Canton of Zürich

Coordinates: 47°22′N 8°33′E / 47.367°N 8.550°E / 47.367; 8.550
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Canton of Zürich
Kanton Zürich (German)
Flag of Canton of Zürich
Coat of arms of Canton of Zürich
Map
Location in Switzerland
Map of Zürich

Lowest point
332 m (1,089 ft): Rhine at the border in Weiach
Joined1351
LanguagesGerman
HDI0.989 (2021)[5]
very high · 1st of 7 regions
Websitewww.zh.ch

The canton of Zürich (

Züritüütsch
, is commonly spoken.

The canton had the highest

Geneva
by GDP per capita.

History

Early history

silver coin 40 batzen of Zurich, 1813

The

Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance.[8]

Territorial development of Zürich, 1313–1798

Zurihgauuia (Zürichgau) was a subdivision of

Töss
. From the 740s, substantial portions of Zürichgau were owned by the
Abbey of St. Gall
. In c. 760, an administrative re-organisation under counts Ruthard and Warin exempted the castle town of Zürich from comital rule. A county of Zürichgau was established under
Nellenburger, and during 1077–1172 by the Lenzburger
. By the 13th century, Zürichgau was divided between the
Kyburger, who held the territory west and east of Lake Zürich, respectively.[9]

City state

Administrative division of the Zürichgau in the 18th century.

The territory of the canton of Zürich corresponds to the lands acquired by the city of Zürich after it became

guilds
in 1336. Zürich joined the Swiss Confederacy in 1351.

Zürich claimed and lost the

Habsburgs
in 1468. In 1651, Zürich purchased Rafzerfeld from the counts of Sulz. At this point, almost all of the territory of the modern canton (as well as some territories beyond its modern borders) was owned by Zürich; exceptions include Wülflingen (acquired 1760), Buch (acquired 1761), Dietikon, which was a condominium, and Rheinau (owned by Rheinau Abbey).

In the 18th century, the "inner bailiwicks" (Innere Vogteien) were under direct administration of city officials, while the "outer bailiwicks" (Äussere Vogteien) were ruled by the

Knonau. The city of Winterthur
was nominally subject to Zürich but retained far-reaching autonomy.

Zürichgau, the name of the medieval pagus, was in use for the territories of the city of Zürich during the 15th and 16th century; the term canton (Kanton) gradually entered use in the 16th century, but Zürichgau remained widely used well into the 19th century (becoming obsolescent after the formation of the modern canton in 1831).

Under the short-lived

Canton of Aargau
. In 1804 the
Kantonspolizei Zürich was established as Landjäger-Corps des Kantons Zürich.[10]

Modern canton

A cantonal constitution was drawn up in 1814 and replaced in 1831 by a

radical-liberal
constitution. The Züriputsch, an armed uprising of the conservative rural population against the radical-liberal order, led to the dissolution of the cantonal government, and a provisional conservative government was installed by colonel Paul Carl Eduard Ziegler. Under the threat of intervention of the other radical-liberal cantons of the Confederacy, the provisional government declared that the 1831 constitution would remain in effect. In a tumultuous session on 9 September 1839, the cantonal parliament declared its dissolution In the so-called Septemberregime, the newly elected cantonal government replaced all cantonal officials with conservatives, but it was again ousted by a radical-liberal election victory in 1844.

federal constitution
. The radical-liberal era of 1844–1868 was dominated by the so-called System Escher, a network of liberal politicians and industrialists built by Alfred Escher. Escher governed the canton almost in monarchical fashion, and was popularly dubbed Alfred I. or Tsar of All Zürich. Escher controlled all cantonal institutions, at first with very little political opposition, expunging all trace of the conservative takeover of 1839. Under Escher, the city of Zürich rose to the status of economic and financial center it still retains. Opposition against the dominance of Sytstem Escher increased after 1863. The cantonal government was accused to continue the system of aristocratic rule liberalism had claimed to abolish. The oppositional Democratic Movement was centered in
popular initiative
in 1865, which precipitated a revision of the cantonal constitution. In April 1869, a new cantonal constitution was adopted by popular vote, introducing additional direct democratic elements and the popular election of both the cantonal government and the cantonal representatives in the federal Council of States. The new constitution also abolished the
death penalty (the last execution by hanging in Zürich took place in 1810, the last public execution by guillotine in 1865), guaranteed freedom of religion and freedom of association and introduced progressive taxes
.

