Cantons of Switzerland Cantons of Switzerland The 26 cantons of Switzerland (, , , ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the Waldstätte. Two further major steps in the development of the Swiss cantonal system are referred to by the terms "Acht Orte" ("Eight Cantons"; between 1353 and 1481) and "Dreizehn Orte" ("Thirteen Cantons",during 1513–1798); they were important intermediate periods of the Ancient Swiss Confederacy. Each canton, formerly also From 1833, there were 25 cantons, increasing to 26 after the
Federal budget of Switzerland in that year. In 2014 the federal budget of Switzerland had an estimated size of 66.353 billion Swiss francs, which is an estimated equivalent 10.63% of the country's GDP in that year. Note that the Swiss "federal" budget only comprises 31.7% of Swiss public expenditure, the rest being managed by the cantons and the municipalities directly. As the federal system in Switzerland divides the nation into three levels of governance, confederation, cantons and municipalities, the federal budget refers solely to the revenues and expenditures at the national level. The regional (canton) budgets, as well as the budgets of the more