Districts of Switzerland

From Freepedia

In contrast to centrally organised states, in the federally constituted Switzerland each Canton is completely free to decide its own internal organisation. Therefore there exists a variety of structures and terminology for the subnational entities between Canton and Municipality, loosely termed districts.

Contents

Amt, Amtsbezirk, District and Distretto

Most Cantons are divided into Bezirke (German for districts). They are also termed Ämter (Lucerne), Amtsbezirke (Bern), district (in French) or distretto (Tessin and Graubünden).

The Bezirk generally provides only administration and court organisation. However, for historical reasons districts in cantons Graubünden and Schwyz are their own legal entities with jurisdiction over tax and often have their own Landsgemeinde.

Absence of a district level in ten cantons

Ten of the 26 Cantons entirely dispense with the district level of government:

Uri, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Glarus, Zug, Basel-City and Geneva (each with its own reason, be it historical or practical or because the area is small enough already). Schaffhausen renounced Bezirke since the middle of 1999. Since the start of 2003 Canton of St. Gallen does not recognise the Bezirk level any more; their functions are now undertaken by the electoral constituency.

List of Swiss districts by canton

Canton Districts
Image:Aargau.png AG Aargau 11 Bezirke
Image:Appenzell AR.png AR Appenzell Ausserrhoden
Image:Appenzell IR.png AI Appenzell Innerrhoden
Image:Basel Stadt.png BS Basel-City
Image:Basel Land.png BL Basel-Country 5 Bezirke
Image:Bern.png BE Berne 26 Amtsbezirke, Districts
Image:Fribourg.png FR Fribourg 7 Districts, Bezirke
Image:Genf.png GE Geneva
Image:Glarus.png GL Glarus
Image:Graubünden.png GR Grisons 11 Bezirke, districts, distretti
Image:Jura CofA.png JU Jura 3 districts
Image:Luzern.png LU Lucerne 5 Ämter
Image:Neuenburg.png NE Neuchâtel 6 districts
Image:Nidwalden.png NW Nidwalden
Image:Obwalden.png OW Obwalden
Image:Schaffhausen.png SH Schaffhausen
Image:Schwyz.png SZ Schwyz 6 Bezirke
Image:Solothurn.png SO Solothurn 10 Bezirke
Image:Kanton St.Gallen.png SG St. Gallen 8 Wahlkreise
Image:Thurgau.png TG Thurgau 8 Bezirke
Image:Tessin.png TI Ticino 8 distretti
Image:Uri.png UR Uri
Image:Wallis.png VS Valais 14 districts, Bezirke
Image:Waadt.png VD Vaud 19 districts
Image:Zug.png ZG Zug
Image:Kanton Zürich.png ZH Zurich 12 Bezirke
Total 159 -

The cantons are here ordered according to Article 1 (in German) of the Swiss constitution.

Canton of Zurich

Image:Map Canton Zuerich districts.png The Canton of Zürich is divided into 12 districts (German: Bezirke):


Canton of Berne

As of April 2004, there are 398 municipalities of the canton of Berne within the following 26 administrative districts:

Image:Map Canton Bern Districts.png

Canton of Lucerne

Image:Map Canton Luzern Bezirke.png The Canton of Lucerne is divided into 5 districts termed Ämter:

Canton of Uri

Canton of Uri is not divided into districts: the muncipility is the next lowest unit of government. See: Municipalities of the canton of Uri.


Canton of Schwyz

The Canton of Schwyz is divided into six districts and 30 municipalities, although the districts Einsiedeln, Küssnacht and Gersau simply comprise the municipality of the same name.

Image:Karte Kanton Schwyz Bezirke.png

Canton of Obwalden

Obwalden is not divided into districts: the muncipility is the next lowest unit of government. See: Obwalden#MunicipalitiesObwalden.

Canton of Nidwalden

Nidwalden is not divided into districts.

See: Nidwalden#Municipalities

Canton of Glarus

Canton of Glarus is not divided into districts: the muncipility is the next lower unit of government. See: Municipalities of canton of Glarus.

