Cantons of Switzerland

Valais

Ticino

Graubünden
(Grisons)

Geneva

Vaud

Neuchâtel

Jura

Bern

Thurgau

Zürich

Aargau

Lucerne

Solothurn

Basel-Land

Schaffhausen

Uri

Schwyz

Glarus

St. Gallen

AI

AR

Obwalden

Nidwalden

Zug

Fribourg

Basel-Stadt

France

Italy

Liecht.

Austria

Germany

The 13 cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy (1513-1798).

The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state^[1] with its own border controls, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) 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 Bern in 1979.^[2]

The name is derived from the French language word canton meaning corner or district (from which the term Cantonment is also derived).

History

In the 16th century, the Old Swiss Confederacy was composed of 13 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.^[3] The six forest cantons were democratic republics, whereas the seven urban cantons were oligarchic republics controlled by noble families.^[4]

Constitution

Each canton has its own constitution, legislature, government and courts.^[5] Most of the cantons' legislatures are unicameral parliaments, their size varying between 58 and 200 seats. A few legislatures are general assemblies known as Landsgemeinden. The cantonal governments consist of either five or seven members, depending on the canton.^[6] 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.^[5] 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 15,471 to 1,244,400.

Direct democracy

As on the federal level, all cantons provide for (half-) 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.

List

The cantons are listed in the order given in the federal constitution.

Coat of arms	Abbr	Canton	Since	Capital	Population	Area (km²)	Density (per km²)	No. munic.	Official languages
	ZH	Zürich	1351	Zürich	1,406,083	1,729	701	171	German
	BE	Bern	1353	Bern	992,617	5,959	158	383	German, French
	LU	Lucerne	1332	Lucerne	386,082	1,493	233	87	German
	UR	Uri	1291[7]	Altdorf	35,693	1,077	33	20	German
	SZ	Schwyz	1291[7]	Schwyz	149,830	908	143	30	German
	OW	Obwalden	1291[7] or 1315 (as part of Unterwalden)	Sarnen	36,115	491	66	7	German
	NW	Nidwalden	1291[7] (as Unterwalden)	Stans	41,584	276	138	11	German
	GL	Glarus	1352	Glarus	39,369	685	51	3	German
	ZG	Zug	1352	Zug	116,559	239	416	11	German
	FR	Fribourg	1481	Fribourg	291,395	1,671	141	167	French, German
	SO	Solothurn	1481	Solothurn	259,836	790	308	122	German
	BS	Basel-Stadt	1501 (as Basel until 1833)	Basel	194,090	37	5,072	3	German
	BL	Basel-Landschaft	1501/1833[8]	Liestal	277,973	518	502	86	German
	SH	Schaffhausen	1501	Schaffhausen	77,955	298	246	27	German
	AR	Appenzell Ausserrhoden	1513 [9]	Herisau	53,438	243	220	20	German
	AI	Appenzell Innerrhoden	1513[9]	Appenzell	15,717	173	87	6	German
	SG	St. Gallen	1803[10]	St. Gallen	486,981	2,026	222	85	German
	GR	Graubünden	1803[11]	Chur	193,920	7,105	26	180	German, Romansh, Italian
	AG	Aargau	1803	Aarau	627,893	1,404	388	220	German
	TG	Thurgau	1803[12]	Frauenfeld	254,528	991	229	80	German
	TI	Ticino	1803[13]	Bellinzona	341,652	2,812	110	157	Italian
	VD	Vaud	1803[14]	Lausanne	734,356	3,212	188	339	French
	VS	Valais	1815[15]	Sion	321,732	5,224	53	143	French, German
	NE	Neuchâtel	1815/1857[16]	Neuchâtel	174,554	803	206	53	French
	GE	Geneva	1815	Geneva	474,169	282	1,442	45	French
	JU	Jura	1979[17]	Delémont	70,942	839	82	64	French
	CH	Switzerland		Bern	7,968,705	41,285	174	2,596	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.

Ticino is the only Italian-speaking canton. Yet, Italian is included among French and German as an official language of Switzerland.

Half-cantons

Six of the 26 cantons are traditionally, but no longer officially, called "half-cantons" (German: Halbkanton, French: demi-canton, Italian: semicantone), reflecting a history of mutual association or partition.

The half-cantons are identified 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 Zurich, 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 (underlining not in original)^[18]

The 1999 constitutional revision retained this distinction, on the request of the six cantonal governments, as a way to mark the historic association of the half-cantons to each other.^[19] In contrast, the first article of the 1848 and 1874 constitutions constituted the Confederation as the union of "twenty-two sovereign cantons",^[20] referring to the half-cantons as "Unterwalden (above and beneath the woods)", "Basel (city and country)" and "Appenzell (both Rhoden)".^[21] 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 a cantonal vote".^[22]

With their mutual association a purely historical matter, the half-cantons are since 1848 equal to the other cantons in all but two respects:^[23]

• They elect only one member of the Council of States instead of two (Cst. art. 150 par. 2).
• 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). 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.^[24]

Caricature of the division of Basel, 1833

The reasons for the association between 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".^[25][26]

• The canton of Appenzell divided itself into an "inner" and "outer" half ("Rhoden") as a consequence of the Reformation in Switzerland in 1597:^[27] Appenzell Innerrhoden (Catholic) and Appenzell Ausserrhoden (Protestant).

• The canton of Basel divided itself as a consequence of a revolt of the Basel countryside in 1833, in order to promote equality among its citizenry, combating claims between rural and city residents over preferential status:^[28] Basel-Landschaft and Basel-Stadt.

