Thecanton of Zurich[b] is an administrative unit (canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of 1,553,423 (as of 31 December 2020), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland.[3]Zurich is thede factocapital of the canton, but is not specifically mentioned in the constitution.[1] Theofficial language isGerman. The localSwiss German dialect, calledZüritüütsch, is commonly spoken.
Administrative division of the Zürichgau in the 18th century.
The territory of the canton of Zurich corresponds to the lands acquired by the city of Zurich after it becamereichsfrei in 1218. Zurich pursued a policy of aggressive territorial expansion especially during the century following the revolution of theguilds in 1336. Zurich joined theSwiss Confederacy in 1351.
Zurich claimed and lost theToggenburg in theOld Zürich War of the 1440s. The northern parts up to the riverRhine came to the canton after the city of Zurich purchasedWinterthur from theHabsburgs in 1468. In 1651, Zurich purchasedRafzerfeld from the counts ofSulz. At this point, almost all of the territory of the modern canton (as well as some territories beyond its modern borders) was owned by Zurich; exceptions includeWülflingen (acquired 1760),Buch (acquired 1761),Dietikon, which was acondominium, andRheinau (owned byRheinau Abbey).
In the 18th century, the "inner bailiwicks" (Innere Vogteien) were under direct administration of city officials, while the "outer bailiwicks" (Äussere Vogteien) were ruled by thereeves ofKyburg,Grüningen,Greifensee,Eglisau,Regensberg,Andelfingen,Wädenswil, andKnonau. The city ofWinterthur was nominally subject to Zurich but retained far-reaching autonomy.
Zürichgau, the name of the medievalpagus, was in use for the territories of the city of Zurich during the 15th and 16th century; the termcanton (Kanton) gradually entered use in the 16th century, butZürichgau remained widely used well into the 19th century (becoming obsolescent after the formation of the modern canton in 1831).
Under the short-livedHelvetic Republic (1798–1803), the canton of Zurich became a purely administrative division. In 1803, some former possessions of Zurich to the west gained independence as part of theCanton of Aargau. In 1804 theKantonspolizei Zürich was established asLandjägerkorps (rural police).[10]
A cantonal constitution was drawn up in 1814 and replaced in 1831 by aradical-liberal constitution. TheZüriputsch, an armed uprising of the conservative rural population against theradical-liberal order, led to the dissolution of the cantonal government, and a provisional conservative government was installed by colonel Paul Carl Eduard Ziegler.Under the threat of intervention of the other radical-liberal cantons of the Confederacy, the provisional government declared that the 1831 constitution would remain in effect. In a tumultuous session on 9 September 1839, the cantonal parliament declared its dissolution In the so-calledSeptemberregime, the newly elected cantonal government replaced all cantonal officials with conservatives, but it was again ousted by a radical-liberal election victory in 1844.
Alfred Escher was a member of the new cantonal parliament of 1844; he was elected to the cantonal government in 1848 and later in the same year into the firstNational Council under the newfederal constitution. The radical-liberal era of 1844–1868 was dominated by the so-calledSystem Escher, a network of liberal politicians and industrialists built by Alfred Escher. Escher governed the canton almost in monarchical fashion, and was popularly dubbedAlfred I. orTsar of All Zurich. Escher controlled all cantonal institutions, at first with very little political opposition, expunging all trace of the conservative takeover of 1839. Under Escher, the city of Zurich rose to the status of economic and financial center it still retains.Opposition against the dominance ofSytstem Escher increased after 1863. The cantonal government was accused to continue the system of aristocratic rule liberalism had claimed to abolish. The oppositionalDemocratic Movement was centered inWinterthur, led by mayor Johann Jakob Sulzer and publicist Salomon Bleuler. They succeeded in imposing the introduction of thedirect democratic instrument of thepopular initiative in 1865, which precipitated a revision of the cantonal constitution.In April 1869, a new cantonal constitution was adopted by popular vote, introducing additional direct democratic elements and the popular election of both the cantonal government and the cantonal representatives in the federalCouncil of States. The new constitution also abolished thedeath penalty (the last execution by hanging in Zurich took place in 1810, the last public execution by guillotine in 1865), guaranteedfreedom of religion andfreedom of association and introducedprogressive taxes.
In 1877, the Cantonal Laboratory Zurich was founded in order to regulate the quality of food and drinking water. The first cantonal chemist wasHaruthiun Abeljanz, who was instrumental in setting up the new laboratory, moving it from an unpromising start in converted storage rooms to Lintheschergasse 10, which was located just behind the Pestalozziwiese, a memorial toJohann Heinrich Pestalozzi.[11]
TheCantonal Bank was established in 1870 to regulate cantonal loans at fixed interest rates to farms and businesses.
