1.
Alps
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The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc, Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,810 m is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains about a hundred peaks higher than 4000 metres, the altitude and size of the range affects the climate in Europe, in the mountains precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m. Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era, a mummified man, determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991. By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established, Hannibal famously crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800 Napoleon crossed one of the passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, in World War II, Adolf Hitler kept a base of operation in the Bavarian Alps throughout the war. The Alpine region has a cultural identity. The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, at present, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors. The English word Alps derives from the Latin Alpes, maurus Servius Honoratus, an ancient commentator of Virgil, says in his commentary that all high mountains are called Alpes by Celts. The term may be common to Italo-Celtic, because the Celtic languages have terms for high mountains derived from alp and this may be consistent with the theory that in Greek Alpes is a name of non-Indo-European origin. According to the Old English Dictionary, the Latin Alpes might possibly derive from a pre-Indo-European word *alb hill, Albania, a name not native to the region known as the country of Albania, has been used as a name for a number of mountainous areas across Europe. In Roman times, Albania was a name for the eastern Caucasus, in modern languages the term alp, alm, albe or alpe refers to a grazing pastures in the alpine regions below the glaciers, not the peaks. An alp refers to a mountain pasture where cows are taken to be grazed during the summer months and where hay barns can be found. The Alps are a crescent shaped geographic feature of central Europe that ranges in a 800 km arc from east to west and is 200 km in width, the mean height of the mountain peaks is 2.5 km. The range stretches from the Mediterranean Sea north above the Po basin, extending through France from Grenoble, the range continues onward toward Vienna, Austria, and east to the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia. To the south it dips into northern Italy and to the north extends to the border of Bavaria in Germany
2.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
3.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
4.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
5.
Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
6.
Romansh language
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Romansh has also been recognized as a national language of Switzerland since 1938 and as an official language along with German, French and Italian since 1996. It is sometimes grouped with Ladin and Friulian as a Rhaeto-Romance language, Romansh has also been heavily influenced by German in vocabulary and morphosyntax. The language gradually retreated to its current area over the centuries, being replaced by Alemannic, the earliest writing identified as Romansh dates from the 10th or 11th century, although major works do not appear until the 16th century when several regional written varieties began to develop. The 19th century saw a shrinkage of the language area but also a literary revival. In the 2000 Swiss census,35,095 people indicated Romansh as the language of best command, in 2010, Switzerland switched to a yearly system which uses a combination of municipal citizen records and a limited number of surveys. Based on this system, the number of people aged 15. The language area and number of speakers of Romansh have been continually shrinking, Romansh is divided into five different regional dialects, each with its own standardized written language. In addition, a variety called Rumantsch Grischun was introduced in 1982. Romansh is a Romance language descending from Vulgar Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. Within the Romance languages, Romansh stands out because of its peripheral location, another distinguishing feature is the centuries-long language contact with German, which is most noticeable in the vocabulary and to a lesser extent the syntax of Romansh. Romansh belongs to the Gallo-Romance branch of the Romance languages, which includes such as French, Occitan. The main feature placing Romansh within the Gallo-Romance languages is the fronting of Latin /u/ to or, as seen in Latin muru wall, which is mür or mir in Romansh. This sound change is partially absent in some varieties of Romansh, however, especially in Sursilvan, retention of word-final -s as in buns chavals good horses as opposed to Italian buoni cavalli. Retention of L following /p b k ɡ f/, Latin clavem key > clav as opposed to Italian chiave, another defining feature of the Romansh language is the use of unstressed vowels. Whether or not Romansh, Friulan and Ladin should compose a separate Rhaeto-Romance subgroup within Gallo-Romance is an unresolved issue, some linguists posit that these languages are descended from a common language, which was then fractured geographically through the spread of German and Italian. This position goes back to the Italian linguist Graziadio Ascoli, who first made the claim in 1873, linguists who take this position often point out that the similarities between the languages are comparatively few. This position was first introduced by the Italian dialectologist Carlo Battisti and this linguistic dispute became politically relevant for the Italian irredentist movement. Italian nationalists interpreted Battistis hypothesis as implying that Romansh, Friulan and Ladin were not separate languages and they used this as an argument to claim the territories where these languages were spoken for Italy
7.
Swiss Plateau
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The Swiss Plateau or Central Plateau constitutes one of the three major landscapes in Switzerland alongside the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Alps. It covers about 30% of the Swiss surface and it comprises the regions between the Jura and the Alps, partly flat but mostly hilly, and lies at an average height between 400 and 700 m AMSL. It is by far the most densely populated region of Switzerland, in the north and northwest, the Swiss Plateau is sharply delimited geographically and geologically by the Jura Mountains. In the south, there is no border with the Alps. Usually, the rising of the terrain to altitudes above 1500 metres AMSL, however, if a division into the three main regions Jura Mountains, Swiss Plateau and Alps is considered, the Alpine foreland belongs clearly to the Swiss Plateau. In the southwest, the Swiss Plateau is confined by Lake Geneva, in the northeast, by Lake Constance, geologically, the Swiss Plateau is part of a larger basin that extends beyond the border of Switzerland. At its southwestern end, in France, the plateau, in the Genevois, ends at Chambéry where Jura, at the other side of the Lake Constance, the plateau continues in the German and Austrian Pre-Alps. Many cantons of Switzerland include a part in the Swiss Plateau, the geological layers of the Swiss Plateau are relatively well known. Around 2500 –3000 metres below the surface, but considerably deeper near the Alps and it is covered by unfolded strata of Mesozoic sediments, which are part of the Helvetic nappes. Its depth gradually decreases from about 2.5 km in the west to 0.8 km in the east and these layers, like the ones of the Jura Mountains, were deposited in a relatively shallow sea, the Tethys Ocean. Above the Mesozoic layers, is the Molasse, consisting of conglomerate, sandstone, marl, the uppermost layer consists of gravel and glacial sediments that have been transported by the glaciers of the ice ages. Geologically the most important layer of the Swiss Plateau is the thick molasse sequence that accumulated at the border of the Alps due to the erosion of the concurrently uplifted mountains. The thickness of the molasse increases from west to east, the former alpine rivers built huge fans of sediment at the foot of the mountains. The eroded material has been sorted by grain size, the coarse material was predominantly deposited near the Alps. In the middle of the plateau, there are sandstones and near the Jura, clays. During the Tertiary orogenic uplift, around 60 –40 millions years ago, through processes of rising and lowering that were brought by the folding of the Alps, the area was twice flooded by a sea. The corresponding sediments are distinguished as sea molasse and freshwater molasse, even though the latter consists rather of fluvial, lower sea molasse, The limestone plateau subsided gradually, and a shallow sea invaded, spreading east to the Carpathian Mountains. The sediments consisted of fine-grained sands, clay and marl, there were no conglomerate fans since the proper Alpine folding began only at the end of that period
8.
Jura Mountains
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The Jura Mountains French, Massif du Jura, are a sub-alpine mountain range located north of the Western Alps, mainly following the course of the France–Switzerland border. The Jura separates the Rhine and Rhône basins, forming part of the watershed of each, the name Jura is derived from juria, a Latinized form of a Celtic stem jor- forest. The mountain range gives its name to the French department of Jura, the Swiss Canton of Jura, the Jurassic period of the timescale. The Jura Mountains are a province of the larger Central European uplands. In France, the Jura covers most of the Franche-Comté region, the range reaches its highest point at Le Crêt de la Neige in the department of Ain and finds its southern terminus in the northwestern part of the department of Savoie. The north end of the Jura extends into the tip of the Alsace region. Roughly 1,600 square kilometres of the range in France is protected by the Jura Mountains Regional Natural Park. The Swiss Jura is one of the three geographical regions of Switzerland, the other being the Swiss plateau and the Swiss Alps. In Switzerland, the covers the western border with France in the cantons of Basel-Landschaft, Solothurn, Jura, Bern, Neuchâtel. Much of the Swiss Jura region has no association with Early Modern Switzerland and was incorporated as part of the Swiss Confederacy only in the 19th century. In the 20th century, a movement of Jurassic separatism developed which resulted in the creation of the canton of Jura in 1979, the Swiss Jura has been industrialized since the 18th century and became a major centre of the watchmaking industry. The area has several cities at very high altitudes, such as La Chaux-de-Fonds, Le Locle, the Jura range proper is continued as the Table Jura in the cantons of Basel-Landschaft and Aargau, and further to Schaffhausen and into southern Germany towards the Swabian and Franconian plateaus. The range is built up vertically while decreasing in size laterally and this deformation accommodates the compression from alpine folding as the main Alpine orogenic front moves roughly northwards. The deformation becomes less pervasive away from the younger, more active Alpine mountain building, the geologic folds comprise three major bands of building that date from three epochs, the Lias, the Dogger and the Malm geologic periods. Each era of folding reveals effects of shallow marine environments as evidenced by beds with carbonate sequences, containing abundant bioclasts. Structurally, the Jura consists of a sequence of geologic folds, the highest peak in the Jura range is Le Crêt de la Neige at 1,720 metres. Vosges and Jura coal mining basins The Jura range offer a variety of tourist activities including hiking, cycling, downhill skiing, there are many signposted trails including the Jura ridgeway, a 310 km hiking route. Tourist attractions include natural features such as the Creux du Van, lookout peaks such as the Chasseral, caves such as the Grottes de lOrbe, and gorges such as Taubenloch
9.
Physical geography
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Physical geography is one of the two major sub-fields of geography. Geomorphology seeks to understand landform history and dynamics, and predict future changes through a combination of observation, physical experiment. Thus the field encompasses water in rivers, lakes, aquifers and to an extent glaciers, in which the field examines the process and dynamics involved in these bodies of water. Similar to most fields of physical geography it has sub-fields that examine the bodies of water or their interaction with other spheres e. g. limnology and ecohydrology. Glaciology is the study of glaciers and ice sheets, or more commonly the cryosphere or ice, glaciology groups the latter as continental glaciers and the former as alpine glaciers. Glaciology also has a vast array of sub-fields examining the factors and processes involved in ice sheets and glaciers e. g. snow hydrology, Biogeography is the science which deals with geographic patterns of species distribution and the processes that result in these patterns. The main stimulus for the field since its founding has been that of evolution, plate tectonics, climatology examines both the nature of micro and macro climates and the natural and anthropogenic influences on them. The field is also sub-divided largely into the climates of various regions, meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and short term forecasting. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the eighteenth century, meteorological phenomena are observable weather events which illuminate and are explained by the science of meteorology. Pedology is the study of soils in their natural environment and it is one of two main branches of soil science, the other being edaphology. Pedology mainly deals with pedogenesis, soil morphology, soil classification, palaeogeography is a cross-disciplinary study that examines the preserved material in the stratigraphic record to determine the distribution of the continents through geologic time. Almost all the evidence for the positions of the continents comes from geology in the form of fossils or paleomagnetism, the use of this data has resulted in evidence for continental drift, plate tectonics, and supercontinents. This, in turn, has supported palaeogeographic theories such as the Wilson cycle, coastal geography is the study of the dynamic interface between the ocean and the land, incorporating both the physical geography and the human geography of the coast. It involves an understanding of coastal weathering processes, particularly wave action, sediment movement and weathering, coastal geography, although predominantly geomorphological in its research, is not just concerned with coastal landforms, but also the causes and influences of sea level change. Oceanography is the branch of geography that studies the Earths oceans. These diverse topics reflect multiple disciplines that oceanographers blend to further knowledge of the world ocean, Quaternary science is an inter-disciplinary field of study focusing on the Quaternary period, which encompasses the last 2.6 million years. The field was founded by the German geographer Carl Troll. Landscape ecology typically deals with problems in an applied and holistic context, geomatics is the field of gathering, storing, processing, and delivering geographic information, or spatially referenced information
10.