In 1877, the Cantonal Laboratory Zurich was founded in order to regulate the quality of food and drinking water. The first cantonal chemist was Haruthiun Abeljanz, who was instrumental in setting up the new laboratory, moving it from an unpromising start in converted storage rooms to Lintheschergasse 10, which was located just behind the Pestalozziwiese, a memorial to Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi.[11]

The Cantonal Bank was established in 1870 to regulate cantonal loans at fixed interest rates to farms and businesses.

A law of proportional representation was passed in 1916, favouring the rise of the Social Democrats. A proposal for the introduction of female suffrage was rejected in 1920; female suffrage was introduced on the municipal level in 1969 and on the cantonal level in 1970, shortly before its imposition by federal law, passed in 1971.

Economic growth continued in the 20th century. A first airport was built at

easy commuting distance
to the city.

The current constitution replaced the one of 1869 in January 2006.

The Antiquarische Gesellschaft in Zürich is an organization devoted to preserving the canton's history, the Staatsarchiv Zürich houses the state archives.

Geography

Lake Zürich and the island of Ufenau
, the largest in Switzerland

The canton of Zürich is situated in the eastern part of the

Swiss plateau. It is entirely within the drainage basin of the High Rhine
. It is characterized by
Lake Zürich (Linth-Limmat, 88 km2), Greifensee (Glatt, 8.4 km2) and Pfäffikersee
(Glatt, 3.3 km2). Minor lakes include Türlersee (Limmat), Katzensee (Glatt), Hüttnersee (Sihl), Lützelsee (Limmat).

Its neighbouring cantons are Schaffhausen to the north, Aargau to the west, the cantons of Zug and Schwyz to the south and the cantons of Thurgau and St. Gallen to the east.

It also has an international border with the German district of

.

The canton can be roughly divided into the city and lake, the

Greater Zürich Area
extends beyond the cantonal borders.

The canton has an area, as of 2011[update], of 1,728.8 square kilometers (667.5 sq mi). Of this area, 43.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 30.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 20.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and 5.8% is unproductive land.[12]

Most of the canton consists of shallow river valleys which drain towards the High Rhine to the north. Rafzerfeld is a territory north of the Rhine acquired by the canton in 1651. In the northwest and southeast of the canton the territory rises towards the

Jura and Alps, respectively. The valley of the Linth leads into the Lake Zürich and continues as the Limmat
. This valley is the most significant valley of the canton of Zürich. The valley of the by a mountainous area.

The Hörnli (1133 m) is the highest elevation of this mountain ridge. The valley of the river Sihl is located in the west of the canton. In converges with the Limmat in the city of Zürich. The Sihl is separated from the lake of Zürich by the Albis Range. The Albishorn (915 m (3,002 ft)) is the highest elevation of this range. The Schnebelhorn is a mountain located near Fischenthal in the Töss Valley, between the cantons of Zürich (west) and St. Gallen (east). It is the highest summit (1,292 m (4,239 ft)) of the canton of Zürich. The Uetliberg is part of the Albis Range. This mountain is popular with the population of the city of Zürich for recreation.

The vast majority of the canton lies to the south of the Rhine, the exceptions being Rafzerfeld as mentioned and a tiny portion of the village of Laufen-Uhwiesen called Nohl.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the coat of arms is Per bend azure and argent.[13]

Government

Legislative power

The Cantonal Council (Kantonsrat) has 180 members elected every four years.

Executive power

The canton is governed by a seven-member council (Regierungsrat). On 24 March 2019, the following were elected for four years:

Political subdivisions

Districts

Districts in the canton of Zürich

The canton is divided into 12 districts (German: Bezirke):

Municipalities

There are, as of December 2015, 169 municipalities in the canton (Politische Gemeinden).[15]

Merger of municipalities

There were no changes between 1934 and 2013, but the following occurred after 2013.