A law ofproportional representation was passed in 1916, favouring the rise of theSocial Democrats. A proposal for the introduction of female suffrage was rejected in 1920; female suffrage was introduced on the municipal level in 1969 and on the cantonal level in 1970, shortly before its imposition by federal law, passed in 1971.
It also has an international border with the German district ofWaldshut and though only for 460 m (1,510 ft)) the district ofKonstanz inBaden-Württemberg owing to its short border withStemmer, an outlying hamlet belonging to the municipality which forms the small Germanenclave ofBüsingen am Hochrhein.
The canton has an area, as of 2011[update], of 1,728.8 square kilometers (667.5 sq mi). Of this area, 43.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 30.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 20.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and 5.8% is unproductive land.[12]
Most of the canton consists of shallow river valleys which drain towards theHigh Rhine to the north.Rafzerfeld is a territory north of the Rhine acquired by the canton in 1651. In the northwest and southeast of the canton the territory rises towards theJura andAlps, respectively. The valley of theLinth leads into the Lake Zurich and continues as theLimmat. This valley is the most significant valley of the canton of Zurich. The valley of theGlatt originates in the Greifensee and is separated from the Limmat by ridges. The valley of theTöss is gorge-like. It is located in the east of the canton and is separated from theToggenburg area in thecanton of St. Gallen by a mountainous area.
TheHörnli (1133 m) is the highest elevation of this mountain ridge. The valley of the riverSihl is located in the west of the canton. In converges with theLimmat in the city of Zurich. The Sihl is separated from the lake of Zurich by theAlbis Range. TheAlbishorn (915 m (3,002 ft)) is the highest elevation of this range. The Schnebelhorn is a mountain located near Fischenthal in the Töss Valley, between the cantons of Zurich (west) and St. Gallen (east). It is the highest summit (1,292 m (4,239 ft)) of the canton of Zurich. TheUetliberg is part of the Albis Range. This mountain is popular with the population of the city of Zurich for recreation.
The vast majority of the canton lies to the south of the Rhine, the exceptions being Rafzerfeld as mentioned and a tiny portion of the village ofLaufen-Uhwiesen calledNohl.
In the2011 federal election the most popular party was theSVP which received 29.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were theSP (19.3%), theFDP (11.6%) and theglp (11.5%).[21]
The SVP received about the same percentage of the vote as they did in the2007 Federal election (33.9% in 2007 vs 29.8% in 2011). The SPS retained about the same popularity (19.8% in 2007), as well as the FDP (13.2% in 2007), while the glp was the big winner of the election (7.0% in 2007).[22]
Zurich has a population (as of December 2020[update]) of 1,553,423.[3] As of 2010[update], 23.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 12.7%. Migration accounted for 10.3%, while births and deaths accounted for 2.6%.[12]
Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaksGerman (1,040,168 or 83.4%) as their first language,Italian is the second most common (49,750 or 4.0%) andSerbo-Croatian is the third (21,334 or 1.7%). There are 17,685 people who speakFrench and 2,606 people who speakRomansh.[26]
Of the population in the canton, 314,394 or about 25.2% were born in Zurich and lived there in 2000. There were 291,631 or 23.4% who were born in the same canton, while 284,461 or 22.8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 310,532 or 24.9% were born outside of Switzerland.[26]
As of 2000[update], children and teenagers (0–17 years old) make up 20.5% of the population, while adults (18–64 years old) make up 64.4% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15%.[12] As of 2000[update], there were 531,094 people who weresingle and never married in the canton. There were 566,636 married individuals, 66,012 widows or widowers and 84,164 individuals who are divorced.[26]
As of 2000[update], there were 567,573 private households in the canton, and an average of 2.1 persons per household.[12] There were 223,869 households that consist of only one person and 27,935 households with five or more people. As of 2009[update], the construction rate of new housing units was 5.3 new units per 1000 residents.[12] As of 2003[update] the average price to rent an average apartment in the city of Zurich was 1288.84Swiss francs (CHF) per month (US$1030, £580, €820 approx. exchange rate from 2003). The average rate for a one-room apartment was 733.01 CHF (US$590, £330, €470), a two-room apartment was about 1009.94 CHF (US$810, £450, €650), a three-room apartment was about 1192.66 CHF (US$950, £540, €760) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 2550.35 CHF (US$2040, £1150, €1630). The average apartment price in the city of Zurich was 115.5% of the national average of 1116 CHF.[27]
The vacancy rate for the canton, in 2010[update], was 0.63%.[12]
In 1519,Huldrych Zwingli became the pastor of theGrossmünster in Zurich, and soon thereafter Zurich became areformed orProtestant canton. Even though Zwingli died in battle in 1531, the canton remained a stronghold of theSwiss Reformed Church over the following centuries. While a plurality of the population is Protestant (43%), 31% of the population wasRoman Catholic in 2004,[28] a legacy of considerable immigration from Southern Europe.