Canton of Zug

Canton of Zug is not divided into districts.

See: Municipalities of the canton of Zug

Canton of Fribourg

Image:Districts of Canton Freiburg.png

Canton of Fribourg is divided into 7 Bezirke:

See also: Municipalities of the canton of Fribourg


Canton of Solothurn

Image:Districts of Canton Solothurn.png

From 2005, Solothurn's ten districts are merged pairwise into five electoral districts, termed Amtei. From 2005, districts only have a statistical meaning.

  • Bucheggberg, Amtei Wasseramt-Bucheggberg
  • Dorneck, Amtei Dorneck-Thierstein (unofficially Schwarzbubenland)
  • Gäu, Amtei Thal-Gäu
  • Gösgen, Amtei Olten-Gösgen (unofficially Niederamt)
  • Lebern, Amtei Solothurn-Lebern
  • Olten, Amtei Olten-Gösgen
  • Solothurn, Amtei Solothurn-Lebern
  • Thal, Amtei Thal-Gäu
  • Thierstein, Amtei Dorneck-Thierstein
  • Wasseramt, Amtei Wasseramt-Bucheggberg

See: Municipalities of the canton of Solothurn

Canton of Basel-City

Basel-City is not divided into districts. It is formed only of the city of Basel and two municipalities.

Canton of Basel-Country

Image:Map Canton Basel-Landschaft districts.png

There are 5 Bezirke in Basel-Landschaft:

Canton of Schaffhausen

The Canton of Schaffhausen used to be divided into 6 districts (Bezirke) until July 1999, but the municipality is now the next lower unit of government.

Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden is not divided into districts any longer, and so the municipality is the next lower unit of government. Former districts were: Hinterland with capital Herisau, Mittelland with capital Teufen, Vorderland with capital Heiden.

See: Municipalities of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden

The 6 Bezirke (districts) are the local government level, generally assimilated to municipalities:

Feuerschaugemeinde is a special-purpose municipalities for firefighting, energy and water for the town Appenzell.

Canton of St. Gallen

The canton used to be subdivided into 14 districts (Bezirke) until 2003 January 1, when it was reorganised into 8 constituencies (Wahlkreise). See Canton of St. Gallen#Constituencies and municipalities.

Canton of Grisons

Image:Map Canton Graubuenden Bezirke.png

Canton Graubünden is divided into 11 Districts. They tend to follow the natural boundaries of the landscape. The districts are further subdivided into 39 sub-districts (German: Kreise):

Canton of Aargau

Image:Map Canton Aargau Districts.png

Aargau is divided into 11 districts:

Canton of Thurgau

Image:Karte Kanton Thurgau Bezirke.png

The Canton of Thurgau is divided into eight districts, and each is named after its capital:

Canton of Ticino

Image:Karte Kanton Tessin Bezirke.png

The Canton of Ticino is divided into 8 districts (called distretti):

Canton of Vaud

Image:Karte Kanton Waadt Bezirke.png

Since 1803 the Canton of Vaud has been divided into 19 districts (Vaud plans a reorganisation in 2007):

See also: Municipalities of the canton of Vaud

Canton of Valais

Template:Canton Valais districts

Canton of Neuchâtel

Image:Map Canton Neuchatel districts.png

The Canton of Neuchâtel is divided into 6 districts which belong to 4 geographic regions:

  • District of Neuchâtel, Le Littoral region, capital Neuchâtel
  • District of Boudry, Le Littoral region, capital Boudry
  • District of Val-de-Ruz, Val-de-Ruz region, capital Cernier
  • District of Val-de-Travers, Val-de-Travers region, capital Fleurier
  • District of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Montagnes Neuchâteloises region, capital La Chaux-de-Fonds
  • District of Locle, Montagnes Neuchâteloises region, capital Le Locle

Canton of Geneva

The Canton of Geneva is not divided into districts, and so the muncipility is the next level of government. See: Municipalities of the canton of Geneva.

Canton of Jura

Image:Map Canton Jura Bezirke.png

Canton of Jura is divided into 3 districts:

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