Council of States (Switzerland) - Population Per Seat

Population Per Seat

The Council of States represents the federal nature of Switzerland: seats are distributed by state (canton), not by population. Consequently, the number of people represented by a single seat in the Council of State varies by a factor of 40, from 15,000 for Appenzell Innerrhoden to 600,000 for Zurich.

Abbr Canton Seats Population ¹ per seat ²
ZH Zurich 2 1,228,600 614,300 1.0
BE Bern 2 947,100 473,550 1.3
VD Vaud 2 626,200 313,100 2.0
AG Aargau 2 550,900 275,450 2.2
BL Basel-Landschaft 1 261,400 261,400 2.4
SG St. Gallen 2 452,600 226,300 2.7
GE Geneva 2 414,300 207,150 3.0
BS Basel-Stadt 1 186,700 186,700 3.3
LU Luzern 2 350,600 175,300 3.5
TI Ticino 2 311,900 155,950 3.9
VS Valais 2 278,200 139,100 4.4
SO Solothurn 2 245,500 122,750 5.0
FR Fribourg 2 239,100 119,550 5.1
TG Thurgau 2 228,200 114,100 5.4
GR Graubünden 2 185,700 92,850 6.6
NE Neuchâtel 2 166,500 83,250 7.4
SZ Schwyz 2 131,400 65,700 9.4
AR Appenzell Ausserrhoden 1 53,200 53,200 11.5
ZG Zug 2 100,900 50,450 12.2
NW Nidwalden 1 38,600 38,600 15.9
SH Schaffhausen 2 73,400 36,700 16.7
JU Jura 2 69,100 34,550 17.8
OW Obwalden 1 32,700 32,700 18.8
GL Glarus 2 38,300 19,150 32.1
UR Uri 2 35,000 17,500 35.1
AI Appenzell Innerrhoden 1 15,000 15,000 41.0
Overall 46 7,261,200 157,852 3.9

Notes: ¹ Population data from Cantons of Switzerland (2001). ² Relative representation compared to Zürich.

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