From the 2000 census[update], 497,986 or 39.9% belonged to theSwiss Reformed Church, while 380,440 or 30.5% wereRoman Catholic. Of the rest of the population, there were 29,592members of an Orthodox church (or about 2.37% of the population), there were 1,435 individuals (or about 0.11% of the population) who belonged to theChristian Catholic Church, and there were 70,897 individuals (or about 5.68% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 6,461 individuals (or about 0.52% of the population) who wereJewish, and 66,520 (or about 5.33% of the population) who wereIslamic. There were 5,878 individuals who wereBuddhist, 6,024 individuals who wereHindu and 1,456 individuals who belonged to another church. 165,324 (or about 13.25% of the population) belonged to no church, areagnostic oratheist, and 50,090 individuals (or about 4.01% of the population) did not answer the question.[26]
Most of the land is cultivated, but the canton of Zurich is not considered as an agricultural area. The lands to the north and east are more agricultural, but in every part of the canton manufacturing predominates. The canton of Zurich is noted for machinery. Silk and cotton weaving were important in the past, but have now ceased to be of importance. There is a large paper industry. Small and middle sized companies are important contributors to the economy of the canton of Zurich. The city of Zurich is a major banking centre, and insurance is also of importance.
In 2014, about 1.2% of the workers in Zurich work in theprimary sector (the total for all of Switzerland is 3.3%). In 2014 thesecondary sector employed 145,744 or about 14.7% of the total, which is much lower than 21.8% for the entire country. Of those in the secondary sector, over a quarter of the workers worked in constructiontrades and 9.5% worked in general construction. Additionally, almost 9% of the workers manufactured electronics. Thetertiary sector employed 836,410 or about 84.1% of the total, which is much higher than 74.9% nationwide. This number has increased by about 180,000 since 2010 while the population in the canton has only increased by 73,000 over the same time period.[29] Of those in the tertiary sector, the fourth largest sub-sector (in 2008) was financial services with 6.2% of the tertiary total.[30][31]
As of 2010[update], Zurich had an unemployment rate of 3.9%. As of 2008[update], there were 12,507 people employed in theprimary economic sector and about 4,227 businesses involved in this sector. 143,231 people were employed in thesecondary sector and there were 11,383 businesses in this sector. 655,848 people were employed in thetertiary sector, with 58,796 businesses in this sector.[12]
In 2008[update] the total number offull-time equivalent jobs was 678,306. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 8,120, of which 7,771 were in agriculture, 320 were in forestry or lumber production and 29 were in fishing or fisheries. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 133,723 of which 81,212 or (60.7%) were in manufacturing, 774 or (0.6%) were in mining and 47,014 (35.2%) were in construction.
The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 536,463. In the tertiary sector; 105,226 or 19.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 38,005 or 7.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 33,417 or 6.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 35,571 or 6.6% were in the information industry, 81,163 or 15.1% were the insurance or financial industry, 65,139 or 12.1% were technical professionals or scientists, 36,792 or 6.9% were in education and 63,800 or 11.9% were in health care.[32]
Of the working population, 37.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 41.8% used a private car.[12]
The cantonal, local and church tax rates in the canton is generally slightly lower than the average rate for the entire country.[33]
Railways in standard gauge run through all major valleys in the canton. The centre for transport is Zurich, where a great number of local railways connect to national and international rail links. The railway station of the city of Zurich,Zürich Hauptbahnhof, is one of the busiest in Europe, counting the number of arriving and departing trains. Zurich is well connected to other European cities using rail links. The major trainsICE,TGV andCisalpino connect to Zurich.
The first Swiss railway ran in theLimmat valley in 1847, connecting Zurich toBaden.
The major airport of SwitzerlandZurich Airport is located in Kloten, a mere 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) from the city centre of Zurich. It is home toSwiss International Air Lines.
The A1, A3 and A4 motorways run through the canton. Other motorways and expressways which also run through the canton include the A7, the A51, the A52 and the A53. Major hubs are Zurich and Winterthur.
In Zurich about 493,209 or (39.5%) of the population have completed non-mandatoryupper secondary education, and 212,154 or (17.0%) have completed additional higher education (eitheruniversity or aFachhochschule). Of the 212,154 who completed tertiary schooling, 55.8% were Swiss men, 25.5% were Swiss women, 11.6% were non-Swiss men and 7.1% were non-Swiss women.[26]
^The cantonal constitution does not specify Zurich as its capital. However, the canton's government, highest court, legislature, and other canton level entities are all located in Zurich.
^"A-Objekte KGS-Inventar". Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, Amt für Bevölkerungsschutz. 2009. Archived fromthe original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved10 December 2014.
