Cantons of Switzerland

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Coordinates: 46°48′4″N, 8°13′36″E

Names of the Swiss cantons in German.

The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848. The most recently created canton is the Canton of Jura, which separated from the Canton of Berne in 1979.

In the 16th century, the Old Swiss Confederation was composed of thirteen sovereign cantons, and there were two different kinds: six land (or forest) cantons and seven city (or urban) cantons. Though they were technically part of the Holy Roman Empire, they had become de facto independent when the Swiss defeated Emperor Maximillian in 1499. The six forest cantons were democratic republics, whereas the seven urban cantons were oligarchic republics controlled by noble families.

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 known as 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.

The Swiss Federal Constitution declares the cantons to be sovereign to the extent their sovereignty is not limited by federal law. The cantons also retain all powers and competencies not delegated to the Confederation by the Constitution. Most significantly, the cantons are responsible for healthcare, welfare, law enforcement and public education; they also retain the power of taxation. The cantonal constitutions determine the degree of autonomy accorded to the municipalities, which varies but almost always includes the power to levy taxes and pass municipal laws. The sizes of the cantons vary from 37 km² to 7,105 km²; the populations vary from 14,900 to 1,244,400.

As on the federal level, all cantons provide for 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. General popular assemblies (Landsgemeinde) are now limited to the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus. In all other cantons democratic rights are exercised by secret ballot.

[edit] List and map

The cantons are listed in the order given in the federal constitution. ^[1]

Flag	Abbr	Canton	Since	Capital	Population¹	Area²	Density³	№ munic.¹	Official languages
	ZH	Zürich	1351	Zürich	1,228,600	1,729	701	171	German
	BE	Bern	1353	Bern	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 (Obwald)	1291	Sarnen	32,700	491	66	7	German
	NW	Nidwalden (Nidwald)	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 (Basel-City)	1501 (part of Basel until 1833)	Basel	186,700	37	5,072	3	German
	BL	Basel-Land (Basel-Country)	1501 (part of Basel until 1833)	Liestal	261,400	518	502	86	German
	SH	Schaffhausen	1501	Schaffhausen	73,400	298	246	34	German
	AR	Appenzell Ausserrhoden (Outer Rhodes)	1513 (part of Appenzell until 1597)	Herisau / Trogen4	53,200	243	220	20	German
	AI	Appenzell Innerrhoden (Inner Rhodes)	1513 (part of Appenzell until 1597)	Appenzell	15,000	173	87	6	German
	SG	St. Gallen (St. Gall)	1803	St. Gallen	452,600	2,026	222	90	German
	GR	Graubünden (Grisons)	1803	Chur	185,700	7,105	26	211	German, Romansh, Italian
	AG	Aargau (Argovia)	1803	Aarau	550,900	1,404	388	232	German
	TG	Thurgau (Thurgovia)	1803	Frauenfeld / Weinfelden5	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 (previously part of Bern)	Delémont	69,100	838	82	83	French
	CH	Switzerland		Bern	7,261,200	41,285	174	2,890	German, French, Italian, Romansch

Notes:

1. As of 31 December 2001, National Statistics
2. km²
3. Per km², based on 2000 population
4. Seat of government and parliament is Herisau, the seat of the judicial authorities is Trogen
5. Seat of parliament half-yearly alternates between Frauenfeld and Weinfelden

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).

[edit] The traditional half-cantons

Six cantons – Obwalden, Nidwalden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Basel-City and Basel-Country – have traditionally been called "half-cantons" or "demicantons". This term is now deprecated by constitutional scholars, as the 1999 constitution lists 26 equal cantons. The appellation "cantons with half a cantonal vote" has recently come in use in official and legal texts.

The region of Unterwalden has, in the historical record, always been divided into the half-cantons of Obwalden and Nidwalden. The other four half-cantons have resulted from the division of a preexisting canton: The canton of Appenzell split into the half-cantons of Innerrhoden and Ausserrhoden in 1597 as a result of the Reformation. The canton of Basel was divided into the half-cantons of Basel-City and Basel-Country after a revolt of the Basel countryside in 1833.

The six half-cantons have the same institutional structure as well as the same rights and obligations as all the other cantons, with two exceptions. For one thing, they elect only one member of the Council of States instead of two. Also, in popular referendums that require not only a national popular majority but also the assent of a majority of the cantons (Ständemehr / majorité des cantons), such as constitutional amendments, the result of their cantonal vote counts half as much as that of other cantons. This means that a majority of the cantons is actually the majority of twenty-three cantonal votes.

[edit] Names in other languages

[edit] Notes

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[edit] See also

• List of legislative and executive councils of the Cantons of Switzerland
• List of 2005 cantonal office-holders on January 1, 2005.
• Data codes for Switzerland#Cantons
• List of Cantons of Switzerland by area
• List of Cantons of Switzerland by highest point
• Flags of Swiss cantons
• Cantonal bank, a commercial bank where the canton is the guaranteer

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Cantons of Switzerland

• GeoPuzzle – Assemble cantons on a Swiss map
• Badac – Database on Swiss cantons and cities (French/German)