Western Alps
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The name Western Alps refers to the western part of the Alpine range. The term has different meanings according to the classification of the Alps in use, the peaks and mountain passes are higher compared to the Eastern Alps, while the range itself is not so broad and more arched. The Western Alps include the part of France, whole Monaco, the north-western part of Italy. While in the south-east the range is bound by the Italian Padan Plain, in the east the valley of the Rhone river separates it from the Massif Central. The northernmost part of Western Alps - in the meaning of the term - is formed by the Swiss Prealps sub-range. In this traditional subdivision the Western Alps start from the Bocchetta di Altare and end with the Col Ferret
11.
Eastern Alps
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The peaks and mountain passes are lower compared to the Western Alps, while the range itself is broader and less arched. In the south the range is bound by the Italian Padan Plain, in the north the valley of the Danube river separates it from the Bohemian Massif. The easternmost spur is formed by the Vienna Woods range, with the Leopoldsberg overlooking the Danube and the Vienna basin, the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps is Piz Bernina at 4,049 m in the Bernina Group of the Western Rhaetian Alps in Switzerland. The sole four-thousander of the range, its name is taken from the Bernina Pass and was given in 1850 by Johann Coaz, the rocks composing Piz Bernina are diorites and gabbros, while the massif in general is composed of granites. Excepting other peaks in the Bernina range, the next highest is the Ortler at 3,905 m in Italian South Tyrol and third the Großglockner at 3,798 m, the highest mountain of Austria. The region around the Großglockner and the adjacent Pasterze Glacier has been a special protection area within the High Tauern National Park since 1986, mount Sulzfluh is well frequented by climbers and is situated in the Rätikon range of the Alps, on the border between Austria and Switzerland. On the eastern side is a path, of grade T4. There are six caves in the limestone mountain, with lengths between 800 and 3000 or more yards, all with entrances on the Eastern side, in Switzerland. Mount Grauspitz is the highest summit of the Rätikon, located on the border between Liechtenstein and Switzerland, the Rätikon mountain range, in the Central Eastern Alps, derives its name from Raetia. Only about 30% of Graubünden is commonly regarded as productive land, the canton is entirely mountainous, comprising the highlands of the Rhine and Inn river valleys. In its southeastern part lies the only official Swiss National Park, in its northern part the mountains were formed as part of the thrust fault that was declared a geologic UNESCO World Heritage Site, under the name Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona, in 2008. Another Biosphere Reserve is the Biosfera Val Müstair adjacent to the Swiss National Park whereas Ela Nature Park is one of the regionally supported parks. The ranges are subdivided by several deeply indented river valleys, mostly running east-west, including the Inn, Salzach, Enns, Adige, Drava, the Swiss Alpine Club has a slightly different classififcation of the ranges, based on the political borders in the canton of Graubünden. In Italy the 1926 Partizione delle Alpi concept is quite common, other specific, especially hydrographical arrangements are also in use. The Alps comprise four main systems, The Helvetic nappes. They consist primarily of Cretaceous and Paleogene sedimentary rocks in multiple folds, the Penninic nappes, Jurassic sediments of the Tethys Ocean stretching from the Eurasian to the Apulian Plate, pushed together during the Alpine orogeny. They comprise a Flysch zone and several rocks in geological windows, such as the Engadin window. The South Alpine system south of the Periadriatic Seam and they mainly consist of Mesozoic and Paleozoic formations with little faults, whose nappes and folds are oriented towards the south
12.
Bernese Alps
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The Bernese Alps are a mountain range of the Alps, located in western Switzerland. The highest mountain in the range, the Finsteraarhorn, is also the highest point in the canton of Bern, the Bernese Alps are drained by the river Aare and its tributary the Saane in the north, the Rhône in the south, and the Reuss in the east. The principal ridge, a chain that runs 100 kilometres from west to east, whose highest peak is the Finsteraarhorn, except for the westernmost part, it is also the watershed between the Rhine and the Rhone. This chain is not centered inside the range but lies close to the Rhone on the south, there the mountains progressively become lower and disappear into the hilly Swiss Plateau. The main chain west of Gemmi Pass consists mainly of a few large prominent summits slightly above 3,000 metres, on the eastern part, the main chain became suddenly wider and the peaks reach over 4,000 metres, in the most glaciated part of the Alps. To the south the same portion of the range is divided from the still higher parallel range whose summits are the Aletschhorn and the Bietschhorn by the Lötschental. To this again succeeds the deep trench through which the part of the Aletsch Glacier flows down to the Rhone. Since strangers first began to visit the Alps, the names of Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, but unlike many other Alpine regions, which have been left to be explored by strangers, this region has been long visited by Swiss travellers and men of science. Among them were the brother Meyer of Aarau and Franz Joseph Hugi and they have explored most of the mountain ranges not very difficult of access, and, further than this, have attained most of the higher summits. The works of Desor and Gottlieb Studer have been followed by other publications that bear testimony to Swiss mountaineering activity. The Jungfrau-Aletsch area is located in the eastern Bernese Alps in the most glaciated region of the Alps and it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001 and further expanded in 2007. Its name comes from the Aletsch Glacier and the two summits of the Jungfrau and Bietschhorn, which some of the most impressive features of the site. The actual site includes other large glacier valleys such as the Fiescher Glacier and the Aar Glaciers
13.
Mont Blanc massif
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The Mont Blanc massif is a mountain range in the Alps, located mostly in France and Italy, but also straddling Switzerland at its northeastern end. It contains eleven major independent summits, each over 4,000 metres in height, and is named after Mont Blanc, the mountains of the massif consist mostly of granite and gneiss rocks, and at high altitudes the vegetation is an arctic-alpine flora. The valleys that delimit the massif were used as communication routes by the Romans until they left around the 5th century AD, the region has remained of some military importance through to the mid-20th century. A peasant farming economy operated within these valleys for centuries until the glaciers. Word of these impressive sights began to spread, and Mont Blanc was finally climbed in 1786, the region is now a major tourist destination, drawing in over six million visitors per year. It provides a range of opportunities for outdoor recreation and activities such as sight-seeing, hiking. Around one hundred people a year die across its mountains and, occasionally, bodies have been lost, access into the mountains is facilitated by cable cars, mountain railways and mountain huts which offer overnight refuge to climbers and skiers. The long-distance Tour du Mont Blanc hiking trail circumnavigates the whole massif in an 11-day trek of 170 kilometres, the Mont Blanc Tunnel connects the French town of Chamonix on the northern side with the Italian town of Courmayeur in the south. The high mountains have provided opportunities for scientific research, including neutrino measurements within the Tunnel. The Mont Blanc massif is 46 kilometres long and lies in a southwest to northeasterly direction across the borders of France, Italy, at its widest point the massif is 20 km across. The northern side of the massif lies mostly within France, and is bounded by the valley of the River Arve, containing the towns of Argentière, Chamonix and Les Houches. The southern side of the massif lies mostly within Italy and is bounded by the Val Veny, from Courmayeur these waters flow southwards as the Dora Baltea towards Aosta, eventually joining the Po river. However, the southwestern end of the massif does lie within France and is bounded by the Vallée des Glaciers. The northeastern end of the massif falls within Switzerland, and is bounded by a valley, confusingly also called Val Ferret. Its watercourse, la Dranse de Ferret, flows northwards to join the Rhône at Martigny, the borders of all three countries converge at a tripoint near the summit of Mont Dolent at an altitude of 3,820 metres. From here the border turns southwards over the Dômes de Miage, the Swiss – Italian border runs southwest from Mont Dolent, down to the twin passes of Col Ferret. The massif contains 11 main summits over 4,000 metres in altitude, crowning the massif is Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps and in western Europe. From the summit of Mont Blanc to the River Arve near Chamonix there is a 3,800 metres drop over a distance of just 8 kilometres, because of its great elevation, much of the massif is snow- and ice-covered, and has been deeply dissected by glaciers
14.
Bernina Range
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The Bernina Range is a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland and northern Italy. It is considered to be part of the Rhaetian Alps within the Central Eastern Alps and it is one of the highest ranges of the Alps, covered with many glaciers. Piz Bernina, its highest peak, is the most easterly four thousand-metre peak in the Alps, the peak in the range which sees the most ascents is Piz Palü. The Bernina Range is drained by the rivers Adda, Inn, the term Bernina Alps can also be used in an extended sense to include both the Bernina and Bregaglia ranges, this is the area coloured red on the map and labelled ‘Bernina Alpen’. Swiss Alps Swisstopo Visual day-by-day narrative & photoblog of the Tour of the Bernina hiking trail around the Bernina range
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France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
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Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
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Austria
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Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province
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Liechtenstein
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Liechtenstein, officially the Principality of Liechtenstein, is a doubly landlocked German-speaking microstate in Central Europe. It is a monarchy with the rank of principality, headed by the Prince of Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein is bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and Austria to the east and it has an area of just over 160 square kilometres and an estimated population of 37,000. Divided into 11 municipalities, its capital is Vaduz and its largest municipality is Schaan, the unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the world at 1. 5%. Liechtenstein has been known in the past as a tax haven, however. An alpine country, Liechtenstein is mainly mountainous, making it a winter sport destination, many cultivated fields and small farms are found both in the south and north. The country has a financial sector centered in Vaduz. Liechtenstein is a member of the European Free Trade Association, and while not being a member of the European Union and it also has a customs union and a monetary union with Switzerland. The oldest traces of human existence in Liechtenstein date back to the Middle Paleolithic era, neolithic farming settlements were founded in the valleys around 5300 BC. Hallstatt and La Tène cultures flourished during the late Iron Age from around 450 BC possibly under influence from the Greek. One of the most important tribal groups in the Alpine region were the Helvetii, in 58 BC, at the Battle of Bibracte, Julius Caesar defeated the Alpine tribes, bringing the region under closer control of the Roman Empire. By 15 BC, Tiberius, who was destined to be the second Roman emperor, Liechtenstein was integrated into the Roman province of Raetia. The area was maintained by the Roman military, which maintained a large legionary camp called Brigantium near Lake Constance, a Roman road ran through the territory. In 259/60 Brigantium was destroyed by the Alemanni, a Germanic people who settled in the area in around 450. In the Early Middle Ages, the Alemanni had settled the eastern Swiss plateau by the 5th century, Liechtenstein was at the eastern edge of Alemannia. In the 6th century, the region became part of the Frankish Empire following Clovis Is victory over the Alemanni at Tolbiac in 504. The area that later became Liechtenstein remained under Frankish hegemony until the empire was divided by the Treaty of Verdun in 843 AD following the death of Charlemagne. The territory of present-day Liechtenstein belonged to East Francia until it was reunified with Middle Francia under the Holy Roman Empire around 1000 AD
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Dufourspitze
