Communes Of Switzerland
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Municipalities (german: Gemeinden, ' or '; french: communes; it , comuni; rm, vischnancas) are the lowest level of
administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
in Switzerland. Each municipality is part of one of the Swiss cantons, which form the Swiss Confederation. In most cantons, municipalities are also part of
districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
or other sub-cantonal administrative divisions. There are 2,136 municipalities . Their populations range between several hundred thousand (
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...
), and a few dozen people ( Kammersrohr, Bister), and their territory between 0.32 km² (
Rivaz Rivaz (pro. ree-vah) is a municipality in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, located in the district of Lavaux-Oron. History Rivaz is first mentioned in 1138 as ''Ripa''. Geography Rivaz has an area, , of . Of this area, or 67.7% is used fo ...
) and 439 km² ( Scuol).


History

The beginnings of the modern municipality system date back to the
Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (, , ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, m ...
. Under the
Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy ( Modern German: ; historically , after the Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or In the charters of the 14th centur ...
, citizenship was granted by each town and village to only residents. These citizens enjoyed access to community property and in some cases additional protection under the law. Additionally, the urban towns and the rural villages had differing rights and laws. The creation of a uniform Swiss citizenship, which applied equally for citizens of the old towns and their tenants and servants, led to conflict. The wealthier villagers and urban citizens held rights to forests, common land and other municipal property which they did not want to share with the "new citizens", who were generally poor. The compromise solution, which was written into the municipal laws of the Helvetic Republic, is still valid today. Two politically separate but often geographically similar organizations were created. The first, the so-called municipality, was a political community formed by election and its voting body consists of all resident citizens. However, the community land and property remained with the former local citizens who were gathered together into the ''
Bürgergemeinde The Bürgergemeinde (also Burgergemeinde, Ortsgemeinde, Ortsbürgergemeinde, Tagwen, bourgeoisie, commune bourgeoise, vischnanca burgaisa, en, Citizen's Community) is a statutory corporation in public law in Switzerland. It includes all individu ...
''/bourgeoisie. During the Mediation era (1803–1814), and especially during the Restoration era (1814–1830), many of the gains toward uniform citizenship were lost. Many political municipalities were abolished and limits were placed on the exercise of political rights for everyone except the members of the ''Bürgergemeinde''. In the Regeneration era (1830–1848), the liberal revolutions of the common people helped to restore some rights again in a few cantons. In other cantons, the ''Bürgergemeinden'' were able to maintain power as political communities. In the city of Zurich it was not until the Municipal Act of 1866 that the political municipality came back into existence. The relationship between the political municipality and the ''Bürgergemeinde'' was often dominated by the latter's ownership of community property. Often the administration and profit from the property were totally held by the ''Bürgergemeinden'', leaving the political municipality dependent on the ''Bürgergemeinde'' for money and use of the property. It was not until the political municipality acquired rights over property that served the public (such as schools, fire stations, etc.) and taxes, that they obtained full independence. For example, in the city of Bern, it was not until after the property division of 1852 that the political municipality had the right to levy taxes. It was not until the Federal Constitution of 1874 that all Swiss citizens were granted equal political rights on local and Federal levels. This revised constitution finally removed all the political voting and electoral body rights from the ''Bürgergemeinde''. In the cities, the percentage of members in the ''Bürgergemeinde'' in the population was reduced as a result of increasing emigration to the cities. This led to the ''Bürgergemeinde'' losing its former importance to a large extent. However, the ''Bürgergemeinde'' has remained, and it includes all individuals who are citizens of the ''Bürgergemeinde'', usually by having inherited the ''Bürgerrecht'' (citizenship), regardless of where they were born or where they may currently live. Instead of the place of birth, Swiss legal documents, e.g. passports, contain the ''Bürgerort'' (place of citizenship, or
place of origin In Switzerland, the place of origin (german: Heimatort or Bürgerort, literally "home place" or "citizen place"; french: Lieu d'origine; it, Luogo d'origine) denotes where a Swiss citizen has their municipal citizenship, usually inherited from prev ...
). The ''Bürgergemeinde'' also often holds and administers the
common property Common ownership refers to holding the assets of an organization, enterprise or community indivisibly rather than in the names of the individual members or groups of members as common property. Forms of common ownership exist in every econo ...
in the village for the members of the community.


Structure and responsibilities

Each canton determines the powers and responsibilities of its municipalities. These may include providing
local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loc ...
services such as education, medical and social services, public transportation, and tax collection. The degree of centralization varies from one canton to another. The federal constitution protects the autonomy of municipalities within the framework set out by cantonal law. Municipalities are generally governed by an
executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive di ...
council headed by a president or
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
. Legislative authority is exercised by a
town meeting Town meeting is a form of local government in which most or all of the members of a community are eligible to legislate policy and budgets for local government. It is a town- or city-level meeting in which decisions are made, in contrast with ...
of all citizens, or by a municipal parliament, depending on the size of the municipality, and on cantonal and municipal law. In some cantons, foreigners who have lived for a certain time in Switzerland are also allowed to participate in municipal politics. As at the cantonal and federal level, citizens enjoy political rights, including direct democratic ones, in their municipality. Municipalities are financed through direct taxes (such as
income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Ta ...
), with rates varying more or less within a framework set by the canton (see Taxation in Switzerland). As among the cantons, there is a tax transfer among the municipalities to balance various levels of tax income.


