Cantons of Switzerland

Cantons of Switzerland

The table below lists the 26 cantons that constitute present day Switzerland. They are listed in the same order as in the Swiss Constitution[?].

Abbr	Canton	Since	Capital	Population¹	Area²	Density³	Municip.¹	Official languages
ZH	Zurich	1351	Zurich	1212000	1729	701	171	German
BE	Berne[?]	1353	Berne	942000	5959	158	399	German, French
LU	Lucerne[?]	1332	Lucerne	347000	1493	233	107	German
UR	Uri	1291	Altdorf[?]	35000	1077	33	20	German
SZ	Schwyz[?]	1291	Schwyz	130000	908	143	30	German
OW	Obwalden[?] (Obwald)	1291	Sarnen[?]	32000	491	66	7	German
NW	Nidwalden[?] (Nidwald)	1291	Stans[?]	38000	276	138	11	German
GL	Glarus[?]	1352	Glarus[?]	35000	685	51	28	German
ZG	Zug	1352	Zug	99000	239	416	11	German
FR	Fribourg[?]	1481	Fribourg	236000	1671	141	242	French, German
SO	Solothurn[?]	1481	Solothurn	244000	791	308	126	German
BS	Basel-City (Basle Town)	1501	Basel	188000	37	5072	3	German
BL	Basel-Country (Basle Country)	1501	Liestal	260000	518	502	86	German
SH	Schaffhausen[?]	1501	Schaffhausen	73000	298	246	34	German
AR	Appenzell Outer Rhodes[?]	1513	Herisau[?]⁴	54000	243	220	20	German
AI	Appenzell Inner Rhodes[?]	1513	Appenzell[?]	15000	173	87	6	German
SG	St. Gallen[?] (St. Gall)	1803	St. Gallen[?]	449000	2026	222	90	German
GR	Graubünden (Grisons)	1803	Chur	187000	7105	26	211	German, Romansh, Italian
AG	Aargau (Argovia)	1803	Aarau	544000	1404	388	232	German
TG	Thurgau[?] (Thurgovia)	1803	Frauenfeld[?]	227000	991	229	80	German
TI	Ticino	1803	Bellinzona[?]	309000	2812	110	244	Italian
VD	Vaud[?]	1803	Lausanne	604000	3212	188	382	French
VS	Valais	1815	Sion[?]	276000	5224	53	160	French, German
NE	Neuchâtel[?]	1815	Neuchâtel[?]	166000	803	206	62	French
GE	Geneva[?]	1815	Geneva	407000	282	1442	44	French
JU	Jura	1979	Delémont[?]	69000	838	82	83	French
CH	Switzerland		Berne	7178000	41285	174	2889	German, French, Italian, Romansh

Notes: ¹ in 2000-2001, ² km², ³ per km², ⁴ seat of government and parliament, the seat of the judicial authorities is Trogen[?].

The two letter abbreviations for Swiss cantons are widely used, e.g. on car license plates and in the ISO 3166-2 codes (with the prefix "CH-", i.e. CH-SZ for the canton of Schwyz).

Names in other languages

Abbr	English	French	Italian	German	Romansh	Spanish	Esperanto¹
AG	Aargau	Argovie	Argovia	Aargau	Argovia	Argovia
AI	Appenzell Inner Rhodes[?]	Appenzell Rhodes-Intérieures	Appenzello Interno	Appenzell Innerhoden	Appenzell dadens	Appenzell Rodas Interiores
AR	Appenzell Outer Rhodes[?]	Appenzell Rhodes-Extérieures	Appenzello Esterno	Appenzell Ausserrhoden	Appenzell dador	Appenzell Rodas Exteriores
BS	Basel-City	Bâle-Ville	Basilea Città	Basel-Stadt	Basilea-Citad	Basilea-Ciudad	Bazelo-Urbo
BL	Basel-Country	Bâle-Campagne	Basilea Campagna	Basel-Landschaft	Basilea-Champagna	Basilea-Campaña	Bazelo-Kamparo
BE	Berne[?]	Berne	Berna	Bern	Berna	Berna	Berno
FR	Fribourg[?]	Fribourg	Friburgo	Friburg	Friburg	Friburgo	Friburgo
GE	Geneva[?]	Genève	Ginevra	Genf	Genevra	Ginebra	Ĝenevo
GL	Glarus[?]	Glaris	Glarona	Glarus	Glaruna	Glaris
GR	Graubünden	Grisons	Grigioni	Graubünden	Grischun	Grisones	Grizono
JU	Jura	Jura	Giura	Jura	Giura	Jura
LU	Lucerne[?]	Lucerne	Lucerna	Luzern	Lucerna	Lucerna	Lucerno
NE	Neuchâtel[?]	Neuchâtel	Neuchâtel	Neuenburg	Neuchâtel	Neuchatel	Neuchâtel
NW	Nidwalden[?]	Nidwald	Nidvaldo	Nidwalden	Sutsilvania	Unterwalden bajo
OW	Obwalden[?]	Obwald	Obvaldo	Obwalden	Sursilvania	Unterwalden alto
SH	Schaffhausen[?]	Schaffhouse	Sciaffusa	Schaffhausen	Schaffusa	Schaffhausen	Ŝafhaŭzo
SZ	Schwyz[?]	Schwyz	Svitto	Schwyz	Sviz	Schwyz
SO	Solothurn[?]	Soleure	Soletta	Solothurn	Soloturn	Soleura
SG	St. Gallen[?]	Saint-Gall	San Gallo	St. Gallen	Son Gagl	Sankt Gallen
TG	Thurgau[?]	Thurgovie	Turgovia	Thurgau	Turgovia	Turgovia
TI	Ticino	Tessin	Ticino	Tessin	Tessin	Tesino	Tiĉino
UR	Uri	Uri	Uri	Uri	Uri	Uri
VS	Valais	Valais	Vallese	Wallis	Vallais	Valais	Valezo
VD	Vaud[?]	Vaud	Vaud	Waadt	Vad	Vaud	Vaud
ZG	Zug	Zoug	Zugo	Zug	Zug	Zug
ZH	Zurich	Zurich	Zurigo	Zürich	Turitg	Zurich	Zuriko

Notes: ¹where a version differing from German is available