Names in national languages

(Names appear in bold when corresponding to the cantonal official language)

Abbr	Common English	Other English forms	German	French	Italian	Romansh
AG	Aargau	Argovia	Aargau (help·info)	Argovie	Argovia	Argovia
AI	Appenzell Innerrhoden	Appenzell Inner-Rhodes	Appenzell Innerrhoden (help·info)	Appenzell Rhodes-Intérieures	Appenzello Interno	Appenzell dadens
AR	Appenzell Ausserrhoden	Appenzell Outer-Rhodes	Appenzell Ausserrhoden (help·info)	Appenzell Rhodes-Extérieures	Appenzello Esterno	Appenzell dador
BS	Basel-Stadt	Basle-City	Basel-Stadt (help·info)	Bâle-Ville	Basilea-Città	Basilea-Citad
BL	Basel-Landschaft	Basle-Country	Basel-Landschaft (help·info)	Bâle-Campagne	Basilea-Campagna	Basilea-Champagna
BE	Bern	Berne	Bern (help·info)	Berne	Berna	Berna
FR	Fribourg	Friburg	Freiburg (help·info)	Fribourg	Friborgo	Friburg
GE	Geneva	-	Genf (help·info)	Genève	Ginevra	Genevra
GL	Glarus	Glaris	Glarus (help·info)	Glaris	Glarona	Glaruna
GR	Graubünden	Grisons	Graubünden (help·info)	Grisons	Grigioni	Grischun
JU	Jura	-	Jura (help·info)	Jura	Giura	Giura
LU	Lucerne	-	Luzern (help·info)	Lucerne	Lucerna	Lucerna
NE	Neuchâtel	-	Neuenburg (help·info)	Neuchâtel	Neuchâtel	Neuchâtel
NW	Nidwalden	Nidwald	Nidwalden (help·info)	Nidwald	Nidvaldo	Sutsilvania
OW	Obwalden	Obwald	Obwalden (help·info)	Obwald	Obvaldo	Sursilvania
SH	Schaffhausen	Schaffhouse	Schaffhausen (help·info)	Schaffhouse	Sciaffusa	Schaffusa
SZ	Schwyz	-	Schwyz (help·info)	Schwyz (or Schwytz)	Svitto	Sviz
SO	Solothurn	Soleure	Solothurn (help·info)	Soleure	Soletta	Soloturn
SG	St. Gallen	St. Gall	St. Gallen (help·info)	Saint-Gall	San Gallo	Son Gagl
TG	Thurgau	Thurgovia	Thurgau (help·info)	Thurgovie	Turgovia	Turgovia
TI	Ticino	Tessin	Tessin (help·info)	Tessin	Ticino	Tessin
UR	Uri	-	Uri (help·info)	Uri	Uri	Uri
VS	Valais	Wallis	Wallis (help·info)	Valais	Vallese	Vallais
VD	Vaud	-	Waadt (help·info)	Vaud	Vaud	Vad
ZG	Zug	-	Zug (help·info)	Zoug	Zugo	Zug
ZH	Zurich	-	Zürich (help·info)	Zurich	Zurigo	Turitg

Admission of new cantons

The enlargement of Switzerland by way of the admission of new cantons ended in 1815. After a failed attempt of Vorarlberg to join Switzerland in 1919, the idea of resuming Swiss enlargement was revived in 2010 by a parliamentary motion that would allow the accession of regions bordering on Switzerland.

See also

• List of legislative and executive councils of the Cantons of Switzerland
• Data codes for Switzerland#Cantons
• List of cantons of Switzerland by elevation
• Flags of Swiss cantons
• Cantonal bank, a commercial bank (at least partially) owned by the canton
• Municipalities of Switzerland

Notes and references

Notes

1. ^ 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).
2. ^ as of 5 April 2009 (2009-04-05)
3. ^ km²
4. ^ Per km², based on 2000 population
5. ^ As of 31 December 2007, Bundesamt für Statistik (Federal Department of Statistics) (2008). "Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz" (Microsoft Excel). Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2008. 
6. ^ Seat of government and parliament is Herisau, the seat of the judicial authorities is Trogen
7. ^ Seat of parliament half-yearly alternates between Frauenfeld and Weinfelden

References

Bibliography

• Bernhard Ehrenzeller, Philipp Mastronardi, Rainer J. Schweizer, Klaus A. Vallender (eds.) (2002). Die schweizerische Bundesverfassung, Kommentar. ISBN 3-905455-70-6.  (German). Cited as Ehrenzeller.
• Häfelin, Ulrich; Haller, Walter; Keller, Helen (2008). Schweizerisches Bundesstaatsrecht (in German) (7th ed.). Zürich: Schulthess. ISBN 978-3-7255-5472-0.  Cite uses deprecated parameters (help) Cited as Häfelin.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cantons of Switzerland.

• Swissworld.org – The cantons of Switzerland
• GeoPuzzle – Assemble cantons on a Swiss map
• Badac – Database on Swiss cantons and cities (French/German)

Wikisource has the text of a 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article about The History of Switzerland.

v t e Cantons of Switzerland Three Cantons  · Eight Cantons  ·  Thirteen Cantons  · coats of arms     ZH Zurich BE Bern LU Lucerne UR Uri SZ Schwyz OW Obwalden NW Nidwalden GL Glarus ZG Zug FR Fribourg SO Solothurn BS Basel-Stadt BL Basel-Landschaft SH Schaffhausen AR Appenzell Ausserrhoden AI Appenzell Innerrhoden SG St. Gallen GR Grisons AG Aargau TG Thurgau TI Ticino VD Vaud VS Valais NE Neuchâtel GE Geneva JU Jura historical cantons:  Unterwalden  · Basel  · Appenzell  · Baden  · Bellinzona  · Fricktal  · Léman  · Linth  · Lugano  · Oberland  ·  Raetia  · Säntis  ·  Waldstätten