The canton of Fribourg, also canton of Freiburg (french: Canton de Fribourg ; german: Kanton Freiburg ; frp, Canton de Fribôrg rm, Chantun Friburg it, Canton Friburgo) is located in western

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all ...

, with French spoken by more than two thirds of the citizens and German by a little more than a quarter. Both are official languages in the canton. The canton takes its name from its capital city of Fribourg.

History

On the shores of Lake Neuchâtel and Lake Morat significant traces of prehistoric settlements have been unearthed. The canton of Fribourg joined the Swiss Confederation in 1481. The area is made up of lands acquired by the capital Fribourg. The present extent was reached in 1803 when Murten (Morat) was acquired. The canton of Fribourg joined the separatist league of Catholic cantons in 1846 ( Sonderbund). The following year, its troops surrendered to the federal army.

Geography

The canton is bounded to the west by Lake Neuchâtel, to the west and the south by the canton of Vaud, and to the east by 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. ...

. The canton includes two

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

s within Vaud and one within the canton of Bern, as well as a large

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

on the lake; it also enclaves the Bernese municipality of Münchenwiler. The area of the canton is , including the small enclaves. The canton lies on the elevated Swiss Plateau. In the west the lands are flat, but towards the south east of the canton, the lands rise to a hilly region. This region is commonly called ''pre-

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

'' but is part of the Bernese Alps. The highest elevation in the canton is the Vanil Noir with . The river Saane/Sarine flows from the south to the north of the canton. Together with its tributaries it drains most of the lands in the canton, then joins the river Aare. The river Broye drains the west of the canton and flows northeast into Lake Morat (Murtensee). The southwest part of the canton is drained by the river

Veveyse Veveyse District (german: Bezirk Vivisbach; french: District de la Veveyse ; frp, District de la Vevêse ) is one of seven districts in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. It has a population of (as of ). It takes its name from the river Veve ...

, which flows south into

Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial lak ...

(french: Le Léman).

Political subdivisions

Districts

The Canton is divided into seven districts: * Broye capital

Estavayer-le-Lac Estavayer-le-Lac (;Florence Cattin/Andres Kristol, ''Estavayer-le-Lac FR (La Broye)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', ...

* Glâne capital Romont * Gruyère (german: Greyerz, links=no) capital Bulle *

Sarine Sarine may refer to: * Sarine District, one of Switzerland's seven districts *Saane/Sarine The Sarine (; frp, Sarena ) or Saane () is a major river of Switzerland.6th longest, 7th largest basin, see List of rivers of Switzerland It is long and ...

(german: Saane, links=no) capital Fribourg *

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

(french: Lac, links=no, german: See, links=no) capital Morat *

Sense A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the world through the detection of stimuli. (For example, in the human body, the brain which is part of the central nervous system re ...

(french: Singine, links=no) capital

Tafers Tafers (french: Tavel ; frp, Tavél ) is a municipality in the district of Sense in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. It is one of the municipalities with a large majority of German speakers in the mostly French speaking Canton of Fribou ...

(german: Vivisbach, links=no) capital

Châtel-Saint-Denis Châtel-Saint-Denis (; frp, Châtél, locally ''Tsathi'' , or ''Châtél-Sent-Denis'', locally ''Tsathi-Chin-Dèni'') is a municipality and district capital of the district of Veveyse in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. Geography Châte ...

Municipalities

There are 165 municipalities in the canton of Fribourg . The number is decreasing as the canton subsidizes mergers between municipalities.

Demographics

In contrast to the mainly Protestant cantons of Vaud to its west and

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

to its east, the canton of Fribourg is a predominantly

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 ...

enclave (, 70%) with a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

minority (15%). This explains the canton's existence, even though it straddles the French-German linguistic border, for in the past, denominational considerations were more important than linguistic when drawing Switzerland's cantons. The main centres of population are the capital Fribourg (34,300 inhabitants) and Bulle (18,200 inhabitants). Two thirds of the population speak French, the remainder speak Alemannic dialects of German. The French-speaking areas are in the west of the canton, the Alemannic-speaking areas in the east. The number of bilingual towns, and consequently the large number of people who can speak both French and German fluently, has attracted businesses such as telesales companies. The population of the canton (as of ) is . , the population included 43,838 foreign-born residents, or about 16.65% of the total population.

Historical population

The historical population is given in the following table:

Economics

Agriculture is important in the canton of Fribourg. The main agricultural activities are cattle breeding and

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history t ...

. The region is a major cheese producer, especially the district of Gruyère, home of the

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During productio ...

of the same name. The chocolate industry is also well established in

Broc Broc (; frp, Broc, locally ) is a municipality in the district of Gruyère in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. History Broc is first mentioned in 1115 as ''Broc'' and ''Broch''. The municipality was formerly known by its German name ''B ...

, home to an international chocolate research centre. Other agricultural produces include tobacco, fruit and cereals. Agriculture is predominant in the north of the canton where the most fertile lands lie. There is light industry concentrated around the capital Fribourg. Other centres of light industry are Bulle,

Villars-sur-Glâne Villars-sur-Glâne (; frp, Velârs-sur-Gllânna ) is a municipality in the district of Sarine in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. Geography Villars-sur-Glâne has an area, , of . Of this area, or 29.3% is used for agricultural purposes ...

Düdingen Düdingen (; french: Guin ; frp, Duens, locally ) is a municipality in the district of Sense in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. It is one of the municipalities with a large majority of German speakers in the mostly French speaking Can ...

(Guin), Murten (Morat) and

. These five centers have also a large number of established small and medium-sized businesses, many of which are in the service sector. Forests are important in the La Gruyère (Greyerz) district. Power plants in the district of

export electricity. The mountain areas attract tourists all year round. The lake regions are frequented by tourists in summer and autumn.

Transport

The canton of Fribourg is well connected to other areas of

with motorways A1, A12 and fast rail links. The main railway between

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

and

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

in the south west to

and

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

connects Fribourg with other centres of the country. Connections within the canton are mostly provided by the Transports Publics Fribourgeois, with numerous bus routes and trains connecting the main towns.

Politics

Federal election results

: FDP before 2009, FDP.The Liberals after 2009 : "*" indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton. : Included under "Other" in this election.

Notes and references

External links

*
Official site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fribourg Cantons of Switzerland Cantons of the Helvetic Republic 15th-century establishments in the Old Swiss Confederacy 1480s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1481 establishments in Europe