a historical matter, the half-cantons are since 1848 equal to the other cantons in all but two respects:[57]

  • They elect only one member of the Council of States instead of two (Cst. art. 150 par. 2). This means there are a total of 46 seats in the council.
  • In popular referendums about constitutional amendments, which require for adoption a national popular majority as well as the assent of a majority of the cantons (Ständemehr / majorité des cantons), the result of the half-cantons' popular vote counts only one half of that of the other cantons (Cst. arts. 140, 142).[58] This means that for purposes of a constitutional referendum, at least 12 out of a total of 23 cantonal popular votes must support the amendment.[59]

Between 1831 and 1833 the canton of Schwyz divided into half-cantons: (Inner) Schwyz and the break-away Outer Schwyz; in this instance the half-cantons were forced by the Confederation to settle their disputes and re-unite.

In the 20th century, some Jura separatists suggested a new canton of Jura to be divided into half-cantons of North Jura and South Jura.[60] Instead, North Jura became the (full) canton of Jura while South Jura remains in the canton of Bern as the region of Bernese Jura.

Names in national languages[]

The name of each canton in its own official language is shown in bold.

Abbr English[Note 19] German French Italian Romansh
AG Aargau; Argovia About this soundAargau (help·info) Argovie Argovia Argovia
AI Appenzell Innerrhoden; Appenzell Inner-Rhodes About this soundAppenzell Innerrhoden (help·info) Appenzell Rhodes-Intérieures Appenzello Interno Appenzell dadens
AR Appenzell Ausserrhoden; Appenzell Outer-Rhodes About this soundAppenzell Ausserrhoden (help·info) Appenzell Rhodes-Extérieures Appenzello Esterno Appenzell dador
BS Basel-Stadt; Basle-City About this soundBasel-Stadt (help·info) Bâle-Ville Basilea Città Basilea-Citad
BL Basel-Landschaft; Basle-Country About this soundBasel-Landschaft (help·info) Bâle-Campagne Basilea Campagna Basilea-Champagna
BE Bern; Berne About this soundBern (help·info) Berne Berna Berna
FR Fribourg; Friburg[citation needed] About this soundFreiburg (help·info) Fribourg Friburgo Friburg
GE Genève; Geneva About this soundGenf (help·info) Genève Ginevra Genevra
GL Glarus; Glaris[citation needed] About this soundGlarus (help·info) Glaris Glarona Glaruna
GR Graubünden; Grisons About this soundGraubünden (help·info) Grisons Grigioni Grischun
JU Jura About this soundJura (help·info) Jura Giura Giura
LU Lucerne About this soundLuzern (help·info) Lucerne Lucerna Lucerna
NE Neuchâtel About this soundNeuenburg (help·info) Neuchâtel Neuchâtel Neuchâtel
NW Nidwalden; Nidwald[citation needed] About this soundNidwalden (help·info) Nidwald Nidvaldo Sutsilvania
OW Obwalden; Obwald[citation needed] About this soundObwalden (help·info) Obwald Obvaldo Sursilvania
SH Schaffhausen; Schaffhouse About this soundSchaffhausen (help·info) Schaffhouse Sciaffusa Schaffusa
SZ Schwyz About this soundSchwyz (help·info) Schwyz (or Schwytz) Svitto Sviz
SO Solothurn; Soleure About this soundSolothurn (help·info) Soleure Soletta Soloturn
SG St. Gallen; St Gall About this soundSt. Gallen (help·info) Saint-Gall San Gallo Son Gagl
TG Thurgau; Thurgovia About this soundThurgau (help·info) Thurgovie Turgovia Turgovia
TI Ticino; Tessin About this soundTessin (help·info) Tessin Ticino Tessin
UR Uri About this soundUri (help·info) Uri Uri Uri
VS Valais; Wallis About this soundWallis (help·info) Valais Vallese Vallais
VD Vaud About this soundWaadt (help·info) Vaud Vaud Vad
ZG Zug; Zoug About this soundZug (help·info) Zoug Zugo Zug
ZH Zürich; Zurich About this soundZürich (help·info) Zurich Zurigo Turitg

Admission of new cantons[]

Main article: Territorial evolution of Switzerland

The enlargement of Switzerland by way of the admission of new cantons ended in 1815. The latest formal attempt considered by Switzerland was in 1919 from Vorarlberg but subsequently rejected. A few representatives submitted in 2010 a parliamentary motion to consider enlargement although it was widely seen as anti-EU rhetoric rather than a serious proposal.[61] The motion was eventually dropped and not even examined by the parliament.[62]

See also[]

