Cantons of Switzerland Cantons of Switzerland The 26 cantons of Switzerland (, , , ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the Waldstätte. Two further major steps in the development of the Swiss cantonal system are referred to by the terms "Acht Orte" ("Eight Cantons"; between 1353 and 1481) and "Dreizehn Orte" ("Thirteen Cantons",during 1513–1798); they were important intermediate periods of the Ancient Swiss Confederacy. Each canton, formerly also From 1833, there were 25 cantons, increasing to 26 after the
Cantons of Switzerland that remains in popular use, the 1999 revision and official terminology since then use the appellation "cantons with half of a cantonal vote". The reasons for the existence of the three pairs of half-cantons are varied: With their original circumstances of partition now a historical matter, the half-cantons are since 1848 equal to the other cantons in all but two respects: Between 1831 and 1833 the canton of Schwyz divided into half-cantons: (Inner) Schwyz and the break-away Outer Schwyz; in this instance the half-cantons were forced by the Confederation to settle their disputes and re-unite. In the 20th century, some