Subdivisions of Switzerland
The
Each canton has its individual structure for further subdivisions.
Regions
For statistical purposes, Switzerland is subdivided into seven regions at the NUTS-2 level:
Eastern Switzerland: | Cantons of Graubünden
|
Zürich: | Canton of Zürich |
Central Switzerland: | Cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Lucerne, Zug |
Northwestern Switzerland: | Cantons of Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Aargau |
Espace Mittelland: | Cantons of Neuchatel, Jura
|
Région lémanique : |
Cantons of Geneva, Vaud, Valais |
Ticino: | Canton of Ticino |
Cantons
The 26
Each canton has its own
The
Districts
In contrast to centrally organised states, in the federally constituted Switzerland each Canton is completely free to decide its own internal organisation. Therefore, there exists a variety of structures and terminology for the
Most Cantons are divided into Bezirke (German for districts). They are also termed Ämter (
Eight of the 26 Cantons –
A number of further cantons have dispensed with the district level recently,
A number of further cantons are considering (or have already decided) an abolition of the district level in the future: Schwyz in 2006 voted on its abolition, but voted in favour of keeping the division. Bern in 2006 decided a reduction of its 26 districts to five administrative regions. Vaud decided a reduction from 19 to 10 districts. Valais is planning a similar reduction and in Thurgau, a reduction of eight to four districts is under discussion.[when?]
Municipalities
Communes (
Each canton defines their responsibilities. These may include providing local government services such as education, medical and social services, public transportation, and tax collection. The degree of centralization varies from one canton to another.[citation needed]
Communes are generally governed by a council (sometimes called Municipality) headed by a mayor as executive and the town meeting as legislature. Most cantons leave the option to larger municipalities to opt for a city parliament. In some cantons, foreign persons that have dwelled for a certain time in Switzerland are also allowed to participate in the municipal politics.[citation needed]
Communes are financed through direct taxes (e.g. income tax), with rates varying more or less within a framework set by the canton.[citation needed]
Many municipalities are having difficulties maintaining the civil services they need to perform the duties they are required to do. In an effort to reduce expenses, many municipalities are combining together (through mergers or the creation of
"Cities" (villes or Städte) are the municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants or smaller places which had medieval town rights. There is no specific designation for smaller communities such as "village" or "town".[citation needed]
Other subdivisions
Some subdivisions that exist are:
- Region
- German: Verwaltungsregionen (e.g. Subdivisions of the canton of Bern)
- Electoral district
- German: Amtei (e.g. Subdivisions of the canton of Solothurn)
- Constituencies
- German: Wahlkreis (e.g. Subdivisions of the canton of St. Gallen)
- Sub-district or circle
- German: Kreis (e.g. Graubünden)
- Circolo(e.g. Ticino)
- French: Cercle (e.g. Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud)
See also
Notes and references
- ^ Cantons, In the Old Confederation until 1798 in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
- ^ a b Cantons, In the Federal State since 1848 in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
- ^ Swiss Government website Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine with links to each cantonal government, accessed 11 November 2008
- ^ Official list of Swiss municipalities, p. 17