Municipalities of Switzerland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Municipalities (sometimes called communities or communes, after the French/Italian names) are the smallest government division in Switzerland, and are called Gemeinden in German, communes in French and comuni in Italian. As of January 2006, Switzerland has 2740 municipalities.<ref>Official list of Swiss municipalities, p. 17</ref> While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zurich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities. The area of the municipalities varies between 0.28 km² (Ponte Tresa, Ticino) and 282 km² (Bagnes, Valais).

1 Lists of municipalities by canton
2 List of municipalities by population
3 See also
4 Notes
5 References

Each canton defines their responsibilities. These may include providing local government services such as education, medical and social services, public transportation, and tax collection. The degree of centralization varies from one canton to another.

Municipalities are generally governed by a council headed by a mayor as executive and the general assembly of all adult Swiss inhabitants as legislative. Most cantons leave the option to larger municipalities to opt for a city parliament.

Swiss citizenship is based on the citizenship of a municipality. Every Swiss is citizen of one or several municipalities (i.e. the place of origin, lieu d'origine, Heimatort).

Municipalities are financed through direct taxes (e.g. income tax), with rates varying more or less within a framework set by the canton.

Many municipalities are having difficulties maintaining the civil services they need to perform the duties they are required to do. In an effort to reduce expenses, many municipalities are combining together (through mergers or the creation of special-purpose districts). This restructuring is generally encouraged by the cantonal governments and the rate of these unions is increasing.

"Cities" (villes or Städte) are the municipalities with more than 10'000 inhabitants or smaller places which had medieval town rights. There is no specific designation for smaller municipalities ("villages", "towns").

Population	Number of municipalities (%)<ref>Official list of Swiss municipalities, p. 17</ref>
>20,000	30 (1.1%)
10,000–10,000	89 (3.2%)
5000–9999	180 (6.6%)
1000–4999	1025 (37.4%)
500–999	555 (20.3%)
<500	861 (31.4%)
Total	2740 (100%)

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.

[edit] Lists of municipalities by canton

See cantons of Switzerland for the number of municipalities per canton.

[edit] List of municipalities by population

Largest municipalities
City	C.	Pop.
Zürich	ZH	365'000
Geneva	GE	171'000
Basel	BS	166'300
Bern	BE	136'300
Lausanne	VD	128'100
Winterthur	ZH	87'000
St. Gallen	SG	75'200
Lucerne	LU	61'000
Lugano	TI	52'000
Biel/Bienne	BE	51'900
Thun	BE	38'200
Köniz	BE	36'993
La Chaux-de-Fonds	NE	36'966
Schaffhausen	SH	33'764
Fribourg	FR	32'549
Chur	GR	31'911
Neuchâtel	NE	31'630
Vernier	GE	29'459
Uster	ZH	28'770
Sion	VS	27'697
Emmen	LU	26'973

<td>

Smallest municipalities (2002)
Rank	Municipality	C.	Pop.
1.	Portein	GR	22
2.	Corippo	TI	23
3.	Mulegns	GR	25
4.	Bister	VS	26
5.	Martisberg	VS	28
6.	Goumoens-le-Jux	VD	30
6.	Largario	TI	30
8.	Clugin	GR	35
9.	Cauco	GR	36
9.	Monible	BE	36
11.	St. Martin	GR	37
12.	Gresso	TI	38
12.	Montfavergier	JU	38
14.	Vaugondry	VD	39
15.	Arrissoules	VD	40
15.	Romairon	VD	40
15.	Selma	GR	40
18.	Ausserbinn	VS	41
18.	Linescio	TI	41
18.	Mauraz	VD	41
18.	Steinhaus	VS	41