Located innortheastern Switzerland, the canton has an area of 2,026 km2 (782 sq mi) (5% of Switzerland) and a resident population close to half a million as of 2015 (6% of Switzerland). It was formed in 1803 as a conflation of the city ofSt. Gallen, the territories of theAbbey of St. Gall and various former subject territories of theOld Swiss Confederacy.
The canton of St. Gallen is an artificial construct of various historical territories, defined byNapoleon Bonaparte in theAct of Mediation in 1803. About half of the canton's area corresponds to the acquisitions of theabbey of St. Gallen over centuries.
The city ofSt. Gallen became independent of the abbey in 1405. At the same time, the abbey lost control ofAppenzell. Conversely, theToggenburg was acquired by the Abbey in 1468. Both the city and the abbey were associates (Zugewandte Orte) of theOld Swiss Confederacy, but unlike Appenzell never joined as full members.
In theHelvetic Republic (1798–1803), the northern parts of the modern canton of St. Gallen, together with Appenzell, became thecanton of Säntis (named after theSäntis), while its southern parts, together withGlarus and parts ofSchwyz, became thecanton of Linth (named after the riverLinth).
However, the two new cantons had immediate financial problems and were forced to institute a number of unpopular taxes and laws. The Abbey was secularized on 17 September 1798 and thePrince-AbbotPankraz Vorster fled to Vienna (Austria). The unpopular laws and the closing of the Abbey caused unrest throughout the area. When theWar of the Second Coalition broke out in 1799, an Austrian army marched into eastern Switzerland and returned the Prince-Abbot to his throne at the Abbey. However, his victory was short-lived. The Austrian andRussian armies were defeated outsideZurich and the French Army returned to St. Gallen, driving the Prince-Abbot out. In 1803, as part of the Act of Mediation, the area joined the Swiss Confederation as the Canton of St. Gallen.[4]
The cantonal constitution of 1803 was revised in 1814. Because of the confessional heterogeneity of the canton's population, the 1814 constitution did unusually organise matters of religion, marriage and education not on a cantonal level but introduced a twofold division (confessional dualism), with separate Protestant and a Catholic assemblies subordinate to the legislative cantonal assembly (Grosser Rat).[citation needed]
The constitution was revised again in 1831, introducing elements ofdirect democracy. The constitution of 1831 divided the canton into 15 districts (Bezirke), reduced to 14 in 1918 (fusion of Tablat district with St. Gallen district).[citation needed]
Due to continuing confessional squabbles over the organisation of schools, the canton eventually placed education under its authority in 1861. The constitution was revised again in 1890, with a stronger emphasis on direct democracy.[citation needed]The 1890 constitution remained in effect, with numerous later changes, until 2001, the date of the latest revision of the cantonal constitution, when the division into districts was replaced by a division into eightconstituencies (Wahlkreise), effective 1 January 2003.[citation needed]
The main rivers of the canton are theRhine (Alpine Rhine),Thur (forming theThur waterfalls),Linth andSeez. Other rivers in the canton are theJona, Seerenbach (forming theSeerenbach Falls), Necker,Sitter,Saar andTamina. The topography changes from the plains near river Rhine, theSwiss Plateau and Lake Constance, towards the mountainous areas of theAlps in the south (Appenzell Alps andGlarus Alps), which includes also part of theAlpstein massif. About one third (619.7 square kilometers / 239.3 sq mi) of the canton is wooded, while nearly half of it (9,790.6 km2 / 3,780.2 sq mi) is used for farming. 278.6 km2 (107.6 sq mi) of the farm land is Alpinepastures. Of the rest of the canton, 259.1 km2 (100.0 sq mi) is considered unproductive, while 176 km2 (68 sq mi) is filled with housing or roads.[5]
The landelevation above the sea-level varies from 398 m / 1,306 ft (Lake Constance) to 3,251 m / 10,666 ft (theRingelspitz). The canton includes portions of Lake Constance (54 km2 / 21 sq mi), theWalensee (rather over 18 km2 / 6.9 sq mi), andLake Zurich (10 km2 / 3.9 sq mi; mostlyObersee), and several small lakes wholly within its limits (e.g.Gigerwaldsee,Schwendisee).[6]
88% of the population is German-speaking.[9] The main centres of population are the capital St. Gallen (69,700 inhabitants),Rapperswil-Jona (27,000),Wil (17,500) andGossau (17,000).[2] As of 2007[update], the population included 97,461 foreigners, or about 20.9% of the total population.[10] The majority of the population (as of 2000[update]) is Roman Catholic (52%) while a large minority isProtestant (28%).[11]
Agricultural activity consists predominantly ofdairy farming andcattle breeding in the mountainous areas. In the plains fruit and wine production are important, but there is also mixed farming.
Regional rail within the canton and neighbouring areas is provided mainly bySt. Gallen S-Bahn (partly also byZurich S-Bahn). Some lines are also part of theBodensee S-Bahn. Additionally,PostAuto and several other bus operators serve towns and villages within the canton. Rail and bus services operate within theOstwind tariff network [de].[13]
The canton is served bySt. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport, which provides direct routes toVienna inAustria and to some European destinations which are operated byPeople's airlines. However,Zurich Airport is frequently used by air travellers from the canton which provides most domestic and international destinations.