Notes and references[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Zug was the exception in this, in being an urban state and still holding a Landsgemeinde. Jackson Spielvogel, Western Civilization: Volume I: To 1715, (Cengage 2008), p. 386
  2. ^ This is the order generally used in Swiss official documents. At the head of the list are the three city cantons that were considered preeminent in the Old Swiss Confederacy; the other cantons are listed in order of accession to the Confederation. This traditional order of precedence among the cantons has no practical relevance in the modern federal state, in which the cantons are equal to one another, although it still determines formal precedence among the cantons' officials (see Swiss order of precedence).
  3. ^ See references for dates
  4. ^ Per km2, see References for dates
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d founding forest-canton, foundation date traditionally given as either 1307, 1304 or 1291 (see Foundation of the Old Swiss Confederacy).
  6. ^ Seat of government and parliament is Herisau, the seat of the judicial authorities is Trogen
  7. ^ Act of Mediation; formed out of the Canton of Säntis and the northern half of the Canton of Linth.
  8. ^ Act of Mediation; formerly the Canton of Raetia, comprising the earlier Three Leagues.
  9. ^ Act of Mediation; created from the cantons of Aargau (canton of the Helvetic Republic, from territory previously controlled by Bern) and Baden (previously a Swiss condominium), together with Fricktal (before 1802 not Swiss territory).
  10. ^ Act of Mediation; coterminous with the canton of Thurgau of the Helvetic Republic (1798), formed from the county of Thurgau, a Swiss condominium.
  11. ^ Seat of parliament half-yearly alternates between Frauenfeld and Weinfelden
  12. ^ Act of Mediation; combining the former cantons of Bellinzona and Lugano; see Ennetbirgische Vogteien.
  13. ^ Act of Mediation, formerly Canton of Léman.
  14. ^ Restoration, until 1798 the Prince-bishopric of Sion and the République des Sept-Dizains, briefly annexed by France as Simplon département during 1810–1813.
  15. ^ claimed by Frederick William III of Prussia until the Neuchâtel Crisis of 1856–1857.
  16. ^ previously a free imperial city, annexed by France during 1798–1815.
  17. ^ seceded from Berne
  18. ^ The Restored Confederacy of 1815 had the modern borders and introduced the modern Swiss coat of arms, but the cantons remained largely sovereign, without a federal government or parliament. The federal constitution of 1848 introduced the Federal Assembly, Federal Council and the notion of federal citizenship.
  19. ^ The most commonly used forms in English are mostly adopted from either French or German; in some cases, there may have been a historical shift in preference, e.g. from the French form Berne to the German form Bern; in individual cases, the Latin form may be current, certainly in the case of Geneva and arguably for Argovia, Thurgovia. Actual anglicized forms have been used, for example Basle.

References[]

  1. ^ rendered "the 'confederacy of eight'" and "the 'Thirteen-Canton Confederation'", respectively, in: "Chronology" (official site). Berne, Switzerland: The Swiss Federal Administration. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Andreas Kley: Kantone in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 13 April 2016. "Die Bündnispartner der frühen Eidgenossenschaft wurden im 14. Jh. meist als Städte und Länder, ab der 1. Hälfte des 15. Jh. immer mehr als Orte bezeichnet."
  3. ^ François Schifferdecker, François Kohler: Jura (canton) in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 20 July 2015.
  4. ^ Comptes Trés. 129, Archives nat. ds Pat. Suisse rom., cited after TFLi.
  5. ^ "So werden die Cantons der Schweizer daselbst nur Orte, oder Ortschaften genannt. Das gleichbedeutende Canton stammet auf ähnliche Art von Kante, Ecke, ab, wie Ort von Ort, Ecke." Johann Christoph Adelung, Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart (1774–1786), s.v. "Der Ort". Old French canton "corner, angle" is a loan from Occitan, first recorded in the 13th century, in Occitan adopted from North Italian cantone, where the sense "portion of territory" alongside "edge, corner" developed from by the early 11th century (TFLi).
  6. ^ etymonline.com: "1530s, 'corner, angle,' [...] From 1570s as a term in heraldry and flag descriptions. From c. 1600 as 'a subdivision of a country;' applied to the sovereign states of the Swiss republic from 1610s."
  7. ^ Josef Wiget: Waldstätte in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 27 December 2014.
  8. ^ Constitution du Canton du Valais: "Le Valais est une république démocratique, souveraine […] incorporée comme Canton à la Confédération suisse."
  9. ^ Constitution du canton de Vaud: "Le Canton de Vaud est une république démocratique [… qui] est l'un des États de la Confédération suisse."
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Bibliography[]

  • Bernhard Ehrenzeller, Philipp Mastronardi, Rainer J. Schweizer, Klaus A. Vallender (eds.) (2002). Die schweizerische Bundesverfassung, Kommentar (in German). ISBN 3-905455-70-6.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link). Cited as Ehrenzeller.
  • Häfelin, Ulrich; Haller, Walter; Keller, Helen (2008). Schweizerisches Bundesstaatsrecht (in German) (7th ed.). Zürich: Schulthess. ISBN 978-3-7255-5472-0. Cited as Häfelin.

External links[]

  • Swissworld.org – The cantons of Switzerland
  • Swisskarte.ch – Maps of the Cantons of Switzerland
  • GeoPuzzle – Assemble cantons on a Swiss map
  • Badac – Database on Swiss cantons and cities (in French and German)
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