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The Dufourspitze is the highest peak of Monte Rosa, a huge ice-covered mountain massif in the Alps. Dufourspitze is the highest mountain peak of both Switzerland and the Pennine Alps and is also the second-highest mountain of the Alps and Europe outside the Caucasus and it is located between Switzerland and Italy. The peak is distinguished by the name Dufourspitze and this replaced the former name Höchste Spitze that was indicated on the Swiss maps before the Federal Council, on January 28,1863, decided to rename the mountain in honor of Guillaume-Henri Dufour. Dufour was a Swiss engineer, topographer, co-founder of the Red Cross and this decision followed the completion of the Dufour Map, a series of military topographical maps created under the command of Dufour. The point just 80 m east of the Dufourspitze and only 2 metres lower, the Dunantspitze, was renamed in 2014 in honor of Henry Dunant, the main founder of the Red Cross. The Swiss national map gives an elevation of 4,634.0 metres for the summit, the height difference between the summit and the plains of northern Italy, from where Monte Rosa is well visible, reaches over 4,500 metres. Monte Rosa has a prominence of 2,165 m. A2000 survey, involving universities and the offices of cartography of Italy and Switzerland, on the north side the view extends to the Jura and further to the Vosges, the Swiss Plateau being mostly hidden by the high range of the Bernese Alps. Monte Rosa could be seen many places on the south side of the Alps. At the end of the 15th century some outlines of the mountain may possibly have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci into the background of the Madonna of the Rocks or other pictures. Da Vinci explored the Italian side of the mountain and made some observations, though there is but scanty evidence that he had climbed even a minor summit in the neighbourhood. And no mountain has its base at so great a height as this, which lifts itself above almost all the clouds, and snow falls there, but only hail in the summer. At the end of the century, the people of the Italian valleys believed that a lost valley existed. The discovery of the valley was due to Joseph Beck of Gressoney-Saint-Jean and he put together a party, including his brother Valentin, and the Gressoney mountain guides Sebastian Linty, Joseph Zumstein, Nicolas Vincent, François Castel and Étienne Lisco. They set out on a Sunday of August 1778 and they started from their sleeping places at midnight, and roped carefully. They had furnished themselves with climbing irons and alpenstocks, at the head of the glacier, they encountered a slope of rock devoid of snow, which they climbed. Hardly had we got to the summit of the rock than we saw a grand-an amazing-spectacle and we sat down to contemplate at our leisure the lost valley, which seemed to us to be entirely covered with glaciers. We examined it carefully, but could not satisfy ourselves that it was the unknown valley, becks party thus reached a height of 4,178 metres, probably a record in the Alps at that times
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Dom (mountain)
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The Dom is a mountain of the Pennine Alps, located between Randa and Saas-Fee in the canton of Valais. With its 4,545 m summit it is the third highest mountain in the Alps, the Dom is the main summit of the Mischabel group, which is the highest massif lying entirely in Switzerland. Although Dom is a German cognate for dome, it can also mean cathedral and the mountain is named after Canon Berchtold of Sitten cathedral, the first person to survey the vicinity. The former name Mischabel comes from an ancient German dialect term for pitchfork, the chain lies entirely in the district of Visp. The two valleys separated by the range are the Mattertal on the west and the Saastal on the east, the towns of Randa and Saas-Fee lie both six kilometres from the summit. The elevation difference between the summit and the floor is 3,150 metres on the west side and 3,000 metres on the east side. On the Mattertal side, the Dom faces the almost equally high Weisshorn and, on the Saastal side, the Dom is the highest point of the Saastal and the second highest mountain of the Mattertal after Monte Rosa. Since the Dom is not on the main Alpine chain, the rivers flowing on both the west and east side of the end up in the same major river, the Rhone, through the Mattervispa. The Dom is the highest mountain in the Alps with this peculiarity, the Mischabel group includes many subsidiary summits above 4,000 metres. To the north lies the Nadelgrat, composed of the Lenzspitze, the Nadelhorn, the Stecknadelhorn, the Hohberghorn, the Nadelgrat is easily visible from the north and gives the massif its characteristic pitchfork appearance. The second highest peak of the massif, the Täschhorn to the south, culminates at 4,491 metres, in total, eight summits above 4,000 metres make up the Mischabel massif. Other important peaks of the massif are the Ulrichshorn and the Balfrin, the Dom has a western shoulder and an eastern shoulder. The massif is almost entirely composed of gneiss from the Siviez-Mischabel nappe, the latter is part of the Briançonnais microcontinent and is located in the Penninic nappes. The Dom is a depositional mountain, the first ascent was made from the Festigrat by the Reverend John Llewelyn-Davies with guides Johann Zumtaugwald, Johann Krönig and Hieronymous Brantschen on 11 September 1858. They traversed the west face to reach the Festigrat before arriving to the summit, the first complete ascent on the western ridge was made later in 1882 by Paul Güssfeldt and guides Alexander Burgener and B. The direct route on the west face was first ascended in 1962, the 1000-metre-high east face above Saas-Fee was climbed in 1875 by J. Petrus, A. and W. Puckle and L. Noti. A route on the face was first made in August 1906 by Geoffrey Winthrop Young and R. G. Major. According to Young it was more dangerous than the south-west face of the nearby Täschhorn, which they had climbed two weeks earlier
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Lyskamm
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Lyskamm, also known as Silberbast, is a mountain in the Pennine Alps lying on the border between Switzerland and Italy. It consists of a ridge with two distinct peaks. The mountain has gained a reputation for seriousness because of the many cornices lying on the ridge, because of its modest prominence, Liskamm is sometimes considered to be part of the extended Monte Rosa group. The northern side of the mountain is an impressive 1,100 metres ice-covered wall, the gentler southern side rises only a few hundred metres above the glacier of the same name, Lysgletscher. The eastern and higher of the two peaks is 4,527 m, and was first ascended in 1861 from the Lisjoch up the east ridge by a 14-man team led by J. F. Hardy, others in the party included A. C. Ramsey, F. Sibson, T. Rennison, J. A. Hudson, C. H. Pilkington, the guides were Franz Josef Lochmatter of St. Niklaus in the canton Valais, J. -P. Cachet, K. Kerr, S. Zumtaugwald, P. and J. -M, the ridge as a whole was first traversed three years later by Leslie Stephen, Edward N. Buxton, Jakob Anderegg and Franz Biener. The first attempt to climb the imposing north-east face was made in 1880 by the brothers Kalbermatten and they were carried down to the glacier by an avalanche but they survived the accident. On 9 August 1890, L. Norman-Neruda with guides Christian Klucker and J. Reinstadler were the first to reach the summit by the north face, the first winter ascent of this route was made on 11 March 1956 by C. In 1907, Geoffrey Winthrop Young and his guide traversed the whole ridge two times, Young wanted to traverse the ridge from the Nordend to the Breithorn. They started from Riffelalp at midnight and finished the traverse of the Monte Rosa massif at midday, but after the traverse of the Liskamm and Castor the guide was too tired. Young, who was disappointed, convinced him to go back by the Lisjoch before descending to Zermatt. Young even wanted to back to the Nordend but his guide refused to prolong the journey. The normal route starts from the Lisjoch, which can be accessed from the Gnifetti Hut or from the Monte Rosa Hut, the route follows the route taken by the first ascensionist. The mountain is climbed as a traverse from the Feliksjoch. The traverse consists mostly of a narrow, snow-covered ridge, with some scrambling over rocks. W. E. Hall The fatal accident on the Lyskamm, Alpine Journal,5, 23–32 Liskamm on Peakbagger. com Liskamm on SummitPost Italian route account from south - Czech and English
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Weisshorn
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The Weisshorn is a major peak of the Alps and Switzerland, culminating at 4,506 metres above sea level. It is part of the Pennine Alps and is located between the valleys of Anniviers and Zermatt in the canton of Valais, in the latter valley, the Weisshorn is one of the many 4000ers surrounding Zermatt, with Monte Rosa and the Matterhorn. The Weisshorn was first climbed in 1861 from Randa by the Irish physicist John Tyndall, nowadays, the Weisshorn Hut is used on the normal route. The Weisshorn is considered by mountaineers to be the most beautiful mountain in the Alps and Switzerland for its pyramidal shape. In April and May 1991, two consecutive rockslides took place from a cliff above the town of Randa on the east side of the massif, the Weisshorn is situated in the southern canton of Valais, about 25 km southwards from the Rhone between Sierre and Visp. The Weisshorn faces the slightly higher Dom across the Mattertal, with the village of Randa 3100 metres below these two summits, after the Dom, the Weisshorn is the second-highest Alpine summit situated completely out the main chain and fully within Switzerland. On both sides of the Weisshorn range, the end up in the Rhone, through the Navissence. The Weisshorn has a shape and its faces are separated by three ridges descending steeply from the summit. Two of these are nearly in a line, one running approximately north. The third ridge is nearly at right angles to two, running almost due east. In the compartment between the northern and eastern spurs lies the Bis Glacier and it is connected with the summit by long and extremely steep slopes of snow. In the compartment between the eastern and southern spurs lies the Schali Glacier, ranges of steep rocks rise round the whole basin of this glacier, except in one or two places where they are interrupted by couloirs of snow. Finally, on the side the mountain presents one gigantic face of rocky precipice. This face rises above the Weisshorn Glacier and the Moming Glacier, the northern spur forks out at a considerable distance below the summit into two branches enclosing the Turtmann Glacier. The eastern branch connects the mountain with the Bishorn, across the Weisshornjoch, the Weisshorn is the culminating point of the Dent Blanche nappe, a klippe belonging to the Austroalpine nappes. The mountain is composed of gneisses, the west face is composed of sedimentary rocks from the cretaceous period. The mountain was first climbed on 19 August 1861 by the 29-year-old physicist John Tyndall, with guides J. J. Bennen and their itinerary corresponds to the normal route for climbing the mountain today, the east ridge, starting from the Weisshorn Hut. In 1860 an attempt was made by C. E. Mathews by the southern face and he came to Zermatt with Melchior Anderegg, and engaged Johann Kronig as second guide
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Matterhorn
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The Matterhorn is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a huge and near-symmetrical pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, whose summit is 4,478 metres high, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe. The four steep faces, rising above the glaciers, face the four compass points and are split by the Hörnli, Furggen, Leone. The mountain overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt in the canton of Valais to the north-east, just east of the Matterhorn is Theodul Pass, the main passage between the two valleys on its north and south sides and a trade route since the Roman Era. The Matterhorn was studied by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure in the eighteenth century. It remained unclimbed after most of the other great Alpine peaks had been attained, the first ascent of the Matterhorn was finally made in 1865 from Zermatt by a party led by Edward Whymper but ended disastrously when four of its members fell to their deaths on the descent. That climb and disaster, later portrayed in films, marked the end of the golden age of alpinism. The north face was not climbed until 1931, and is amongst the three biggest north faces of the Alps, known as the ‘The Trilogy’, the west face, which is the highest of the four, was completely climbed only in 1962. It is estimated that over 500 alpinists have died on the Matterhorn since the first climb in 1865, making it one of the deadliest peaks in the world. The current shape of the mountain is the result of erosion due to multiple glaciers diverging from the peak, such as the Matterhorn Glacier at the base of the north face. Sometimes referred to as the Mountain of Mountains, the Matterhorn has become an emblem of the Swiss Alps. Since the end of the 19th century, when railways were built in the area, each year a large number of mountaineers try to climb the Matterhorn from the Hörnli Hut via the northeast Hörnli ridge, the most popular route to the summit. Many trekkers also undertake the 10-day-long circuit around the mountain, the Matterhorn is part of the Swiss Federal Inventory of Natural Monuments since 1983. Decomposing Matterhorn yields Matter and Horn, here Matter is Matte in the case. Commonly, prepositions related to Zermatt are dropped as in Matterhorn, Mattertal, in Sebastian Münsters Cosmography, published in 1543, the name Matter is given to the Theodul Pass, which seems to be the origin of the present German name of the mountain. On Münsters topographical map this group is marked under the names of Augstalberg, the French name Cervin, from which the Italian term Cervino derives, stems from the Latin Mons Silvanus where silva, means forest which was corrupted to Selvin and then Servin. The change of the first letter s to c is attributed to Horace Bénédict de Saussure, servius Galba, in order to carry out Caesars orders, came with his legions from Allobroges to Octodurum in the Valais, and pitched his camp there. It is unknown when the new name of Servin, or Cervin, replaced the old, the Matterhorn is also named Gran Becca by the Valdôtains and Horu by the local Walliser German speaking people
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Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
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Gotthard Pass