Size and designations

Switzerland has a relatively high number of small municipalities, with a population of 1,000 or less, especially in rural areas. Because of the increasing difficulty in providing professional government services and in finding volunteers for political offices in small municipalities, the cantons tend to encourage voluntary mergers of municipalities. This led to the number of municipalities dropping by 384 between the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2019. Some municipalities designate themselves as "city" (''ville'' or ''Stadt'') or as "village" (''Dorf''). These designations result from tradition or local preference – for example, several small municipalities designated as cities held
city right Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...
s in medieval times – and normally do not impact the legal or political rights or obligations of the municipalities under cantonal or federal law. Municipalities are numbered by the Swiss Federal Office for Statistics (see '' Community Identification Number#Switzerland''). One or more postal codes (PLZ/NPA) can by assigned to a municipality or shared with other municipalities.


List of municipalities by population (2011–21)

Between 2011 and 2021 nine of the smallest municipalities merged into others as part of the effort to eliminate the smallest communities. Only Bister has not merged into a new municipality although the smallest municipality is now Kammersrohr with a population of just 32.


Lists of municipalities by canton


Other local subdivisions and entities

In addition to the municipalities as basic territorial political subdivisions, a number of other local subdivisions exist in several cantons. These include: *
Bürgergemeinde The Bürgergemeinde (also Burgergemeinde, Ortsgemeinde, Ortsbürgergemeinde, Tagwen, bourgeoisie, commune bourgeoise, vischnanca burgaisa, en, Citizen's Community) is a statutory corporation in public law in Switzerland. It includes all individu ...
(also: Burgergemeinde, Ortsgemeinde, Ortsbürgergemeinde, Tagwen, bourgeoisie, commune bourgeoise, vischnanca burgaisa), a
statutory corporation A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...
that includes everyone who is a citizen of a commune and has the ''Heimatrecht'' (home right) in that commune regardless of where they may currently live. Until the 19th Century this ''Heimatrecht'' included rights to use the commons, which were administered by the Bürgergemeinde. Modernly, some Bürgergemeinden may still control common property, but the ''Heimatrecht'' and associated ''Heimatort'' is used just as place of birth in other countries. * Gemischte Gemeinde (mixed communes), found in the
Canton of Jura The Republic and Canton of Jura (french: République et canton du Jura), less formally the Canton of Jura or Canton Jura ( , ), is the newest (founded in 1979) of the 26 Swiss cantons, located in the northwestern part of Switzerland. The capital ...
and portions of the
Canton of Bern The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...
, a combination of a Bürgergemeinde and a political commune. * Korporationsgemeinde, a legally recognized cooperative in
Central Switzerland Central Switzerland is the region of the Alpine Foothills geographically the heart and historically the origin of Switzerland, with the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Lucerne and Zug. Central Switzerland is one of the NUTS 2 Stat ...
that controls some land and is responsible for its members support. * Kirchgemeinde, a
parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...
for members of a large church (generally
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
or
Swiss Reformed The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...
. There may be two or more ''Kirchgemeinden'' in a single municipality. * Schulgemeinde, similar to a
school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, w ...
. * Bäuert, in the Berner Oberland or Graubünden) a small farming community. It is a type of
agricultural cooperative An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activity. A broad typology of agricultural cooperatives distinguishes between agricultural service cooperati ...
with shared equipment and land. * Degagna, in the
Leventina valley The Leventina District is one of the eight districts of the largely Italian-speaking canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The capital of the district is Faido but the largest town is Airolo on the southern flank of the Gotthard Pass. Situated to th ...
in the
Canton of Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
. It manages shared pastures, fields and woods as well as maintaining roads that cross the common land.


See also

*
List of municipalities of Switzerland This is an alphabetical list of the 2,551 municipalities of Switzerland, updated ().   References External links Official list of municipalities of Switzerland in Excel {{Portal bar, Switzerland *List Municipalities A mun ...
*
List of twin towns and sister cities in Switzerland __NOTOC__ This is a list of municipalities in Switzerland having standing links to local communities in other countries. In most cases, the association, especially when formalised by local government, is known as "town twinning" (though other ter ...
*
Former municipalities of Switzerland This is a list of former municipalities of Switzerland, i.e. municipalities of Switzerland (german: Gemeinden, french: communes, it, comuni, rm, vischnancas) that no longer exist. In 1850, Switzerland had 3203 municipalities. On 1 January 202 ...
*
Cantons of Switzerland The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swis ...


Notes and references


External links


Official list of municipalities of Switzerland ''(in Italian)''
Neuchâtel , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France), ...
, 2006. . * * ttps://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/it/home/basi-statistiche/agvch.html Official list municipalities of Switzerland ''(in Italian)'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Communes Of Switzerland
Municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
Switzerland 3 Municipalities, Switzerland