Subdivisions of Switzerland Subdivisions of Switzerland The Swiss Confederation comprises the 26 cantons of Switzerland. Each canton has its individual structure for further subdivisions. For statistical purposes, Switzerland is subdivided into seven regions at the NUTS-2 level: The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848. Each canton has its own constitution, legislature, government and courts. Most of the cantons' legislatures are unicameral parliaments, their size varying
Cantons of Switzerland to refer to the members of the Swiss Confederacy. English use of "canton" in reference to the Swiss Confederacy (as opposed to the heraldic sense) dates to the early 17th century. In the Old Swiss Confederacy, the term "Ort" (plural: "Orte") was in use from the early 15th century as a generic term for the member cantons. The founding cantons specifically were also known as "Waldstätte" "forest settlements", "forest cantons" (singular: "Waldstatt"). The formulaic ' for the members of the early confederacy is recorded in the mid-14th century, used interchangeably with ' ("cities and lands", "city cantons and rural cantons")