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The Gotthard Pass or St Gotthard Pass is a mountain pass in the Alps, connecting northern and southern Switzerland. The pass lies between Airolo in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, and Andermatt in the German-speaking canton of Uri, and connects further Bellinzona to Lucerne, Basel, as early as 1236, Gotthard Pass was dedicated to the Roman Catholic Saint Gotthard of Hildesheim. The Gotthard Pass connects the cantons of Uri and Ticino, the pass itself is located within the latter canton, about 2 km south of the border with Uri, between the massifs of Pizzo Lucendro and Pizzo Centrale. The pass lies on the most important route between the canton of Ticino and central Switzerland as well as most of the northern part of the country. It is the most direct link between Zürich and Lugano and also some regions of Germany and Italy. The nearest towns are Hospental near Andermatt and Airolo, respectively in the valleys of Urseren, the region of Andermatt lies at the foot of the Furka and Oberalp passes connecting the Rhone and Rhine valleys thus making the Gotthard area a strategic place for transports and military. The hospice is located south of the pass at 2,091 metres, near the Lago della Piazza, Lago di Lucendro and Lago Sella are larger reservoir lakes accessible from the pass. From the north side the pass can be reached by crossing the Schöllenen, according to the oral histories of the nearby villages, seasonal deaths resulting from drowning reached a peak in April–May of most years and thus a safer crossing was required. The original bridge built under these conditions was one of so many devils bridges that the legends about them form a category in the Aarne-Thompson classification system for folktales. The legend of this particular bridge states that the Reuss was so difficult to ford that a Swiss herdsman wished the devil would make a bridge, the Devil appeared, but required that the soul of the first to cross would be given to him. The mountaineer agreed, but drove a goat across ahead of him, angered by this trickery, the devil fetched a rock with the intention of smashing the bridge, but an old woman drew a cross on the rock so the devil could not lift it anymore. The rock is still there and, in 1977,300,000 Swiss francs were spent to move the 220 ton rock by 127 m in order to make room for the new Gotthard road tunnel. It carried only foot traffic and pack animals until 1775, when the first carriage made the journey on an improved road, several tunnels provide access through the pass. The 15 kilometres Gotthard Rail Tunnel was the first and opened in 1882 for railway traffic at a cost of around 200 workers lives and it bypassed the pass road, connecting Göschenen with Airolo. A17 kilometres motorway tunnel, the Gotthard Road Tunnel opened in 1980 and it was closed for two months in 2001 following a fatal fire. The Gotthard Base Tunnel was opened on 1 June 2016 and it is the longest rail tunnel in the world at 57.091 kilometres. A number of artists have been inspired by the dramatic scenery of the St. Gotthard Pass, the Schöllenen Gorge. Gotthard Pass is prominent in the manga series Wolfsmund by Mitsuhisa Kuji
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Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy
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In the late Middle Ages, this region belonged to the Holy Roman Empire, and because of its strategic importance, the Hohenstaufen emperors had granted it reichsfrei status in the early 13th century. As reichsfrei regions, the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden were under the authority of the emperor without any intermediate liege lords. By 1460, the confederates controlled most of the south and west of the Rhine to the Alps. During their involvement in the Italian Wars, the Swiss brought the Ticino under their control, neither federation was part of the medieval Eidgenossenschaft but both maintained very close connections with it. Gotthard under their control, the latter because most of its territory belonged to reichsfrei monasteries. The cities of Bern and Zürich had also become reichsfrei when the dynasty of their patrons, when Rudolph I of Habsburg was elected King of the Germans in 1273, he also became the direct liege lord of these reichsfrei regions. He instituted a rule and raised the taxes to finance wars. When he died in 1291, his son Albert I got involved in a struggle with Adolf of Nassau for the German throne. Anti-Habsburg insurgences sprung up in Swabia and Austria, but were quashed quickly by Albert in 1292, Zürich had participated in this uprising. Albert besieged the city, which had to him as its patron. This time of turmoil prompted the Waldstätten to cooperate more closely, the first alliance started in 1291 when Rudolph bought all the rights over the town of Lucerne and the abbey estates in Unterwalden from Murbach Abbey in Alsace. The Waldstätten saw their trade route over Lake Lucerne cut off, when Rudolph died on July 15,1291 the Communities prepared to defend themselves. On August 1,1291 an Everlasting League was made between the Forest Communities for mutual defense against a common enemy. The Federal Charter of 1291 is one of the oldest surviving document of an alliance between Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden, the founding cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. It is possible that it was written a few decades later than the date of 1291. The traditional date given for the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy in Swiss historiography of the 16th century is 1307, even Unterwalden was finally properly granted this status by Alberts successor Henry VII in 1309. This did not prevent the dukes of Habsburg, who originally had had their homelands in the Aargau, the three cantons renewed their alliance in the pact of Brunnen, and Louis IV reconfirmed their Reichsfreiheit. Subsequently, the three followed a slow policy of expansion
27.
Old Swiss Confederacy
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The Old Swiss Confederacy was a precursor of the modern state of Switzerland. It was a confederation of independent small states which formed during the 14th century. From a nucleus in what is now Central Switzerland, the confederacy expanded to include the cities of Zurich and this formed a rare union of rural and urban communes, all of which enjoyed imperial immediacy in the Holy Roman Empire. Its success resulted in the addition of more confederates, increasing the number of cantons to thirteen by 1513, the confederacy pledged neutrality in 1515 and 1647, although many Swiss served privately as mercenaries in the Italian Wars and during the Early Modern period. After the Swabian War of 1499 the confederacy was a de facto independent state throughout the modern period. The Swiss Confederacy fell to invasion by the French Revolutionary Army in 1798, the adjective “old” was introduced after the Napoleonic era with Ancien Régime, retronyms distinguishing the pre-Napoleonic from the restored confederation. During its existence the confederacy was known as Eidgenossenschaft or Eydtgnoschafft, in reference to treaties among cantons, territories of the confederacy came to be known collectively as Schweiz or Schweizerland, with the English Switzerland beginning during the mid-16th century. From that time the Confederacy was seen as a single state, the foundation of the Confederacy is marked by the Rütlischwur or the 1315 Pact of Brunnen. Since 1889, the Federal Charter of 1291 among the communes of Uri, Schwyz. The initial pact was augmented by pacts with the cities of Lucerne, Zürich, in several battles with Habsburg armies, the Swiss were victorious, they conquered the rural areas of Glarus and Zug, which became members of the confederacy. From 1353 to 1481, the federation of eight cantons—known in German as the Acht Orte —consolidated its position, the members enlarged their territory at the expense of local counts—primarily by buying judicial rights, but sometimes by force. The Eidgenossenschaft, as a whole, expanded through military conquest, the Aargau was conquered in 1415, in both cases, the Swiss profited from weakness in the Habsburg dukes. In the south, Uri led a military territorial expansion that would by 1515 lead to the conquest of the Ticino, none of these territories became members of the confederacy, they had the status of condominiums. At this time, the eight cantons gradually increased their influence on neighbouring cities, individual cantons concluded pacts with Fribourg, Appenzell, Schaffhausen, the abbot and the city of St. Gallen, Biel, Rottweil, Mulhouse and others. These allies became closely associated with the confederacy, but were not accepted as full members, the Burgundy Wars prompted a further enlargement of the confederacy, Fribourg and Solothurn were accepted in 1481. In the Swabian War against Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, the Swiss were victorious, the associated cities of Basel and Schaffhausen joined the confederacy as a result of that conflict, and Appenzell followed suit in 1513 as the thirteenth member. The federation of thirteen cantons constituted the Old Swiss Confederacy until its demise in 1798, the expansion of the confederacy was stopped by the Swiss defeat in the 1515 Battle of Marignano. Only Berne and Fribourg were still able to conquer the Vaud in 1536, the Reformation in Switzerland led to doctrinal division amongst the cantons
28.
Geography of Switzerland
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The geography of Switzerland encompasses the geographical features of Switzerland, a mountainous and landlocked country located in Western and Central Europe. It is surrounded by 5 countries, Austria and Liechtenstein to the east, France to the west, Italy to the south, Switzerland has a maximum north–south length of 220 kilometres and an east–west length of about 350 kilometres. Switzerland is well known for the Alps in the south and south east, North of the Alps, the Swiss Plateau runs along the east–west axis of the country. Most of the population of Switzerland lives on the rolling hills, the smaller Jura Mountains are located on the north west side of the plateau. Much of the border with Germany follows the Rhine, though the Rhine enters Switzerland near Schaffhausen. The eastern border with Germany and a portion of Austria is drawn through Lake Constance, a portion of the southwest border with France is drawn through Lake Geneva. Switzerland is divided into 26 sovereign cantons, the cantons along the Swiss Plateau tend to be the most populous, industrial and religiously Protestant. The cantons in the Alps tend to be less populous, Catholic, Switzerland is also divided by language. There are four languages, German 63. 7% of population, French 20. 4% of population, Italian 6. 5% of population. From Bern east the population generally speaks German, west of Bern, the population generally speaks French. In the southern Canton of Ticino, most people speak Italian, Romansh, a group of dialects descended from Vulgar Latin, is spoken in several regions in the canton of Graubünden. Switzerland extends between the parallels 45°4905 and 47°4830 lat. and the meridians 5°5723 and 10°2931 long and it forms an irregular quadrilateral, of which the greatest length from east to west is 350 kilometres, and the greatest breadth from north to south is nearly 220 kilometres. Switzerland is a country, the closest coastline being at the Gulf of Genoa,160 km south of Chiasso. Its political boundaries often do not coincide with those of nature, to that river valley, the valley of the Thur, that lies between the Aare basin and the Rhine basin must be added. Two wide and undulating valleys and two deeply cut trenches thus lie on the slope of the Alps, to the north and south respectively of the great northern outlier of the Alps. The great northern outlier attains a height of 4,274 metres in the Finsteraarhorn, the highest permanently inhabited village in Switzerland is Juf at the head of the Avers valley, while the lowest is Ascona, on Lake Maggiore. Different geological phenomena shaped the landscapes of Switzerland. The Alpine orogeny had the most visible effects on the landscape, a crystalline basement formed at the beginning of the Paleozoic era, between 540 and 360 millions years ago
29.
Vevey
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Vevey is a town in Switzerland in the canton Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne. It was the seat of the district of the name until 2006. It is part of the French-speaking area of Switzerland, Vevey is noted for being the final home of comedy legend Charlie Chaplin and his family from 1952 to 1977. Vevey is home to the headquarters of the food giant Nestlé. Milk chocolate was invented in Vevey by Daniel Peter in 1875, a piloti settlement existed here as early as the 2nd millennium BC. Under Rome, it was known as Viviscus or Vibiscum and it was mentioned for the first time by the ancient Greek astronomer and philosopher Ptolemy, who gave it the name Ouikos. In the Middle Ages it was a station on the Via Francigena and it was then ruled by the bishopric of Lausanne, and later under the Blonay family. Vevey lived through a period of prosperity after the Vaud Revolution of 1798, in the 19th century industrial activities included mechanical engineering at the Ateliers de Constructions Mécaniques de Vevey, food and tobacco. Vevey has an area, as of 2009, of 2.4 square kilometers, of this area,0.07 km2 or 2. 9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.11 km2 or 4. 6% is forested. Of the rest of the land,2.13 km2 or 89. 5% is settled,0.04 km2 or 1. 7% is either rivers or lakes. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2. 9% of the area while housing and buildings made up 51. 3%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other developed areas made up 1. 7% of the area while parks. Out of the land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land,0. 4% is used for growing crops and 1. 7% is pastures, all the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality was the capital of the Vevey District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, the blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per pale Or and Azure, two Letters V interlaced counterchanged. Vevey has a population of 19,453, as of 2008,43. 2% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has changed at a rate of 16. 2% and it has changed at a rate of 14. 2% due to migration and at a rate of 3. 4% due to births and deaths. Most of the population speaks French as their first language, with Italian being second most common, There are 599 people who speak German and 7 people who speak Romansh
30.
