Editing Cantons of Switzerland (section)

==Half-cantons==
{{anchor|Half-canton}}<!-- [[Half-canton]] redirects here -->Six of the 26 cantons are traditionally, but no longer officially, called "half-cantons" ({{langx|de|Halbkanton}}, {{langx|fr|demi-canton}}, {{langx|it|semicantone}}, {{langx|rm|mez-chantun}}). In two instances (Basel and Appenzell) this was a consequence of a historic division, whilst in the case of Unterwalden a historic mutual association, resulting in three pairs of half-cantons. The other 20 cantons were, and in some instances still are<ref>[https://www.zg.ch/behoerden/direktion-des-innern/kantonales-sozialamt/generationen-und-gesellschaft/integration/8-informationen-fuer-migrantinnen-und-migranten/download/DI-NZZ-en-WEB.pdf Welcome to the canton of Zug] Official document published by the canton of Zug government (PDF)</ref>—though only in a context where it is needed to distinguish them from any half-cantons—typically termed "full" cantons in English.<ref>''Bhagwan'' and ''Bhushan" (2009) World Constitutions - A Comparative Study - Ninth Edition (page 311)</ref>

The first article of the 1848 and 1874 constitutions constituted the Confederation as the union of "twenty-two sovereign cantons", referring to the half-cantons as "[[Unterwalden]] ({{lang|de|ob und nid dem Wald}} ['[[Obwalden|above]] and [[Nidwalden|beneath]] the woods'])", "Basel ({{lang|de|Stadt und Landschaft}} ['city and country'])" and "Appenzell ({{lang|de|beider Rhoden}} ['both Rhoden'])".<ref>[http://www.verfassungen.de/ch/verf74-i.htm Bundesverfassung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft vom 29. Mai 1874], [http://www.verfassungen.de/ch/verf48.htm Bundesverfassung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft vom 12. September 1848] {{in lang|de}}; author's translation.</ref> 
The 1874 constitution was amended to list 23 cantons with the accession of the [[Canton of Jura]] in 1978.

The historic half-cantons, and their pairings, are still recognizable in the first article of the [[Swiss Federal Constitution]] of 1999 by being joined to their other "half" with the conjunction "and":
{{blockquote|The People and the cantons of Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, <u>[[Canton of Obwalden|Obwalden]]</u> and <u>[[Canton of Nidwalden|Nidwalden]]</u>, Glarus, Zug, Fribourg, Solothurn, <u>[[Basel-Stadt]]</u> and <u>[[Basel-Landschaft]]</u>, Schaffhausen, <u>[[Appenzell Ausserrhoden]]</u> and <u>[[Appenzell Innerrhoden]],</u> St. Gallen, Graubünden, Aargau, Thurgau, Ticino, Vaud, Valais, Neuchâtel, Geneva, and Jura form the Swiss Confederation.|Article 1 of the Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation<ref>{{cite swiss law | sr =101 | link = 101 | art =1 | date =18 April 1999 | en =Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation | enab = | de = | deab = | fr = | frab = | it = |es = | esab = | itab = }}</ref> }}
The 1999 constitutional revision retained the traditional distinction, on the request of the six cantonal governments, as a way to mark the historic association of the half-cantons to each other.<ref>Felix Hafner / Rainer J. Schweizer in ''Ehrenzeller'', Art. 1 N 2; Häfelin, N 966.</ref> While the older constitutions referred to these states as "half-cantons", a term that remains in popular use, the 1999 revision and official terminology since then use the appellation "cantons with half of a cantonal vote".<ref>Felix Hafner / Rainer J. Schweizer in ''Ehrenzeller'', Art. 1 N 10; Häfelin, N 963</ref>

The [[Coins of the Swiss franc|{{frac|1|2}}, 1 and 2 francs coins]] as minted since 1874 represent the number of cantons by 22 stars surrounding the figure of [[Helvetia]] on the obverse.
The design of the coins was altered to show 23 stars, including Jura, beginning with the 1983 batch. The design has remained unchanged since, and does not reflect the official number of "26 cantons" introduced in 1999.<ref>Swissmint, [https://www.swissmint.ch/d/downloads/dokumentation/numis_beri/Dominus.pdf Sterne auf Schweizer Münzen] (2008), p. 4.</ref>

