Cantons of Switzerland the canton of Schwyz. Six of the 26 cantons are traditionally, but no longer officially, called "half-cantons" (, , , ). In two instances (Basel and Appenzell) this was a consequence of a historic division, whilst in the case of Unterwalden a historic mutual association, resulting in three pairs of half-cantons. The other 20 cantons were — and in some instances still are — though only in a context where it is needed to distinguish them from any half-cantons, typically termed "full" cantons in English. The historic half-cantons, and their pairings, are still recognizable in the first article of the
Municipalities of Switzerland municipalities per canton. In addition to the municipalities as basic territorial political subdivisions, a number of other local subdivisions exist in several cantons. These include: Municipalities of Switzerland Municipalities (, ' or '; ; ; ) are the lowest level of administrative division in Switzerland. Each municipality is part of one of the Swiss cantons, which form the Swiss Confederation. In most cantons municipalities are also part of districts or other sub-cantonal administrative divisions. There are 2,222 municipalities . Their populations range between several hundred thousand (Zürich), and a few dozen people (Bister), and their territory between 0.32 km² (Kaiserstuhl