Politics

In the

FDP (11.6%) and the glp (11.5%).[21]

The SVP received about the same percentage of the vote as they did in the 2007 Federal election (33.9% in 2007 vs 29.8% in 2011). The SPS retained about the same popularity (19.8% in 2007), as well as the FDP (13.2% in 2007), while the glp was the big winner of the election (7.0% in 2007).[22]

Federal election results

Percentage of the total vote per party in the canton in the Federal Elections 1971–2019[23]
Party Ideology 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019
SVP/UDC Right-wing populism 12.2 11.3 14.5 13.8 15.2 20.2 25.5 32.5 33.4 33.9 29.8 30.7 26.7
SP/PS Social democracy 20.9 23.9 26.5 23.0 17.4 18.8 23.1 25.6 25.7 19.8 19.3 21.4 17.3
GPS/PES Green politics * * 1.3 4.2 8.0 7.0 6.5 4.1 8.5 10.4 8.4 6.9 14.1
GLP/PVL Green liberalism * * * * * * * * * 7.0 11.5 8.2 14.0
FDP.The Liberalsa
Classical liberalism 16.8 18.5 22.4 21.8 20.3 18.7 18.1 17.8 16.2 13.2 11.6 15.3 13.7
CVP/PDC/PPD/PCD Christian democracy 9.5 9.4 9.7 9.1 7.1 5.9 4.9 5.1 5.4 7.6 5.0 4.2 4.4
EVP/PEV Christian democracy 5.2 5.4 5.7 5.4 4.4 4.8 3.7 3.4 4.1 3.7 3.1 3.1 3.3
BDP/PBD Conservatism * * * * * * * * * * 5.3 3.6 1.6
EDU/UDF Christian right * 0.5 0.4 0.6 1.8 1.8 1.9 1.8 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.1 1.6
PdA/PST-POP/PC/PSL Communism 1.6 1.1 1.2 0.3 0.3 * * * * 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3
SD/DS
Swiss nationalism
5.0 4.4 2.5 5.9 5.0 5.2 3.3 1.5 0.9 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.2
LPS/PLS Libertarianism * b * * * * * 0.5 0.2 * * * * *
Ring of Independents Social liberalism 16.5 15.6 11.2 9.9 11.6 6.1 5.3 2.1 * * * * *
CSP/PCS Christian socialism * * * * * * 0.2 0.2 * 0.1 0.2 * *
POCH Communism * 1.5 2.3 3.8 3.8 e * * * * * * *
FGA Feminism * * * 0.6 c 2.4 2.7 1.8 1.4 1.1 d d d
Rep. Right-wing populism 10.4 6.2 0.9 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 *
FPS/PSL Right-wing populism * * * * 3.8 5.9 3.5 0.8 0.1 0.1 * * *
Other 2.0 2.2 1.6 1.5 0.8 3.3 0.9 3.0 2.2 0.3 3.1 4.2 3.3
Voter participation % 57.8 50.4 46.4 46.9 47.5 46.3 43.0 45.1 45.1 49.0 46.8 47.2
^a FDP before 2009, FDP.The Liberals after 2009
^b "*" indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton.
^c Part of a coalition with the POCH
^d Part of a coalition with the parties listed under Other
^e Party fragmented, part remained in a coalition with the FGA and the remainder joining the Green Party

Demographics

Zürich has a population (as of December 2020) of 1,553,423.[3] As of 2010, 23.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 12.7%. Migration accounted for 10.3%, while births and deaths accounted for 2.6%.[12]

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (1,040,168 or 83.4%) as their first language, Italian is the second most common (49,750 or 4.0%) and Serbo-Croatian is the third (21,334 or 1.7%). There are 17,685 people who speak French and 2,606 people who speak Romansh.[24]

Of the population in the canton, 314,394 or about 25.2% were born in Zürich and lived there in 2000. There were 291,631 or 23.4% who were born in the same canton, while 284,461 or 22.8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 310,532 or 24.9% were born outside of Switzerland.[24]

As of 2000, children and teenagers (0–17 years old) make up 20.5% of the population, while adults (18–64 years old) make up 64.4% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15%.[12] As of 2000, there were 531,094 people who were single and never married in the canton. There were 566,636 married individuals, 66,012 widows or widowers and 84,164 individuals who are divorced.[24]

