Flags and arms of cantons of Switzerland there is overlap; Unterwalden and Solothurn share the same colours, as do Basel and Appenzell, and with the accession of the modern cantons, Valais and Basel-City, and St. Gallen and Thurgau. Of the 26 cantons since 1999 (22 cantons in 1848, accession of Jura in 1979, three half-cantons designated "canton" in 1999): Distinctively, Swiss cantons use square flags. Historically, the number of cantons was: Nidwalden and Obwalden form traditional subdivisions of Unterwalden. Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft, as well as Appenzell Inner- and Ausserrhoden, are half cantons, resulting from the division of Basel and Appenzell, respectively. The Swiss Federal Constitution of 1999
Districts of Switzerland Districts of Switzerland 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 subnational entities between canton and municipality, loosely termed districts. Most cantons are divided into "Bezirke" (German for districts, singular "Bezirk"). They are also termed "Ämter" (Lucerne, singular "Amt"), "Amtsbezirke" (Bern, "Amtsbezirk"), "district" (in French) or "distretto" (Ticino and part of Graubünden). The "Bezirke" generally provide only administration and court organization. However, for historical reasons districts in cantons Graubünden and Schwyz are their own legal