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Swiss cantons Schweizer Kantone  (German) Cantons suisses  (French) Cantoni Svizzeri  (Italian) Chantun svizra  (Romansh)
Also known as: Stand / Stände état(s) Stato / Stati
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
Category	Federated state
Location	Swiss Confederation
Found in	Country
Created	13th century
Number	26 cantons (as of 1979)
Populations	16,003 – 1,487,969
Areas	37 km2 (14 sq mi) – 7,105 km2 (2,743 sq mi)
Government	List of cantonal executives of Switzerland
Subdivisions	Districts and municipalities

The 26 cantons of Switzerland (German: Kanton, French: canton, Italian: cantone, Romansh: 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 further major steps in the development of the Swiss cantonal system are referred to by the terms Acht Orte ("Eight Cantons"; between 1353 and 1481) and Dreizehn Orte ("Thirteen Cantons",during 1513–1798); they were important intermediate periods of the Ancient Swiss Confederacy.^[1]

Each canton, 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 centralized government during the Helvetic Republic (1798–1803). With the Napoleonic period of the Helvetic Republic the term Kanton was also fully established in German-speaking region.^[2]

From 1833, there were 25 cantons, increasing to 26 after the secession of the canton of Jura from Bern in 1979.^[3]

The areas of the cantons vary from 37 km² (canton of Basel-Stadt) to 7,105 km² (canton of Grisons); the populations vary from 16,003 (canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden) to 1,487,969 (canton of Zürich).

Terminology

The term canton, now also used as 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

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 Maximillian 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

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 also 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	Canton of	Since	Capital	Population [Note 3]	GDP per capita (2014)[17] in CHF	Area (km2)	Density (per km2)[Note 4]	No. munic. (2018)[18]	Official languages
	ZH	Zürich	1351	Zürich	1,504,346[19]	96,411	1,729	701	166	German
	BE	Bern	1353	Bern	1,031,126[19]	76,307	5,960	158	347	German, French
	LU	Luzern	1332	Lucerne	406,506[19]	65,119	1,494	233	83	German
	UR	Uri	1291[Note 5]	Altdorf	36,299[19]	51,332	1,077	33	20	German
	SZ	Schwyz	1291[Note 5]	Schwyz	157,301[19]	58,788	908	143	30	German
	OW	Obwalden	1291[Note 5] or 1315 (as part of Unterwalden)	Sarnen	37,575[19]	64,253	491	66	7	German
	NW	Nidwalden	1291[Note 5] (as Unterwalden)	Stans	42,969[19]	69,559	276	138	11	German
	GL	Glarus	1352	Glarus	40,349[19]	67,379	685	51	3	German
	ZG	Zug	1352	Zug	125,421[19]	150,613	239	416	11	German
	FR	Fribourg	1481	Fribourg	315,074[19]	58,369	1,671	141	136	French, German
	SO	Solothurn	1481	Solothurn	271,432[19]	65,588	790	308	109	German
	BS	Basel-Stadt	1501 (as Basel until 1833/1999)	Basel	199,950[20]	163,632	37	5,072	3	German
	BL	Basel-Landschaft	1501 (as Basel until 1833/1999)	Liestal	288,660[21]	68,537	518	502	86	German
	SH	Schaffhausen	1501	Schaffhausen	81,351[19]	85,529	298	246	26	German
	AR	Appenzell Ausserrhoden	1513 (as Appenzell until 1597/1999)	Herisau[Note 6]	55,178[19]	56,663	243	220	20	German
	AI	Appenzell Innerrhoden	1513 (as Appenzell until 1597/1999)	Appenzell	16,105[19]	61,067	172	87	6	German
	SG	St. Gallen	1803[Note 7]	St. Gallen	504,686[19]	72,624	2,031	222	77	German
	GR	Grisons	1803[Note 8]	Chur	197,888[19]	70,968	7,105	26	108	German, Romansh, Italian
	AG	Aargau	1803[Note 9]	Aarau	670,988[19]	61,959	1,404	388	212	German
	TG	Thurgau	1803[Note 10]	Frauenfeld[Note 11]	273,801[19]	60,533	992	229	80	German
	TI	Ticino	1803[Note 12]	Bellinzona	353,709[19]	82,438	2,812	110	115	Italian
	VD	Vaud	1803[Note 13]	Lausanne	793,129[19]	68,084	3,212	188	309	French
	VS	Valais	1815[Note 14]	Sion	341,463[19]	52,532	5,224	53	126	French, German
	NE	Neuchâtel	1815/1857[Note 15]	Neuchâtel	177,964[19]	83,835	802	206	31	French
	GE	Geneva	1815	Geneva	495,249[19]	102,113	282	1,442	45	French
	JU	Jura	1979[Note 16]	Delémont	73,290[19]	64,606	839	82	55	French
	CH	Switzerland		Bern	8,484,130[19]	78,619	41,291	174	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^[22] — though only in a context where it is needed to distinguish them from any half-cantons, typically termed "full" cantons in English.^[23]

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^[24]

In contrast, the first article of the 1848 and 1874 constitutions constituted the Confederation as the union of "twenty-two sovereign cantons",^{[Note 17]} 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’])".^[25] 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.^[26] 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".^[27]

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".^[28][29]

• The historical canton of Appenzell divided itself into "inner" and "outer" halves (Rhoden) as a consequence of the Reformation in Switzerland in 1597:^[30]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:^[31]

• 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). 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.^[32]

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 Jurassic separatists suggested a new canton of Jura to be divided into half-cantons of North Jura and South Jura.^[33] 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 18]	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[citation needed]	Freiburg (help·info)	Fribourg	Friburgo	Friburg
GE	Geneva	Genf (help·info)	Genève	Ginevra	Genevra
GL	Glarus; Glaris[citation needed]	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[citation needed]	Nidwalden (help·info)	Nidwald	Nidvaldo	Sutsilvania
OW	Obwalden; Obwald[citation needed]	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; Zoug	Zug (help·info)	Zoug	Zugo	Zug
ZH	Zürich; 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. The latest formal attempt considered by Switzerland was of Vorarlberg in 1919 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.^[34] The motion was eventually dropped and not even examined by the parliament.^[35]

See also

• Data codes for Switzerland § Cantons


• Flags and arms of cantons of Switzerland


• List of cantons of Switzerland by elevation


• List of Swiss cantons by GDP


• Cantonal bank


• Cantonal police


• Municipalities of Switzerland

Notes and references

Notes

References

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cantons of Switzerland.

• 
  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) (in German)
  

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