The 26cantons of Switzerland[note 1] are themember states of theSwiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as theWaldstätte. Two important periods in the development of theOld Swiss Confederacy are summarized by the termsAcht Orte ('Eight Cantons'; from 1353 to 1481) andDreizehn Orte ('Thirteen Cantons', from 1513 to 1798).[1]
Each canton of theOld Swiss Confederacy, formerly alsoOrt ('lieu/locality', from before 1450), orStand ('estate', fromc. 1550), was a fullysovereign state with its own border controls, army, and currency from at least theTreaty of Westphalia (1648) until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848, with a brief period of centralised government during theHelvetic Republic (1798–1803). The termKanton has been widely used since the 19th century.[2]
The areas of the cantons vary from 37 km2 (15 sq. mi.) (Basel-Stadt) to 7,105 km2 (2743 sq. mi.) (Grisons); the populations (as of 2018) range from 16,000 (Appenzell Innerrhoden) to 1.5 million (Zürich).
The termcanton, now also used as the English term foradministrative subdivisions of other countries, originates inFrench usage in the late 15th century (recorded in Fribourg in 1467),[4] from a word for "edge, corner", at the time the literal translation ofEarly Modern High GermanOrt.[5]After 1490,canton was increasingly used in French and Italian documents to refer to the members of the Swiss Confederacy.[2] English use ofcanton in reference to the Swiss Confederacy (as opposed to theheraldic sense) dates to the early 17th century.[6]
In the Old Swiss Confederacy, the termOrt (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 asWaldstätte 'forest settlements' (singular:Waldstatt). The formulaicStette und Waldstette for the members of the early confederacy is recorded in the mid-14th century, used interchangeably withStett und Lender ('cities and lands', 'city cantons and rural cantons') until the late 15th century.[7]Ort was increasingly replaced byStand (plural:Stände) 'estate' about 1550, a term taken to imply liberty and sovereignty. Abolished in the Helvetic Republic, the term 'Stand' was revived in 1815 and remains in use today.[2][8]
The French termcanton adopted into Germanafter 1648, and then only in occasional use until the early 19th century: prominent usage ofOrt andStand gradually disappeared in German-speaking Switzerland from the time of theHelvetic Republic. Only with theAct of Mediation of 1803 did GermanKanton become an official designation, retained in theSwiss Constitution of 1848.[2][9]
The termStand (French:état,Italian:stato) remains in synonymous usage and is reflected in the name of the upper chamber of the Swiss Parliament, theCouncil 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 arepublican form of government. Some cantons formally describe themselves asrepublics in their constitutions. This applies to the Romance-speaking cantons in particular:Geneva (formallyRépublique et canton de Genève, 'Republic and canton of Geneva'),Jura,Neuchâtel,Valais,[10]Vaud[11] andTicino.[12]
In the early modern period, the individual confederate allies came to be seen asrepublics; while the six traditional allies had a tradition ofdirect democracy in the form of theLandsgemeinde, the urban states operated viarepresentation in city councils, de factooligarchic systems dominated by families of thepatriciate.[note 2]
The old system was abandoned with the formation of theHelvetic Republic following theFrench invasion of Switzerland in 1798. The cantons of the Helvetic Republic had merely the status of anadministrative subdivision with no sovereignty. The Helvetic Republic collapsed within five years, and cantonal sovereignty was restored with theAct 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 andGeneva, acceded in 1815.
The process of "Restoration", completed by 1830, returned most of the former feudal rights to the cantonalpatriciates, leading to rebellions among the rural population. TheRadicals embodied these democratic forces calling for a new federal constitution. This tension, paired withreligious issues ("Jesuit question") escalated into armed conflict in the 1840s, with the briefSonderbund War. The victory of the Liberal-Radicals resulted in the formation ofSwitzerland 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 therevolutions of 1848 in Western Europe had failed elsewhere, Switzerland during the later 19th century (and with the exception of theFrench Third Republic, until the end ofWorld War I) found itself as an isolated democratic republic, surrounded by the restored monarchies ofFrance,Italy,Austria-Hungary andGermany.
TheSwiss Federal Constitution[15] declares the cantons to be sovereign to the extent that their sovereignty is not limited by federal law.[16] 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.
The cantonal legislatures areunicameralparliaments, with their size varying between 58 and 200 seats. A few legislatures also involve or did involve general popular assemblies known asLandsgemeinden; the use of this form of legislature has declined: at present, it exists only in the cantons ofAppenzell Innerrhoden andGlarus. The cantonal executives consist of either five or seven members, depending on the canton.[17] For the names of the institutions, see thelist of cantonal executives andlist 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 forhealthcare,welfare, law enforcement,public education, and retain the power oftaxation. Each canton defines its official language(s). Cantons may concludetreaties 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 themunicipalities, 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 ofdirect 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. Theright 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 (theplace 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 otherwisevary from canton to canton.
The cantons are listed in their order of precedence given in the federal constitution.[note 3] This reflects the historical order of precedence of theEight Cantons in the 15th century, followed by the remaining cantons in the order of their historical accession to the confederacy.[18]
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[50]—though only in a context where it is needed to distinguish them from any half-cantons—typically termed "full" cantons in English.[51]
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 andbeneath the woods'])", "Basel (Stadt und Landschaft ['city and country'])" and "Appenzell (beider Rhoden ['both Rhoden'])".[52] The 1874 constitution was amended to list 23 cantons with the accession of theCanton of Jura in 1978.
