Cantons of Switzerland - List

List

The cantons are listed in the order given in the federal constitution.

Coat of
arms		 Abbr Canton Since Capital Population Area (km²) Density (per km²) No. munic. Official languages
ZH Zurich 1351 Zurich 1,390,124 1,729 701 171 German
BE Bern 1353 Bern 985,046 5,959 158 383 German, French
LU Lucerne 1332 Lucerne 381,966 1,493 233 87 German
UR Uri 1291 Altdorf 35,382 1,077 33 20 German
SZ Schwyz 1291 Schwyz 147,904 908 143 30 German
OW Obwalden 1291 or 1315 (as part of Unterwalden) Sarnen 35,878 491 66 7 German
NW Nidwalden 1291 (as Unterwalden) Stans 41,311 276 138 11 German
GL Glarus 1352 Glarus 39,217 685 51 3 German
ZG Zug 1352 Zug 113,597 239 416 11 German
FR Fribourg 1481 Fribourg 284,668 1,671 141 167 French, German
SO Solothurn 1481 Solothurn 257,393 790 308 122 German
BS Basel-Stadt 1501 (as Basel until 1833/1999) Basel 192,581 37 5,072 3 German
BL Basel-Landschaft 1501/1833 Liestal 277,042 518 502 86 German
SH Schaffhausen 1501 Schaffhausen 77,139 298 246 27 German
AR Appenzell Ausserrhoden 1513 Herisau 53,313 243 220 20 German
AI Appenzell Innerrhoden 1513 Appenzell 15,789 173 87 6 German
SG St. Gallen 1803 St. Gallen 483,101 2,026 222 85 German
GR Graubünden 1803 Chur 193,388 7,105 26 180 German, Romansh, Italian
AG Aargau 1803 Aarau 621,398 1,404 388 220 German
TG Thurgau 1803 Frauenfeld 250,640 991 229 80 German
TI Ticino 1803 Bellinzona 336,943 2,812 110 157 Italian
VD Vaud 1803 Lausanne 725,944 3,212 188 339 French
VS Valais 1815 Sion 317,022 5,224 53 143 French, German
NE Neuchâtel 1815/1857 Neuchâtel 173,183 803 206 53 French
GE Geneva 1815 Geneva 468,194 282 1,442 45 French
JU Jura 1979 Delémont 70,542 839 82 64 French
CH Switzerland Bern 7,968,705 41,285 174 2,596

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, Switzerland), e.g. CH-SZ for the canton of Schwyz.

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