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
Cantons of Switzerland Confederacy was composed of 13 sovereign confederate allies (the Thirteen Cantons; ), and there were two different kinds: five rural states () – Uri, Schwyz (which became eponymous of the confederacy), Unterwalden, Glarus, Appenzell – and eight urban states () – Zürich, Bern, Luzern, Zug, Basel, Fribourg, Solothurn, Schaffhausen. Though they were technically part of the Holy Roman Empire, they had become "de facto" independent when the Swiss defeated Emperor Maximillian in 1499 in Dornach. In the early modern period, the individual confederate allies came to be seen as republics; while the six traditional allies had a tradition of direct