Since 1848 the Swiss Confederation has been a federal republic of relatively autonomous cantons, some of which have a history of
federation that goes back more than 700 years, putting them among the world's oldest surviving republics.
Divico and Julius Caesar after the Battle of Bibracte
The Battle of Laupen (1339) between Swiss forces and an army of the Dukes of Savoy (Diebold Schilling the Elder, 1480s).
Leonhard Euler (1707–83), one of the most prominent scientists in the Age of Enlightenment
Gotthard line in 1882
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 important periods in the development of the Old Swiss Confederacy are summarized by the terms Acht Orte and Dreizehn Orte.
The 22 cantonal coats of arms (all but Jura, with the half-cantons represented jointly) in stained glass set in the dome of the Federal Palace of Switzerland (c. 1900)
Caricature of the division of Basel, 1833