Lake Geneva
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Lake Geneva is a lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône,59. 53% of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland, and 40. 47% under France. Lake Geneva has been explored by four submarines, the Auguste Piccard, forel, both built by Jacques Piccard, and the two Mir submersibles. Following the rise of Geneva it became Lac de Genève, in the 18th century, Lac Léman was revived in French and is the customary name in that language. In contemporary English, the name Lake Geneva is predominant, a note on pronunciation, English, Lake Geneva /ˌleɪk dʒᵻˈniːvə/ French, le lac Léman, le Léman or le lac de Genève German, Genfersee or Genfer See Italian, Lago Lemano, Lago di Ginevra. The Chablais Alps border is its southern shore, the western Bernese Alps lie over its eastern side, the high summits of Grand Combin and Mont Blanc are visible from some places. Compagnie Générale de Navigation sur le lac Léman operates boats on the lake, the lake lies on the course of the Rhône. Other tributaries are La Dranse, LAubonne, La Morges, La Venoge, La Vuachère, Lake Geneva is the largest body of water in Switzerland, and greatly exceeds in size all others that are connected with the main valleys of the Alps. It is in the shape of a crescent, with the horns pointing south, the northern shore being 95 km, the crescent form was more regular in a recent geological period, when the lake extended to Bex, about 18 km south of Villeneuve. The lakes surface is the lowest point of the cantons of Valais, the culminating point of the lakes drainage basin is Monte Rosa at 4,634 metres above sea level. The beauty of the shores of the lake and of the sites of many of the places near its banks has long been celebrated, however, it is only from the eastern end of the lake, between Vevey and Villeneuve, that the scenery assumes an Alpine character. The shore between Nyon and Lausanne is called La Côte because it is flatter, between Lausanne and Vevey it is called Lavaux and is famous for its hilly vineyards. The average surface elevation of 372 m above sea level is controlled by the Seujet Dam in Geneva, simulations indicate that the Tauredunum event was most likely caused by a massive landslide near the Rhône delta, which caused a wave eight meters high to reach Geneva within 70 minutes. In 888 the town was part of the new Kingdom of Burgundy, in the late 1960s, pollution made it dangerous to swim at some beaches of the lake, indeed, visibility under water was near zero. By the 1980s, intense environmental pollution had almost wiped out all the fish, today, pollution levels have been dramatically cut back, and it is again considered safe to swim in the lake. Major leisure activities practiced include sailing, wind surfing, boating, rowing, on a scientific footnote, in 1827, Lake Geneva was the site for the first measurement of the speed of sound in water. The loud airborne sound coupled into the lake, establishing an underwater sound that could be measured at a distance. The flash of the exploding gunpowder provided the starting cue for the timepiece
31.
Rorschach, Switzerland
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Rorschach is a municipality, in the District of Rorschach in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It is on the side of Lake Constance. Rorschach is first mentioned in 850 as Rorscachun, in 947, Otto I granted the abbot of St. Gall the right to operate markets, mint coins and levy tariffs at Rorschach. Rorschach has an area, as of 2006, of 1.8 km2, of this area,7. 3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1. 7% is forested. Of the rest of the land,90. 4% is settled, the municipality is the capital of the Rorschach Wahlkreis. It is located on Lake Constance and bordered by the municipalities of Rorschacherberg, the blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a Garb Or between two Perches urinant. Rorschach has a population of 9,214, as of 2007, about 43. 7% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population,156 are from Germany,747 are from Italy,1,353 are from ex-Yugoslavia,103 are from Austria,329 are from Turkey, over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -5%. Most of the population speaks German, with Italian being second most common, of the Swiss national languages,6,572 speak German,38 people speak French,462 people speak Italian, and 13 people speak Romansh. The age distribution, as of 2000, in Rorschach is,885 children or 10. 2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 991 teenagers or 11. 5% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population,1,224 people or 14. 2% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 1,351 people or 15. 6% are between 30 and 39,1,190 people or 13. 8% are between 40 and 49, and 1,013 people or 11. 7% are between 50 and 59. In 2000 there were 1,848 persons who were living alone in a private dwelling, there were 1,916 persons who were part of a couple without children, and 3,925 who were part of a couple with children. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 26. 1% of the vote, the next three most popular parties were the SP, the CVP and the FDP. In Rorschach about 55. 3% of the population have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education, the remainder did not answer this question. The historical population is given in the table, Train lines link the city to St. Gallen, St. Margrethen. A rack railway, the Rorschach-Heiden-Bahn, leads to Heiden, in 1856, the station became the terminus of the line Zurich-St. Formerly, train carriages were transported over Lake Constance and thus it was possible to reach Heiden from Frankfurt or Berlin without changing trains, the highway A1 runs close to the south of Rorschach, but the town does not have its own junction
32.
Lake Constance
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Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water, the Obersee, the Untersee, and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein. The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps and its shorelines lie in the German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, the Austrian state of Vorarlberg, and the Swiss cantons of Thurgau, St Gallen and Schaffhausen. Freshwater Lake Constance is central Europes third largest, after Lake Balaton and it is 63 km long, and at its widest point, nearly 14 km. It covers approximately 571 km2, and is 395 m above sea level, the greatest depth is 252 metres in the middle of the eastern part. Its volume is approximately 10×10^9 m3, the regulated Rhine flows into the lake in the southeast, through the Obersee, the city of Konstanz and the Untersee, and flows out near Stein am Rhein. The lake itself is an important drinking water source for southwestern Germany, the culminating point of the lakes drainage basin is the Tödi at 3,614 metres above sea level. Car ferries link Romanshorn to Friedrichshafen, and Konstanz to Meersburg, Lake Constance was formed by the Rhine Glacier during the ice age and is a zungenbecken lake. The Rhine, the Bregenzer Ache, and the Dornbirner Ache carry sediments from the Alps to the lake, thus decreasing the depth. Lake Constance was first mentioned by the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela about 43 AD and he noted that the Rhine flows through two lakes, and gave them the Latin names Lacus Venetus and Lacus Acronius. Pliny the Elder used the name Lacus Brigantinus, after the Roman city of Brigantium, the lake is also colloquially known as the Swabian Sea. The lake was frozen in the years 1077,1326,1378,1435,1465,1477,1491,1517,1571,1573,1600,1684,1695,1709,1795,1830,1880, and 1963. Approximately 1,000 tonnes of fish were caught by 150 professional fishermen in 2001 which was below the ten year average of 1,200 tonnes per year. The Lake Constance trout was almost extinct in the 1980s due to pollution, Lake Constance is the home of the critically endangered species of trout Salvelinus profundus, and formerly also the now extinct Lake Constance whitefish. After the Council of Constance, the Latin-speaking Catholic world gave the lake its current international name and it was derived from the city of Konstanz, that, in turn, was named after a Roman emperor. The German name, Bodensee, derives from the town of Bodman, Lake Constance is the only area in Europe where no borders exist, because there is no legally binding agreement as to where the borders lie between Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Legal questions pertaining to transport and fishing are regulated in separate treaties. One concerns a houseboat which was moored in two states, another concerns the rights to fish in the Bay of Bregenz, in relation to the latter, an Austrian family was of the opinion that it alone had the right to fish in broad portions of the bay. However, this was accepted neither by the Austrian courts nor by the organs, a 100-year flood around June 1999 raised the level about 2 metres above normal, flooding harbors and many shoreline buildings and hotels
33.
Thun
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Thun is a town and a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland with about 43,783 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2013. It is located where the Aare flows out of Lake Thun,30 kilometres south of Bern, besides tourism, machine and precision instrument engineering, the largest garrison in the country, the food industry, armaments and publishing are of economic importance to Thun. The official language of Thun is German, but the spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. The area of what is now Thun was inhabited since the Neolithic age, during the early Bronze Age there were a number of settlements along the lake shore and the Aare. A site at Renzenbühl had a chief or noblemans grave which contained one of the richest collections of early Bronze Age artifacts in Europe. Another site at Wiler contained approximately 1,500 maritime snail shells which were harvested from the Mediterranean, the name of the town derives from the Celtic term Dunum, meaning fortified town. It fell to Rome in 58 BC, when Roman legions conquered almost all of Switzerland, the Romans were driven out of Thun, and out of the rest of Switzerland, by the Burgundians around 400 AD. The Aare became the frontier between the Christian Burgundians and the Pagan, German-speaking Alemanni, who lived north, the region was mentioned for the first time during the 7th century, in the chronicle of Frankish monk Fredgar. The town is first mentioned in 1133 as Tuno, the region of Thun became a part of the Holy Roman Empire in 1033, when Conrad II gained the title of King of Burgundy. The emperors entrusted the Zähringen family, centred in Bern, with subduing the unruly nobles of central Switzerland, around 1190 Duke Bertold V of Zähringen, built Thun castle and expanded the town. After Bertolds death in 1218, his territories went to Ulrich III von Kyburg, in 1264 Thun received town rights and in 1384 the town was bought by the canton of Bern. Thun was the capital of the Canton of Oberland of the Helvetic Republic, in 1819 a Military School was founded in the town, which later developed into the main military school in Switzerland. Thun was connected to the network of Switzerland in 1859. The center of Thun is located on the Aare, just downstream of the point where that river flows out of Lake Thun, the town covers an area of 21.6 km2, with the town boundaries reaching up to 4 km from the town centre. The town ranges in altitude between about 560 m, in the center, and 1,170 m, on its eastern boundary. Thun has an area of 21.58 km2, as of the 2004 survey, a total of 6.03 km2 or 27. 9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 4.32 km2 or 20. 0% is forested. Of rest of the municipality 10.76 km2 or 49. 9% is settled,0.29 km2 or 1. 3% is either rivers or lakes and 0.19 km2 or 0. 9% is unproductive land. From the same survey, industrial buildings made up 5. 7% of the area while housing and buildings made up 26. 8%
34.
Lucerne
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Lucerne is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the district of the same name. With a population of about 81,057 people, Lucerne is the most populous town in Central Switzerland, and a nexus of economics, transportation, culture, and media of this region. The citys urban area consists of 17 municipalities and towns located in three different cantons with a population of about 250,000 people. Owing to its location on the shores of Lake Lucerne and its outflow, one of the citys famous landmarks is the Chapel Bridge, a wooden bridge first erected in the 14th century. The official language of Lucerne is German, but the spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. After the fall of the Roman Empire beginning in the 6th century, in 1178 Lucerne acquired its independence from the jurisdiction of Murbach Abbey, and the founding of the city proper probably occurred that same year. The city gained importance as a strategically located gateway for the commerce from the Gotthard trade route. By 1290 Lucerne had become a self-sufficient city of size with about 3000 inhabitants. About this time King Rudolph I von Habsburg gained authority over the Monastery of St. Leodegar and its lands, the populace was not content with the increasing Habsburg influence, and Lucerne allied with neighboring towns to seek independence from their rule. Along with Lucerne, the three other forest cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden formed the eternal Swiss Confederacy, known as the Eidgenossenschaft, later the cities of Zürich, Zug and Bern joined the alliance. With the help of these additions, the rule of Austria over the area came to an end, the issue was settled by Lucerne’s victory over the Habsburgs in the Battle of Sempach in 1386. For Lucerne this victory ignited an era of expansion, the city shortly granted many rights to itself, rights which had been withheld by the Habsburgs until then. By this time the borders of Lucerne were approximately those of today, in 1415 Lucerne gained Reichsfreiheit from Emperor Sigismund and became a strong member of the Swiss confederacy. The city developed its infrastructure, raised taxes, and appointed its own local officials, the city’s population of 3000 dropped about 40% due to the Black Plague and several wars around 1350. In 1419 town records show the first witch trial against a male person, among the growing towns of the confederacy, Lucerne was especially popular in attracting new residents. As the confederacy broke up during Reformation after 1520, most cities became Protestant, after the victory of the Catholics over the Protestants in the Battle at Kappel in 1531, the Catholic towns dominated the confederacy. The future, however, belonged to the Protestant cities like Zürich, Bern and Basel, the former prominent position of Lucerne in the confederacy was lost forever
35.
