Subdivisions of Switzerland difficulties maintaining the civil services they need to perform the duties they are required to do. In an effort to reduce expenses, many municipalities are combining together (through mergers or the creation of special-purpose districts). This restructuring is generally encouraged by the cantonal governments and the rate of these unions is increasing. "Cities" ("villes" or "Städte") are the municipalities with more than 10'000 inhabitants or smaller places which had medieval town rights. There is no specific designation for smaller communities such as "village" or "town". Some subdivisions that exist are: Subdivisions of Switzerland The Swiss Confederation comprises the 26 cantons
Culinary Heritage of Switzerland Culinary Heritage of Switzerland The Culinary Heritage of Switzerland (, , , ) is a multilingual online encyclopedia of traditional Swiss cuisine and produce. The project was initiated after Swiss MP Josef Zisyadis's parliamentary motion in 2000. After obtaining CHF 2 million of funding by the Swiss federal government, the Swiss cantons and private sponsors, the private association "Culinary Heritage of Switzerland" was founded in 2003. The association hired a team of researchers, including ethnologists and historians, to write the articles and carry out field research by interviewing Swiss bakers, butchers, cultural historians, archivists and farmer's wives. It made the