Editing Geography of Switzerland (section)

==Political divisions and greater regions==
{{See also|Subdivisions of Switzerland}}
As a federal state, Switzerland is composed of [[Cantons of Switzerland|26 cantons]], which are further divided into [[Districts of Switzerland|districts]] and [[Municipalities of Switzerland|municipalities]]. Each canton was a fully [[sovereignty|sovereign]] state<ref>{{HDS|26414<!--Section 1-1-->|Cantons, In the Old Confederation until 1798}}</ref> with its own borders, army and currency from the [[Treaty of Westphalia]] (1648) until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848. There are considerable differences between the individual cantons, most particularly in terms of population and geographical area; hence seven larger and more homogeneous regions have been defined. They do not, however, constitute administrative units and are mostly used for statistical and economic purposes.<ref>[http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/infothek/nomenklaturen/blank/blank/grossreg/01.html Nomenklaturen – Grossregionen] admin.ch</ref>

{| style="float: left; border: 0px; margin: 2.6em 0 0 0;"
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:Karte Grossregionen der Schweiz 2011.png|350px]]
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Regions
! Cantons of
! Regions
! Cantons of
|-
| rowspan="3" style="background: #d9d4e9;" | {{center|[[Northwestern Switzerland|Northwestern<br>Switzerland]]}}
| style="background: #d9d4e9;" | [[Canton of Aargau|Aargau]]
| rowspan="6" style="background: #f5c491;" | {{center|[[Central Switzerland|Central<br>Switzerland]]}}
| style="background: #f5c491;" | [[Canton of Lucerne|Lucerne]]
|-
| style="background: #d9d4e9;" | [[Canton of Basel-Landschaft|Basel-Landschaft]]
| style="background: #f5c491;" | [[Canton of Nidwalden|Nidwalden]]
|-
| style="background: #d9d4e9;" | [[Canton of Basel-Stadt|Basel-Stadt]]
| style="background: #f5c491;" | [[Canton of Obwalden|Obwalden]]
|-
| rowspan="5" style="background: #d9e979;" | {{center|[[Espace Mittelland|Espace<br>Mittelland]]}}
| style="background: #d9e979;" | [[Canton of Bern|Bern]]
| style="background: #f5c491;" | [[Canton of Schwyz|Schwyz]]
|-
| style="background: #d9e979;" | [[Canton of Fribourg|Fribourg]]
| style="background: #f5c491;" | [[Canton of Uri|Uri]]
|-
| style="background: #d9e979;" | [[Canton of Jura|Jura]]
| style="background: #f5c491;" | [[Canton of Zug|Zug]]
|-
| style="background: #d9e979;" | [[Canton of Neuchâtel|Neuchâtel]]
| rowspan="7" style="background: #fffcc8;" | {{center|[[Eastern Switzerland|Eastern<br>Switzerland]]}}
| style="background: #fffcc8;" | [[Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden|Appenzell Ausserrhoden]]
|-
| style="background: #d9e979;" | [[Canton of Solothurn|Solothurn]]
| style="background: #fffcc8;" | [[Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden|Appenzell Innerrhoden]]
|-
| rowspan="3" style="background: #b6ddc7;" | {{center|[[Lake Geneva region|Lake Geneva]]}}
| style="background: #b6ddc7;" | [[Canton of Geneva|Geneva]]
| style="background: #fffcc8;" | [[Canton of Glarus|Glarus]]
|-
| style="background: #b6ddc7;" | [[Canton of Valais|Valais]]
| style="background: #fffcc8;" | [[Canton of Grisons|Graubünden]]
|-
| style="background: #b6ddc7;" | [[Canton of Vaud|Vaud]]
| style="background: #fffcc8;" | [[Canton of Schaffhausen|Schaffhausen]]
|-
| style="background: #f8c6db;" | {{center|[[Canton of Zürich|Zürich]]}}
| style="background: #f8c6db;" | [[Canton of Zürich|Zürich]]
| style="background: #fffcc8;" | [[Canton of St. Gallen|St. Gallen]]
|-
| style="background: #ee9a85;" | {{center|[[Ticino]]}}
| style="background: #ee9a85;" | [[Canton of Ticino|Ticino]]
| style="background: #fffcc8;" | [[Canton of Thurgau|Thurgau]]
|}