Cantons of Switzerland
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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, with the Napoleonic period of the Helvetic Republic the term canton/cantone/Kanton was fully established. From 1833, there were 25 cantons, which became 26 after the secession of the canton of Jura from Bern in 1979. The term canton, now used as English term for administrative subdivisions of other countries, originates in French usage in the late 15th century, from a word for edge. After 1490, canton was increasingly used in French and Italian documents to refer to the members of the Swiss Confederacy, English use of canton in reference to the Swiss Confederacy dates to the early 17th century. It was increasingly replaced by Stand after 1550, the French term canton was not adopted into German usage prior to 1648, and after that only in occasional use. The prominent usage of Ort and Stand only gradually disappeared in German-speaking Switzerland with 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. The term Stand remains in usage and is reflected in the name of the upper chamber of the Swiss Parliament. Republic Some cantonal constitutions provide for a formal name of the state. Most of Romandys cantons and Ticino call themselves république/Repubblica officially, at least within their constitutions, for example, the canton of Geneva refers to itself formally as the République et canton de Genève. Though they were part of the Holy Roman Empire, they had become de facto independent when the Swiss defeated Emperor Maximillian in 1499 in Dornach. The old system was abandoned with the formation of the Helvetic Republic following the French invasion of Switzerland in 1798, the cantons of the Helvetic Republic had merely the status of an administrative subdivision with no sovereignty. The Helvetic Republic collapsed within five years, and cantonal sovereignty was restored with the Act of Mediation of 1803, the status of Switzerland as a federation of states was restored, at the time including 19 cantons. Three additional western cantons, Valais, Neuchâtel and Geneva, acceded in 1815, the process of Restoration, completed by 1830, returned most of the former feudal rights to the cantonal patriciates, leading to rebellions among the rural population. The Liberal Radical Party embodied these democratic forces calling for a new federal constitution and this tension, paired with religious issues escalated into armed conflict in the 1840s, with the brief Sonderbund War. The victory of the party resulted in the formation of Switzerland as a federal state in 1848. The cantons retained far-reaching sovereignty, but were no longer allowed to maintain standing armies or international relations. Each canton has its own constitution, legislature, government and courts, most of the cantons legislatures are unicameral parliaments, their size varying between 58 and 200 seats
36.
Canton of Valais
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The canton of Valais is widely known for the Matterhorn and resort towns such as Crans-Montana, Saas Fee and Zermatt. It is composed of 13 districts and its capital is Sion, the Romans called the upper Rhône valley Vallis Poenina. According to a tradition which can be traced back to the middle of the 8th century, from 888 onwards the lands were part of the kingdom of Jurane Burgundy. Valais formed part of the kingdom of Transjurane Burgundy, which fell to the Holy Roman Empire in 1032 and it became part of the duchy of Burgundia Minor, which was held from the emperors by the house of Zähringen. About the middle of the 13th century, the large communities began to develop independence, the name Zenden or tithings probably came from a very ancient division of the bishops manors for administrative and judicial purposes. In the same century the part of the valley was colonized by Germans from Hasli in the Canton of Bern. The locals became German speaking, though many Romance local names still remain, in 1354 the liberties of several of the seven Zenden were confirmed by the Emperor Charles IV. By the late 14th century, the counts of Savoy acquired the bishopric of Sion, the Zenden resisted his attempts to gather both spiritual and secular power in the valley. In 1375-76, Zenden forces crushed the army of the house of La Tour-Chatillon, and in 1388 utterly defeated the forces of the bishop, the German-speaking Zenden spread further into the valley. Starting in 1384 the Morge stream was recognized as the boundary between Savoyard, French-speaking Lower Valais and German-speaking episcopal Upper Valais, during the Raron affair rebellion in 1414 to 1420, some cantons of the Swiss Confederation took sides in the Valais. Lucerne, Uri and Unterwalden supported the Upper Valais rebels, while Bern supported the noble Raron family, the uprising was successful in driving out the Rarons, and almost brought the Confederation to civil war. Following the violence of the Raron affair, the canton was the location of the Valais witch trials between 1428 and 1447 in which at least 367 men and women were put to death and this event marks one of the earliest witch scares in late medieval Europe. The phenomenon later spread to parts of the contintent. With the election of Walther von Supersax of Conches as bishop in 1457, at the outbreak of the Burgundian War in 1475 the bishop of Sion and the Zenden made a treaty with Bern. In November of the year they seized all Lower or Savoyard Valais up to Martigny. In March 1476, after the victory of Grandson, they advanced and captured St Maurice, Évian, Thonon and they had to give up the last three districts in 1477, but won them again in 1536. In the treaty of Thonon in 1569, Monthey, Val-dllliez and these conquered districts in the Lower Valais were always ruled as subject lands by the bishop and Zenden of the Upper Valais. On March 12,1529, Valais became a member of the Swiss Confederation
37.
Canton of Bern
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The canton of Bern is the second largest of the 26 Swiss cantons by both surface area and population. Located in west-central Switzerland, it borders the canton of Jura, to the west lie the canton of Neuchâtel, the canton of Fribourg and Vaud. To the south lies the canton of Valais, east of the canton of Bern lie the cantons of Uri, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Lucerne and Aargau. The canton of Bern is bilingual and has a population of 1,017,483, as of 2007, the population included 119,930 foreigners. The cantonal capital, also the capital of Switzerland, is Bern. Bern joined the Swiss Confederation in 1353 and was between 1803 and 1814 one of the six directorial cantons of the Napoleonic Swiss Confederation and these caves were used at various times during the last ice age. The first open-air settlement in the area is an upper paleolithic settlement at Moosbühl in Moosseedorf, during the warmer climate of the mesolithic period, increasing forest cover restricted the movement of hunters, fishers and gatherers. Their temporary settlements were built along lake and marsh edges, which remained free of trees due to fluctuations in water level, important mesolithic sites in the Canton are at Pieterlenmoos and Burgäschisee lake along with alpine valleys at Diemtig and Simmental. During the neolithic period, there were a number of settlements on the shores of Lake Biel, several of these sites are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the best explored neolithic sites is at Twann, in the Twannbach delta there were about 25 Cortaillod culture and Horgen culture villages that existed between 3800 and 2950 BC. One of the oldest examples of bread from Switzerland, a sourdough from 3560–3530 BC, simple copper objects were already in use in the 4th millennium BC, including a copper pin from Lattrigen from 3170 BC and a knife blade from Twann. Shortly before 2000 BC bronze production entered the area and brought about a surge in development, settlements began to spread into the pre-Alpine and Alpine areas. The area between Lake Thun and the Niedersimmental were densely settled, Late Bronze Age settlements along Lake Biel have yielded up a wealth of items. During the early Iron Age changes in climate forced them to settlements along many waterways and in the valley floors and move to the plateaus. With increased trade contacts across the Alps, the influence of the Mediterranean grew in the area. Evidence of this include a hydria which was discovered in Grächwil. Burial rituals and social classes became more developed during this time, the so-called princely graves became more common, many of the burial mounds were over 30 m in diameter and 4 m high and richly outfitted with grave goods. In a grave mound in Bützberg the first burial in the mound was followed by later burials
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Grisons
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Grisons is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. The canton shares borders with the cantons of Ticino, Uri, Glarus and St. Gallen and international borders with Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. The name Graubünden translates as the Grey Leagues, referring to the origin in three local alliances, the League of Gods House, the Grey League, and the League of the Ten Jurisdictions. Grisons is also home to three of Switzerlands ethnic groups and the subsequent languages of Swiss German, Italian and Romansh are all native to the canton and it is the only officially trilingual canton and the only canton where the Romansh language has official status. Area-wise Grisons is Switzerlands largest canton at 7,105.2 square kilometres,19. 2% larger than the Canton of Bern, only about a third of this is commonly regarded as productive land of which forests cover about a fifth of the total area. The canton is entirely mountainous, comprising the highlands of the Rhine, in its southeastern part lies the only official Swiss National Park. In its northern part the mountains were formed as part of the thrust fault that was declared a geologic UNESCO World Heritage Site, under the name Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona, in 2008. Another Biosphere Reserve is the Biosfera Val Müstair adjacent to the Swiss National Park whereas Ela Nature Park is one of the regionally supported parks. Elevations in the Grison Alps include Tödi, at 3,614 metres, many of the mountain ranges feature extensive glaciers, such as at the Adula, the Albula, the Silvretta, the Bernina, the Bregaglia and the Rätikon ranges. The mountain ranges in the area are very deep, some being considered the deepest valleys in Europe. These valleys were settled by the Raetians. Grisons borders on the cantons of St. Gallen to the northwest, Glarus, Uri to the west and it also shares international borders with Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. The inhabitants of Grisons are called Bündner or Grisonians, most of the lands of the canton were once part of a Roman province called Raetia which was established in 15 BC. The current capital of Grisons, Chur, was known as Curia in Roman times, the area later was part of the lands of the diocese at Chur. In 1367 the League of Gods House was founded to resist the power of the Bishop of Chur. This was followed by the establishment of the Grey League, sometimes called Oberbund, the name Grey League is derived from the homespun grey clothes worn by the people and was used exclusively after 16 March 1424. The name of this later gave its name to the canton of Grisons. A third league was established in 1436 by the people of ten bailiwicks in the former Toggenburg countship, the league was called League of the Ten Jurisdictions
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Canton of Uri
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The canton of Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland, the cantons territory covers the valley of the Reuss between the St. Gotthard Pass and Lake Lucerne. The official language of Uri is German, but the spoken language is the Alemannic Swiss German dialect called Urner German. Uri was the canton where the children in school had to learn Italian as their first foreign language. But in the year of 2005/2006 this was changed to English as in most other cantons. The population is about 35,000 of which 3,046 are foreigners, the legendary William Tell is said to have hailed from Uri. The historical landmark Rütli lies within the canton of Uri, the name of the valley is first mentioned in the 8th or 9th century, in the Latinized form of Uronia. In the medieval period, the name referred not to the entire Reuss valley but just to Altdorf, the extension of the name to a larger territory is the result of the territorial expansion of the canton in the 15th century. However, usage of Uri as referring to Altdorf remained current, from the 13th century onward, the German form of the name is recorded as Ure. The modern form Uri dates to the 16th century, the name has been derived from either Latin ora brim, edge, margin, or from a pre-Roman hydronym containing the PIE root u̯er water, in either case extended by a suffix in -n-. Both etymologies would refer to the Reuss and/or the shore of Lake Lucerne, the -n- suffix was reduced to an ending in -n in Middle High German, and the ending -n in the German toponym was lost only in early modern German. There is a popular etymology associating the name with ûr. This tradition may date as far back as the Middle High German period, beginning in the 17th century, the bull of Uri came to be associated with the name of the Taurisci in learned speculation. There are traces of settlement dating to the Bronze and Iron Age, with suggestions of trans-alpine trade with Quinto in Ticino, during the Roman era, Uri remained mostly isolated from the Roman Empire. An analysis of the names along the shores of Lake Lucerne show a Gallo-Roman influence. When the Roman Empire withdrew from the Alps, the lake side villages looked north to the towns along the lake for support, Alemannic settlement begins in the 7th century. Uri is first mentioned in 732 as the place of banishment of Eto, in 853, Uri is granted to the Fraumünster abbey in Zürich by Louis the German. Parts of the Urseren were settled by Disentis Abbey and were part of the Diocese of Chur, by the 10th century, there were settlements of Romansh speakers from Disentis in the high valleys
