Political Divisions and Greater Regions
See also: Subdivisions of SwitzerlandAs a federal state, Switzerland is composed of 26 cantons, which are further divided into districts and municipalities. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848. There are considerable differences between the individual cantons, most particularly in terms of population and geographical area; hence seven larger and more homogeneous regions have been defined. They do not, however, constitute administrative units and are mostly used for statistical and economical purposes.
| Regions | Cantons | Regions | Cantons |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Switzerland |
Aargau |
Switzerland |
Lucerne |
| Basel-Landschaft | Nidwalden | ||
| Basel-Stadt | Obwalden | ||
|
Mittelland |
Bern | Schwyz | |
| Fribourg | Uri | ||
| Jura | Zug | ||
| Neuchâtel |
Switzerland |
Appenzell Ausserrhoden | |
| Solothurn | Appenzell Innerrhoden | ||
|
|
Geneva | Glarus | |
| Valais | Graubünden | ||
| Vaud | Schaffhausen | ||
|
|
Zurich | St. Gallen | |
|
|
Ticino | Thurgau |
Read more about this topic: Geography Of Switzerland
Famous quotes containing the words political, divisions, greater and/or regions:
“Our democracy, our culture, our whole way of life is a spectacular triumph of the blah. Why not have a political convention without politics to nominate a leader who’s out in front of nobody?... Maybe our national mindlessness is the very thing that keeps us from turning into one of those smelly European countries full of pseudo-reds and crypto-fascists and greens who dress like forest elves.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)
“I find myself ... hoping a total end of all the unhappy divisions of mankind by party-spirit, which at best is but the madness of many for the gain of a few.”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
“I beg to assure you that I have never written you, or spoken to you, in greater kindness or feeling than now, nor with a fuller purpose to sustain you, so far as in my most anxious judgement, I consistently can. But you must act.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“In place of a world, there is a city, a point, in which the whole life of broad regions is collecting while the rest dries up. In place of a type-true people, born of and grown on the soil, there is a new sort of nomad, cohering unstably in fluid masses, the parasitical city dweller, traditionless, utterly matter-of-fact, religionless, clever, unfruitful, deeply contemptuous of the countryman and especially that highest form of countryman, the country gentleman.”
—Oswald Spengler (1880–1936)