Cantons of Switzerland it was widely seen as anti-EU rhetoric rather than a serious proposal. The motion was eventually dropped and not even examined by the parliament. 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
Cantons of Switzerland until the late 15th century. "Ort" was increasingly replaced by "Stand" (plural: "Stände") "estate" about 1550, a term taken to imply liberty and sovereignty. Abolished in the Helvetic Republic, the term was revived in 1815 and remains in use today. The French term "canton" adopted into German after 1648, and then only in occasional use until the early 19th century: prominent usage of "Ort" and "Stand" gradually disappeared in German-speaking Switzerland from the time of the Helvetic Republic. Only with the Act of Mediation of 1803 did German "Kanton" become an official designation, retained in the Swiss Constitution of 1848.