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Canton of Glarus
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The Canton of Glarus is a canton in east central Switzerland. The population speaks a variety of Alemannic German, the majority of the population identifies as Christian, about evenly split between the Protestant and Catholic denominations. From the 9th century, the area around Glarus was owned by Säckingen Abbey, the Alemanni began to settle in the valley from the early 8th century. The Alemannic German language took hold only gradually, and was dominant by the 11th century, by 1288, the Habsburgs had claimed all the abbeys rights. Glarus joined the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1352 as one of the eight cantons of the period of 1353–1481. The first recorded Landsgemeinde of Glarus took place in 1387, habsburgian attempts to reconquer the valley were repelled in the Battle of Näfels of 1388. A banner depicting Saint Fridolin was used to rally the people of Glarus at that battle, the County of Werdenberg was annexed to Glarus in 1517. Between 1506 and 1516 the later reformer Huldrych Zwingli was priest in Glarus, but Glarus remained Catholic and this, however, did not end the struggles between the Protestants and the Catholics in the area. To secure peace it was decided that each party should have its own assembly in 1623, between 1798 and 1803 Glarus was part of the Canton of Linth as established by Napoleon. In 1836 the constitution was adapted to unite the assemblies and establish a single Landsgemeinde, in the early 1840s, after several years of failed crops and as food became scarce, much of the canton found itself deep in poverty. With more workers than available jobs, emigration to the United States of America was seen as a solution, the Glarus Emigration Society was established in 1844, which offered loans to help residents purchase land in the New World. Many of the emigrants went to the state of Wisconsin. On May 6,2007 Glarus became the first Swiss canton to lower the age to 16. The canton of Glarus is dominated by the valley of the Linth River. Most of the area is mountainous, the highest peak in the Glarus Alps is the Tödi at 3,614 meters Other mountains include the Hausstock and the Glärnisch. The canton contains part of a thrust fault that was declared a geologic UNESCO world heritage site, under the name Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona, famous outcrops in the Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona include those at Lochsite near Glarus and in a mountain cliff called Tschingelhörner between Elm and Flims. There is also a lake called Walensee on the north. The total area of the canton of Glarus is 685 square kilometers, forestry is an important branch of industry in the canton
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Canton of Ticino
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Ticino /tᵻˈtʃiːnoʊ/, formally the Republic and Canton of Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. The land now occupied by the canton was annexed from Italian cities in the 15th century by various Swiss forces in the last transalpine campaigns of the Old Swiss Confederacy, in the Helvetic Republic, established 1798, it was divided between the two new cantons of Bellinzona and Lugano. The creation of the Swiss Confederation in 1803 saw these two cantons combine to form the canton of Ticino. The name Ticino was chosen for the newly established canton in 1803, known as Ticinus in Roman times, the river appears on the Tabula Peutingeriana as Ticenum. Johann Kaspar Zeuss attributed Celtic origins to the name, tracing it to the Celtic tek, itself from an Indo-European root tak, in ancient times, the area of what is today Ticino was settled by the Lepontii, a Celtic tribe. Later, probably around the rule of Augustus, it part of the Roman Empire. After the fall of the Western Empire, was ruled by the Ostrogoths, the Lombards, around 1100 it was the centre of struggle between the free communes of Milan and Como, in the 14th century it was acquired by the Visconti, Dukes of Milan. In the fifteenth century the Swiss Confederates conquered the south of the Alps in three separate conquests. Between 1403 and 1422 some of these lands were annexed by forces from the Canton of Uri. Uri conquered the Leventina Valley in 1440, in a second conquest Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden gained the town of Bellinzona and the Riviera in 1500. Some of the land and Bellinzona itself were previously annexed by Uri in 1419, the third conquest was fought by troops from the entire Confederation. In 1512 Locarno, the Maggia Valley, Lugano and Mendrisio were annexed, subsequently, the upper valley of the Ticino River, from the St. Gotthard to the town of Biasca was part of Uri. The remaining territory was administered by the Twelve Cantons and these districts were governed by bailiffs holding office for two years and purchasing it from the members of the League. The lands of the canton of Ticino are the last lands to be conquered by the Swiss Confederation, the Confederation gave up any further conquests after their defeat at the battle of Marignano in 1515 by Francis I of France. The Val Leventina revolted unsuccessfully against Uri in 1755, in February 1798 an attempt of annexation by the Cisalpine Republic was repelled by a volunteer militia in Lugano. During the Napoleonic Wars, many Ticinesi served in Swiss military units allied with the French, the canton minted its own currency, the Ticinese franco, between 1813 and 1850, when it began use of the Swiss franc. In the early 19th century, the contemporary Franco-Danish scholar Conrad Malte-Brun stated that, “The canton of Tesino is the poorest, until 1878 the three largest cities, Bellinzona, Lugano and Locarno, alternated as capital of the canton. In 1878, however, Bellinzona became the only and permanent capital, the current cantonal constitution dates from 1997
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Canton of St. Gallen
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The canton of St. Gallen is a canton of Switzerland. Located in Northeastern Switzerland, the canton has an area of 2,026 km² and it was formed in 1803 as a conflation of the city of St. Gallen, the territories of the Abbey of St. Gall and various former subject territories of the Old Swiss Confederacy. The canton of St. Gallen is a construct of various historical territories. About half of the area corresponds to the acquisitions of the abbey of St. Gallen over centuries. The city of St. Gallen became independent of the Abbey in 1405, at the same time, the Abbey lost control of the Appenzell. Conversely, the Toggenburg was acquired by the Abbey in 1468, both the City and the Abbey were associates of the Old Swiss Confederacy, but unlike Appenzell never joined as full members. The territories at Lake Zürich, Walensee and Rheintal remained independent until 1798, in the Helvetic Republic, the northern parts of the modern canton together with Appenzell became the Canton of Säntis, while its southern parts together with Glarus became the canton of Linth. The founding of St. Gallen is based on the Irish monk Gallus, around 720, one hundred years after Galluss death, the Alemannic priest Othmar built an abbey and gave it the name Abbey of St. Gallen. In 926 Hungarian raiders attacked the abbey and surrounding town, about 1205 the abbot became a prince of the church in the Holy Roman Empire. In 1311 St. Gallen became a Free imperial city, by about 1353 the guilds, headed by the cloth-weavers guild, gained control of the civic government. In 1415 the city bought its liberty from the German king Sigismund, in 1405 the Appenzell estates of the abbot successfully rebelled and in 1411 they became allies of the Old Swiss Confederation. A few months later the town of St. Gallen also became allies and they joined the everlasting alliance as full members of the Confederation in 1454 and in 1457 became completely free from the abbot. However, in 1451 the abbey became an ally of Zürich, Lucerne, Schwyz, in early 1490 the four cantons supported the Abbot against the rebellious city and the Appenzell. Following their victory the Confederation took ownership of the city of St. Gallen, starting in 1526 then-mayor and humanist Joachim von Watt introduced the reformation in the city of St. Gallen. The town converted to the new reformed religion while the Abbey remained Roman Catholic, while iconoclastic riots forced the monks to flee the city and removed images from the citys churches, the fortified Abbey remained untouched. The Abbey would remain a Catholic stronghold in the Protestant city until 1803, in April 1798, the territories of the later canton of St. Gallen were divided between the Cantons of Säntis and Linth of the Helvetic Republic (along with Appenzell, Glarus and parts of Schwyz. However, the two new Cantons had immediate financial problems and were forced to institute a number of unpopular taxes, the Abbey was secularized on 17 September 1798 and the Prince-Abbot Pankraz Vorster fled to Vienna. The unpopular laws and the closing of the Abbey caused unrest throughout the area, when the War of the Second Coalition broke out in 1799, an Austrian army marched into eastern Switzerland and returned the Prince-Abbot to his throne at the Abbey
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Canton of Vaud
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The Canton of Vaud is the third largest of Swiss cantons by population and fourth by size. The capital and biggest city is Lausanne, officially designated Olympic Capital by the International Olympic Committee, the canton had 725,944 inhabitants as of 2011. Along the lakes, Vaud was inhabited in prehistoric times, later, the Celtic tribe of the Helvetii inhabited the area. The tribe was defeated by Caesars troops in 58 BC and as a consequence the Romans settled the area, the towns of Vevey and Lausanne are two of the many towns established by the Romans. In 27 BC the state of Civitas Helvetiorum was established around the capital of Avenches, there are still many Roman remains around the town today. Between the 2nd and the 4th century the area was invaded by Alemannic tribes. The Merovingian Franks later replaced the Burgundians and their occupancy did not last long either, and in 888 the area of the canton of Vaud was made part of the Carolingian Empire. In 1032 the Zähringens of Germany defeated the Burgundians, the Zähringens themselves were succeeded in 1218 by the counts of Savoy. It was only under the counts of Savoy that the area was given political unity, a part stretching from Attalens to the River Sarine, in the north, was absorbed by the canton of Fribourg. As the power of the Savoys declined at the beginning of the 15th century the land was occupied by troops from Bern, by 1536 the area was completely annexed. The Bernese occupiers were not popular amongst the population, later, inspired by the French Revolution, the Vaudois drove out the Bernese governor in 1798 and declared the Lemanic Republic. Under Napoleon I, it became the canton of Léman, in 1803, Vaud joined the re-installed Swiss confederation. In spite of Bernese attempts to reclaim Vaud, it has remained a sovereign canton ever since, separation was prevented at the cost of very few lives. The current constitution dates from 14 April 2003, replacing the one from 1885, in the Jura mountains in the west, the canton borders the French departments of Ain, Jura, and Doubs. In the east, it borders the cantons of Fribourg and Bern, the total area is 3,212 square kilometres. Along with the canton of Berne, Vaud is one of the two cantons whose territory extends from the Jura to the Alps, through the three geographic regions of Switzerland. The areas in the south east are mountainous, situated on the side of the Bernese Alps. This region is named the Vaud Alps
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Canton of Obwalden
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The Canton of Obwalden is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the centre of Switzerland, the canton contains the geographical centre of Switzerland. Obwalden is one of the two valleys, along with Nidwalden, that make up Unterwalden, throughout its history, the political situation and the exact amount of independence has varied widely. Between 1291 and 1309, Unterwalden joined the nascent Swiss Confederation, during that time Obwalden was known as Unterwalden ob dem Kernwald and Nidwalden was Unterwalden nit dem Kernwald. Unterwaldens votes in the Tagsatzung were split between the two valleys, between 1798 and 1803 it became the District of Sarnen in the Canton of Waldstätten. From 1803 until 1999 it was the half-canton of Obwalden, due to the complex history of Obwalden there will be some overlap between the histories of Obwalden, Nidwalden and Unterwalden. The earliest archaeological traces in Obwalden is a knife from the 8th millennium BC. Two Horgen culture sites from the 4th millennium BC have been found in the Canton, an ax and two bone blades were found in Giswil and a hammer-ax was found in Wilen. It appears that the valleys in Obwalden were at least temporarily inhabited during this time, an Early Bronze Age grave in Foribach in Kerns implies that there was a settlement in the surrounding area between 2000 BC and 1700 BC. There may have also been a settlement along the shores of Lake Sarnen during the same period, between 1500 and 1100 BC there were several other settlements, including houses in the Rengg Pass and high alpine herding camps above the pass. Many of the names in the canton have Celtic or Gallo-Roman roots. In 1914-15 a Roman estate was unearthed in Alpnach, the estate was built in the late 1st Century AD and remained in operation until a fire destroyed the main building in 270. Around 700, the Alamanni began to migrate into Obwalden and they initially settled around the lakes while the Gallo-Romans lived up on the plateau. The Alamanni influence is noticeable around Lake Sarnen and the Kerns plateau where many place name end in -ingen, -wil, the Gallo-Romans remained around Mt. Pilatus, the Giswilerstock and in the Melch valley. During the 8th to 11th centuries, the two populations intermarried and eventually all became Germanized, by the 9th century it was part of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy. It became part of the Holy Roman Empire following the military campaign of 1032-33 by Emperor Conrad II. Obwalden was given to the Counts of Lenzburg from Aargau, the counts built a castle on Landenberg hill to help them control the land. During the Early Middle Ages, much of the land in Obwalden was controlled by monasteries, the monasteries began to spread their authority and parishes into Obwalden during this time