The historic half-cantons, and their pairings, are still recognizable in the first article of theSwiss Federal Constitution of 1999 by being joined to their other "half" with the conjunction "and":
— Article 1 of the Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation[53]
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.[54] 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".[55]
The1⁄2, 1 and 2 francs coins as minted since 1874 represent the number of cantons by 22 stars surrounding the figure ofHelvetia 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.[56]
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 theAbbey of Engelberg formed distinct communities. The collective termUnterwalden remains in use, however, for the area that partook in the creation of the original Swiss confederation in 1291 withUri andSchwyz. TheFederal Charter of 1291 called for representatives from each of the three "areas".[57][58]
The historicalcanton of Basel was divided in 1833 after the Basel countryside (which became the canton ofBasel-Landschaft) declared its independence from the city of Basel (which became thecanton 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:[60]
They elect only one member of theCouncil of States instead of two (Cst. art. 150 par. 2). This means there are a total of 46 seats in the council.
Inpopular 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).[61] 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.[62]
Between 1831 and 1833 the canton of Schwyz was divided into half-cantons: (Inner) Schwyz and the break-awayOuter Schwyz; in this instance, the half-cantons were forced by the Confederation to settle their disputes and reunite.
In the 20th century, someJura separatists suggested a new canton of Jura to be divided into half-cantons of North Jura and South Jura.[63] Instead, North Jura became the (full)canton of Jura while South Jura remains in the canton of Bern as theregion ofBernese Jura.
The enlargement of Switzerland by way of the admission of new cantons ended in 1815. The latest formal attempt considered by Switzerland wasin 1919 fromVorarlberg 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.[64] The motion was eventually dropped and not even examined by the parliament.[65]
^Zug was the exception in this, in being an urban state and still holding aLandsgemeinde.[14][clarification needed]
^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 theOld 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 (seeSwiss order of precedence).
^Cantonal coats of arms shown with cantonal heraldic colors (Standesfarben).Standesfarben were used to identify the (historical) cantons when the full banner was not available for display, although there is overlap; Unterwalden and Solothurn share the same colours, as do Basel and Appenzell, and with the accession of the modern cantons, Valais and Basel-City, and St. Gallen and Thurgau.[19]
^Act of Mediation; created from the cantons of Aargau (canton of theHelvetic Republic, from territory previously controlled by Bern) andBaden (previously a Swiss condominium), together withFricktal (before 1802 not Swiss territory).
^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 formBerne to the German formBern; in individual cases, the Latin form may be current, certainly in the case ofGeneva and arguably forArgovia, Thurgovia. Actual anglicized forms have been used, for exampleBasle.
^rendered "the 'confederacy of eight'" and "the 'Thirteen-Canton Confederation'", respectively, in:"Chronology" (official site). Bern, Switzerland: The Swiss Federal Administration. Retrieved24 June 2018.
^abcde Andreas Kley: Kantone inGerman,French andItalian in the onlineHistorical 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."
^"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 Frenchcanton 'corner, angle' is a loan fromOccitan, first recorded in the 13th century, in Occitan adopted fromNorth Italiancantone, where the sense "portion of territory" alongside "edge, corner" developed from by the early 11th century (TFLi).
^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 the 1610s."
^HLS: Insbesonders die um 1550 aufgekommene Benennung als Stand, die Freiheit und Souveränität implizierte, erfreute sich grösserer Beliebtheit. Die Helvet. Revolution brachte 1798 die Begriffe Ort und Stand zum Verschwinden. Für die neuen obersten Gebietseinheiten innerhalb der Helvet. Republik setzte sich die Bezeichnung Kanton durch. Nach der Mediationsakte (1803) galten die Begriffe Kanton und Stand synonym, nach dem Bundesvertrag (1815) benannten sich die K. bevorzugt als Stände. Im Bundesstaat bezeichnen die Bundesverfassungen seit 1848 die "souveränen" Gliedstaaten des Bundes als K., in dt. Sprache synonym auch als Stände.
^HLS: Als franz. Entsprechung zu Ort fand der Begriff canton (Winkel, Landschaft, Ort) zuerst in der Westschweiz Verwendung; ab 1475 ist er in Freiburger Akten überliefert. Die Bezeichnung der eidg. Orte als K. verbreitete sich ab den 1490er Jahren im franz. und ital. Sprachgebiet und bald auch in andern Teilen Europas. Im deutschsprachigen Raum dagegen erscheint er erst ab 1650, ohne sich gegen die bevorzugten Begriffe Ort und Stand durchzusetzen.
^"Constitution du Canton du Valais". Swiss Federal Council.Le Valais est une république démocratique, souveraine ... incorporée comme Canton à la Confédération suisse.
^"Constitution du canton de Vaud". Swiss Federal Council.Le Canton de Vaud est une république démocratique [... qui] est l'un des États de la Confédération suisse.
^Louis, Mühlemann,Wappen und Fahnen der Schweiz, 700 JahreConfoederatio Helvetica, Lengnau, 3rd ed. 1991.Swiss Armed Forces,Fahnenreglement, Reglement 51.340 d (2013).[1]Archived 11 November 2020 at theWayback Machine
Ehrenzeller, Bernhard; Philipp Mastronardi; Rainer J. Schweizer; Klaus A. Vallender, eds. (2002).Die schweizerische Bundesverfassung, Kommentar (in German).ISBN3-905455-70-6.. Cited asEhrenzeller.
Häfelin, Ulrich; Haller, Walter; Keller, Helen (2008).Schweizerisches Bundesstaatsrecht (in German) (7th ed.). Zürich: Schulthess.ISBN978-3-7255-5472-0. Cited asHäfelin.
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