[[File:Karikatur Teilung Basels.jpg|thumb|Caricature of the division of [[Canton of Basel|Basel]], 1833]]
The reasons for the existence of the three pairs of half-cantons are varied:

* [[Unterwalden]] never consisted of a single unified jurisdiction. Originally, Obwalden, Nidwalden, and the [[Abbey of Engelberg]] formed distinct communities. The collective term ''Unterwalden'' remains in use, however, for the area that partook in the creation of the original Swiss confederation in 1291 with [[Canton of Uri|Uri]] and [[Canton of Schwyz|Schwyz]]. The [[Federal Charter of 1291]] called for representatives from each of the three "areas".<ref>[http://www.admin.ch/org/polit/00056/index.html?lang=fr Pacte fédéral du 1er] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830062306/http://www.admin.ch/org/polit/00056/index.html?lang=fr |date=30 August 2009 }} août 1291] sur Admin.ch "vallée inférieure d'Unterwald" signifie Nidwald.</ref><ref>[http://hypo.ge.ch/www/cliotexte//html/suisse.histoire.1291.html Pacte fédéral du 1er août 1291] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927013550/http://hypo.ge.ch/www/cliotexte//html/suisse.histoire.1291.html |date=27 September 2007 }} sur Cliotexte</ref>
* The historical [[canton of Appenzell]] divided itself into "inner" and "outer" halves as a consequence of the [[Reformation in Switzerland]] in 1597:<ref>[http://hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F7389-1-10.php Réforme catholique, Contre-Réforme et scission] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720020308/http://hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F7389-1-10.php |date=20 July 2011 }} Article du dictionnaire historique de la Suisse</ref> [[Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden|Appenzell Innerrhoden]] ([[Catholicism|Catholic]]) and [[Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden|Appenzell Ausserrhoden]] ([[Protestantism|Protestant]]).
* The historical [[canton of Basel]] was divided in 1833 after the Basel countryside (which became the canton of [[Basel-Landschaft]]) declared its independence from the city of Basel (which became the [[canton of Basel-Stadt]]), following a period of protest and armed conflict about the under-representation of the more populous countryside in the canton's political system.

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:<ref>Häfelin, N 963, 967</ref>

* They elect only one member of the [[Swiss Council of States|Council of States]] instead of two (Cst. art. 150 par. 2). This means there are a total of 46 seats in the council.
* In [[Voting in Switzerland#Constitutional referendums (Popular initiatives)|popular referendums]] about constitutional amendments, which require for adoption a national popular majority as well as the assent of a majority of the cantons (''{{lang|de|Ständemehr}} / {{lang|fr|majorité des cantons}}''), the result of the half-cantons' popular vote counts only one half of that of the other cantons (Cst. arts. 140, 142).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=-S1fHJiawHUC&dq=%22half-cantons%22&pg=PA120 ''Swiss Constitutional Law''], Thomas Fleiner, Alexander Misic, Nicole Töpperwien, Kluwer Law International B.V., 2005, page 120</ref> This means that for purposes of a constitutional referendum, at least 12 out of a total of 23 cantonal popular votes must support the amendment.<ref>Häfelin, N 950</ref>

Between 1831 and 1833 the canton of Schwyz was 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 reunite.

In the 20th century, some [[Jura separatism|Jura separatists]] suggested a new canton of Jura to be divided into half-cantons of North Jura and South Jura.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bassand|first=Michel|year=1975|title=The Jura Problem|journal=Journal of Peace Research|publisher=Sage Publications|volume=12|issue=2: Peace Research in Switzerland|pages=139–150: 142|jstor=423158|doi=10.1177/002234337501200206|s2cid=111181454}}</ref> Instead, North Jura became the (full) [[canton of Jura]] while South Jura remains in the canton of Bern as the [[Subdivisions of the canton of Bern|region]] of [[Bernese Jura]].