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Canton of Nidwalden
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The Canton of Nidwalden is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the centre of Switzerland, the population is 40,287 of which 4,046 are foreigners. The earliest traces of settlement date to the Neolithic with sites found near Stansstad that are from 4000–3100 BC. The same sites, near Stansstad, also contain Late Bronze Age artifacts, with additional Bronze Age sites near Hergiswil, a La Tène grave for a 10-year-old girl has been found in Stans. Based on these finds, it appears that the Nidwalden region has been settled since the 1st millennium BC, during the Roman Empire Ob and Nidwalden were inhabited by a Gallo-Roman or Celtic population. While there are few artifacts from the population, many names of the towns, rivers, by the 8th century the Alemanni entered the valleys of present-day Nidwalden and intermingled. At this time a Roman Catholic church was built in Stans, the church in Stans would remain until the 10th century when it was replaced by a church in Buochs. Initially the land was owned by a number of noble families, but by the late 13th century the major powers in Nidwalden had shrunk to three, the Habsburgs, Murbach Abbey and Engelberg Abbey. In 1291 Rudolph of Habsburg bought Obwalden from Murbach Abbey, in response the people of Nidwalden joined Uri and Schwyz to form an alliance which is considered the foundation of the Old Swiss Confederacy. At the time there was no state, but towards the end of the 14th century early forms of government were established and this included institutionalized assemblies and courts. In the 14th and 15th century the people of Nidwalden joined the people of Obwalden to discuss important matters, for example, Obwalden did not participate in the annexation of Bellinzona, Riviera and Blenio areas. Around 1500 many people in Nidwalden worked as mercenary soldiers, many of these soldiers later emigrated. This helped to lessen the pressure of a growing population, under the Helvetic Republic imposed in 1798 by French Revolutionary troops, Switzerland became a united country. The ideas of the French Revolution were not popular in parts of the Swiss nation including Nidwalden. The cantons were accustomed to self-government and many resented the limits on the freedom of worship in particular, when rebel forces threatened the Republic, Nidwalden was attacked by French troops on 9 September 1798. The cantons infrastructure was damaged and at least 400 people were killed. After the end of Napoleonic rule in 1814, most of the changes were reverted, only in 1877 did Nidwalden introduce a new constitution. The open assembly was abolished in 1997, Nidwalden is located in the centre of Switzerland
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Canton of Schwyz
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Schwyz is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centered on and named after the town of Schwyz. It is one of the cantons of Switzerland, Switzerlands Standard German name, die Schweiz, is derived from the name of the canton. For the history of the name, see Schwyz, the Swiss Federal Charter is on display in Schwyz. Northeast of the town of Schwyz is the Einsiedeln Abbey, the earliest traces of humans in Schwyz are from the Upper Paleolithic and Early Mesolithic or about 12,500 BC. An excavation of the karst caves in the valley of the Muota river revealed numerous sites, the alpine meadows at Bödmeren, Twärenen and Silberen were stone age hunter-gatherer camps. Ibex and red deer bones along with charcoal indicate that the animals were butchered and cooked in these camps, in 2009 the first stone age tool in the canton, a stone drill, was discovered. During the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age there were a number of pile dwellings, the two settlements at Hurden in Freienbach are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Hurden sites are related to the western Cortaillod culture, sites on the island of Lützelau and the shore zone at Freienbach are eastern Pfyn culture and Corded Ware culture. During the Bronze Age several bridges were built between the promontory of Endingen in Rapperswil, St. Gallen and the settlements at Hurden, over 200,000 posts and seven bridges have been discovered, along with several settlements and ritual sites. On the Schwyz side of the lake, ten different settlements from 4300-2700 BC have been discovered, however, after 1200 BC there is very little evidence for further Bronze Age settlements in the canton. Only eight Iron Age sites have been discovered in the canton from the 8th to 1st centuries BC, during the Roman era a Roman Vicus was established at Kempraten in Rapperswil around the massive bridge at Seedamm which crossed into Schwyz. A Gallo-Roman temple was built on Ufenau island around AD200 on the site of the present chapel of Sts, a few Roman coin hoards were discovered at Küssnacht and Rickenbach bei Schwyz and Küssnacht may have been the site of a Roman estate. In 561 Schwyz became part of the Ducatus alamannorum and remained independent under the Alemanni dukes until the second quarter of the 8th century. The Alemanni began to settle into the valleys around 680, but for centuries the Germanic speaking Alemanni, Romansh remained the main language in Einsiedeln until the 10th century. In the 8th and 9th centuries the land was under the Counts of the Zürichgau, the low-laying land along Lake Zürich was relatively easy to reach and was settled throughout the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, the Muotathal area was used by seasonal herders, Küssnacht was first mentioned in the 9th century, but it is likely that there were earlier settlements. The forests around Einsiedeln were lightly settled, a visit of the Irish monks, Gallus and Columbanus in 611 is mentioned in the Gallusviten. However, their efforts were unsuccessful in Schwyz
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Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden
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The canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden is the smallest canton of Switzerland by population and the second smallest by area, with Basel-City being the smallest. It was the last Swiss canton to grant women the vote on local issues, the name Appenzell means cell of the abbot. This refers to the Abbey of St. Gall, which exerted an influence on the area. By about 1360, conflicts over grazing rights, taxes, both parties wanted to protect their rights and interests by joining the new Swabian League. In 1377 Appenzell was allowed to join the League with the support of the cities of Konstanz, with the support of League, Appenzell refused to pay many of the gifts and tithes that the Abbot Kuno von Stoffeln demanded. In response to the loss of revenue from his estates, Kuno approached the Austrian House of Habsburg for help, in 1392 he made an agreement with the Habsburgs, which was renewed in 1402. In response, in 1401 Appenzell entered into an alliance with the city of St. Gallen to protect their rights, on a certain day, throughout the abbots lands, they attacked the bailiffs and drove them out of the land. Following unsuccessful negotiations Appenzell and St. Gallen entered into a treaty, the treaty between St. Gallen and Appenzell marked a break between the abbot and his estates. Perhaps fearing the Habsburgs, in 1402 the League expelled Appenzell, during the same year, St. Gallen reached an agreement with the abbot and Appenzell could no longer count on St. Gallens support. Glarus provided less support, but authorized any citizen who wished to support Appenzell to do so, in response, the League raised an army and marched to St. Gallen before heading toward Appenzell. On 15 May 1403, they entered the pass to Speicher, a small force of Appenzell and Confederation troops defeated the League army and signed a short-lived peace treaty. Following another Appenzell victory on 17 June 1405, at Stoss Pass on the border of Appenzell town, during the expansion, Appenzell had even captured the abbot of St. Gall and in response they were excommunicated by the Bishop of Constance. However, while the Bund expanded the Austrians used the peace to regain their strength, on 11 September 1406 an association of nobles formed a knightly order known as the Sankt Jörgenschild to oppose the rebellious commoners of the Bund. Following a defeat at Bregenz, Appenzell was unable to hold the Bund together, the city of St. Gallen and the Canton of Schwyz each paid off the Austrians to avoid an attack, and the Bund was dissolved by King Rupert on 4 April 1408. As part of the treaty, the abbot gave up his ownership of Appenzell. However, it was not until 1410 that the area was at peace, in 1411 Appenzell signed a defensive treaty with the entire Swiss Confederation, which strengthened their position against the abbot. Appenzell joined the Confederation as an Associate Member, and did not become a member until 1513. Following another battle, in 1429, Appenzell was granted freedom from the obligations in the future and this treaty represented the end of Appenzells last financial tie to the Abbey of St. Gall, and a movement to closer relationships with the Confederation
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Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden
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The canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden is a canton of Switzerland. The seat of the government and parliament is Herisau, judicial authorities are in Trogen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden is located in the north east of Switzerland, bordering the cantons of St. Gallen and Appenzell Innerrhoden. Settlement in Appenzell started in the 7th and the 8th century alongside the river Glatt, the monastery of St. Gallen was of great influence on the local population. In 907 Herisau is mentioned for the first time, the canton is named first in 1071, the name Appenzell means cell of the abbot. This refers to the Abbey of St. Gall, which exerted an influence on the area. By about 1360, conflicts over grazing rights, taxes, both parties wanted to protect their rights and interests by joining the new Swabian League. In 1377 Appenzell was allowed to join the League with the support of the cities of Konstanz, with the support of League, Appenzell refused to pay many of the gifts and tithes that the Abbot Kuno von Stoffeln demanded. In response to the loss of revenue from his estates, Kuno approached the Austrian House of Habsburg for help, in 1392 he made an agreement with the Habsburgs, which was renewed in 1402. In response, in 1401 Appenzell entered into an alliance with the city of St. Gallen to protect their rights, on a certain day, throughout the abbots lands, they attacked the bailiffs and drove them out of the land. Following unsuccessful negotiations Appenzell and St. Gallen entered into a treaty, the treaty between St. Gallen and Appenzell marked a break between the abbot and his estates. Perhaps fearing the Habsburgs, in 1402 the League expelled Appenzell, during the same year, St. Gallen reached an agreement with the abbot and Appenzell could no longer count on St. Gallens support. Glarus provided less support, but authorized any citizen who wished to support Appenzell to do so, in response, the League raised an army and marched to St. Gallen before heading toward Appenzell. On 15 May 1403, they entered the pass to Speicher, a small force of Appenzell and Confederation troops defeated the League army and signed a short lived peace treaty. Following another Appenzell victory on 17 June 1405, at Stoss Pass on the border of Appenzell town, during the expansion, Appenzell had even captured the abbot of St Gall and in response they were excommunicated by the Bishop of Constance. However, while the Bund expanded the Austrians used the peace to regain their strength, on 11 September 1406 an association of nobles formed a knightly order known as the Sankt Jörgenschild to oppose the rebellious commoners of the Bund. Following a defeat at Bregenz, Appenzell was unable to hold the Bund together, the city of St. Gallen and the Canton of Schwyz each paid off the Austrians to avoid an attack, and the Bund was dissolved by King Rupert on April 4,1408. As part of the treaty, the abbot gave up his ownership of Appenzell. However, it wasnt until 1410 that the area was at peace, in 1411 Appenzell signed a defensive treaty with the entire Swiss Confederation, which strengthened their position against the abbot
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