As of 2000, there were 567,573 private households in the canton, and an average of 2.1 persons per household.[12] There were 223,869 households that consist of only one person and 27,935 households with five or more people. As of 2009, the construction rate of new housing units was 5.3 new units per 1000 residents.[12] As of 2003 the average price to rent an average apartment in the city of Zürich was 1288.84 Swiss francs (CHF) per month (US$1030, £580, €820 approx. exchange rate from 2003). The average rate for a one-room apartment was 733.01 CHF (US$590, £330, €470), a two-room apartment was about 1009.94 CHF (US$810, £450, €650), a three-room apartment was about 1192.66 CHF (US$950, £540, €760) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 2550.35 CHF (US$2040, £1150, €1630). The average apartment price in the city of Zürich was 115.5% of the national average of 1116 CHF.[25]

The vacancy rate for the canton, in 2010, was 0.63%.[12]

Historical population

The historical population is given in the following chart:[26]

Religion

In 1519,

Roman Catholic in 2004,[27]
a legacy of considerable immigration from Southern Europe.

From the 2000 census[update], 497,986 or 39.9% belonged to the

Roman Catholic. Of the rest of the population, there were 29,592 members of an Orthodox church (or about 2.37% of the population), there were 1,435 individuals (or about 0.11% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 70,897 individuals (or about 5.68% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 6,461 individuals (or about 0.52% of the population) who were Jewish, and 66,520 (or about 5.33% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 5,878 individuals who were Buddhist, 6,024 individuals who were Hindu and 1,456 individuals who belonged to another church. 165,324 (or about 13.25% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 50,090 individuals (or about 4.01% of the population) did not answer the question.[24]

Economy

Most of the land is cultivated, but the canton of Zürich is not considered as an agricultural area. The lands to the north and east are more agricultural, but in every part of the canton manufacturing predominates. The canton of Zürich is noted for machinery. Silk and cotton weaving were important in the past, but have now ceased to be of importance. There is a large paper industry. Small and middle sized companies are important contributors to the economy of the canton of Zürich. The city of Zürich is a major banking centre, and insurance is also of importance.

In 2014, about 1.2% of the workers in Zürich work in the

trades and 9.5% worked in general construction. Additionally, almost 9% of the workers manufactured electronics. The tertiary sector employed 836,410 or about 84.1% of the total, which is much higher than 74.9% nationwide. This number has increased by about 180,000 since 2010 while the population in the canton has only increased by 73,000 over the same time period.[28] Of those in the tertiary sector, the fourth largest sub-sector (in 2008) was financial services with 6.2% of the tertiary total.[29][30]

As of  2010[update], Zürich had an unemployment rate of 3.9%. As of 2008, there were 12,507 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 4,227 businesses involved in this sector. 143,231 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 11,383 businesses in this sector. 655,848 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 58,796 businesses in this sector.[12]

In 2008 the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 678,306. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 8,120, of which 7,771 were in agriculture, 320 were in forestry or lumber production and 29 were in fishing or fisheries. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 133,723 of which 81,212 or (60.7%) were in manufacturing, 774 or (0.6%) were in mining and 47,014 (35.2%) were in construction.

The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 536,463. In the tertiary sector; 105,226 or 19.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 38,005 or 7.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 33,417 or 6.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 35,571 or 6.6% were in the information industry, 81,163 or 15.1% were the insurance or financial industry, 65,139 or 12.1% were technical professionals or scientists, 36,792 or 6.9% were in education and 63,800 or 11.9% were in health care.[31]

Of the working population, 37.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 41.8% used a private car.[12]

The cantonal, local and church tax rates in the canton is generally slightly lower than the average rate for the entire country.[32]

Transport

Winterthur railway station

Railways in standard gauge run through all major valleys in the canton. The centre for transport is Zürich, where a great number of local railways connect to national and international rail links. The railway station of the city of Zürich,

ICE, TGV and Cisalpino
connect to Zürich.

The first Swiss railway ran in the

Limmat valley in 1847, connecting Zürich to Baden
.

The major airport of Switzerland Zurich Airport is located in Kloten, a mere 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) from the city centre of Zürich. It is home to Swiss International Air Lines.

