canton of Switzerland
Also known as canton, Swiss canton
administrative divisions of the Swiss Confederation
AI overview
A canton is one of the 26 regional states that make up Switzerland, each with its own constitution, government, and laws. Cantons matter because Switzerland's federal system gives them significant power over local affairs like education, policing, and taxation, making them key centers of governance between the national government and individual communities.
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Wikidata facts
- Official website
- www.ch.ch
Show 3 more facts
- Commons category
- Cantons of Switzerland
- quantity
- 19
- short name
- canton
Sources (2)
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Article
The 26 cantons of Switzerland 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 important periods in the development of the Old Swiss Confederacy are summarized by the terms Acht Orte ('Eight Cantons'; from 1353 to 1481) and Dreizehn Orte ('Thirteen Cantons', from 1513 to 1798).
Each canton of the Old Swiss Confederacy, formerly also Ort ('lieu/locality', 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 centralised government during the Helvetic Republic (1798–1803). The term Kanton has been widely used since the 19th century.