The A1, A3 and A4 motorways run through the canton. Other motorways and expressways which also run through the canton include the A7, the A51, the A52 and the A53. Major hubs are Zürich and Winterthur.

Education

In Zürich about 493,209 or (39.5%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 212,154 or (17.0%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 212,154 who completed tertiary schooling, 55.8% were Swiss men, 25.5% were Swiss women, 11.6% were non-Swiss men and 7.1% were non-Swiss women.[24]

Notes

  1. ^ The cantonal constitution does not specify Zurich as its capital. However, the canton's government, highest court, legislature, and other canton level entities are all located in Zurich.

References

  1. ^ a b "Verfassung des Kantons Zürich" [Constitution of the Canton of Zurich]. admin.ch. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  2. ^ Arealstatistik Land Cover - Kantone und Grossregionen nach 6 Hauptbereichen accessed 27 October 2017
  3. ^ a b c "Ständige und nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach institutionellen Gliederungen, Geburtsort und Staatsangehörigkeit". bfs.admin.ch (in German). Swiss Federal Statistical Office - STAT-TAB. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  4. ^ Statistik, Bundesamt für (21 January 2021). "Bruttoinlandsprodukt (BIP) nach Grossregion und Kanton - 2008-2018 | Tabelle". Bundesamt für Statistik (in German). Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  5. ^ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Prehistoric Pile Dwellings in Switzerland". Swiss Coordination Group UNESCO Palafittes (palafittes.org). Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  7. ^ "World Heritage". palafittes.org. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  8. ^ "A-Objekte KGS-Inventar". Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, Amt für Bevölkerungsschutz. 2009. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 2014-12-10.
  9. ^ Peter Erhart: Zürichgau in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 2014.
  10. ^ Christoph Ebnöther (28 September 2010). "Polizei" (in German). HDS. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  11. ^ "Die Geschichte des Kantonalen Labors Zürich" (PDF). Kantonales Labor Zürich (in German). 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Swiss Federal Statistical Office Archived 15 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine accessed 5 January 2012
  13. ^ Flags of the World.com[permanent dead link] accessed 5 January 2012
  14. ISSN 0376-6829
    . Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  15. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Regional portraits accessed 27 October 2016
  16. ^ Bertschikon and Wiesendangen merged to Wiesendangen on 1 January 2014.
  17. ^ "Bertschikon" (in German). Zürcher Oberländer. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  18. Sternenberg
    merged to Bauma on 1 January 2015.
  19. ^ "Dossier Sternenberg" (in German). Zürcher Oberländer. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  20. ^ "Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz" (in German). bfs.admin.ch. Archived from the original on 13 November 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  21. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Elections in Switzerland Archived 11 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 5 January 2012
  22. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Nationalratswahlen 2007: Stärke der Parteien und Wahlbeteiligung, nach Gemeinden/Bezirk/Canton Archived 14 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 28 May 2010
  23. ^ Nationalratswahlen: Stärke der Parteien nach Kantonen (Schweiz = 100%) (Report). Swiss Federal Statistical Office. 2015. Archived from the original on 2 August 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  24. ^ a b c d e STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 – 2000 Archived 9 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 2 February 2011
  25. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Rental prices Archived 23 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine 2003 data (in German) accessed 26 May 2010
  26. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Bevölkerungsentwicklung nach Region, 1850–2000 Archived 30 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 29 January 2011
  27. ^ Federal Department of Statistics (2004). "Wohnbevölkerung nach Religion". Archived from the original (Interactive Map) on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
  28. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Regional Portraits(in German) accessed 20 April 2017
  29. ^ "Arbeitsstätten und Beschäftigte nach Kanton, Wirtschaftsabteilung und Grössenklasse". STAT-TAB (in German). Federal Statistical Office. 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2017.[permanent dead link]
  30. ^ "Arbeitsstätten und Beschäftigte nach Kanton und Wirtschaftsart (BZ)". STAT-TAB (in German). Federal Statistical Office. 2008. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  31. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Betriebszählung: Arbeitsstätten nach Gemeinde und NOGA 2008 (Abschnitte), Sektoren 1–3 Archived 25 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 28 January 2011
  32. ^ Swiss Federal Tax Office 2015 numbers (in German) accessed 19 April 2017

External links