Appenzell Innerrhoden in the context of "Feuerschaugemeinde"

A dispersed settlement, also known as a scattered settlement, is one of the main types of settlement patterns used by landscape historians to classify rural settlements found in England and other parts of the world. Typically, there are a number of separate farmsteads scattered throughout the area. A dispersed settlement contrasts with a nucleated village.

The French term bocage is sometimes used to describe the type of landscape found where dispersed settlements are common.

Districts of Switzerland are a political subdivision for cantons. In the federally constituted Switzerland, each canton is completely free to decide its own internal organisation. Therefore, there exists a variety of structures and terminology for the subnational entities between canton and municipality, loosely termed districts. Most cantons are divided into Bezirke (German for districts, singular Bezirk). They are also termed Ämter (Lucerne, singular Amt), Amtsbezirke (Bern, Amtsbezirk), district (in French) or distretto (Ticino and part of Graubünden). The Bezirke generally provide only administration and court organization. However, for historical reasons districts in cantons Grisons and Schwyz are their own legal entities with jurisdiction over tax and often have their own Landsgemeinde.

Seven of the 26 cantons – Uri, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Glarus, Zug, Basel-City and Geneva – have always existed without the district level of government. An eighth one, Appenzell Innerrhoden, uses no intermediate level either, but calls its lowest-level subdivisions Bezirke, although they are functionally equivalent to municipalities elsewhere.

The Appenzell Alps (German: Appenzeller Alpen) are a mountain range in Switzerland on the northern edge of the Alps. They extend into the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden and St. Gallen (with lower summits occuring also in the cantons of Thurgau and Zurich) and are bordered by the Schwyz Alps to the southwest, the Glarus Alps to the south, and the Rätikon to the south-east, and cover an area of about 1,800 km (690 sq mi). The highest summit is the Säntis, with an elevation of 2,502 m (8,209 ft).

Rüte District was a district in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden in Switzerland.

Appenzell (Swiss Standard German pronunciation: [ˈapn̩ˌtsɛl] ) is a village, though considered as a town by the FSO, and the capital of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden in Switzerland. Appenzell has no municipal government of its own; rather, the different parts of Appenzell belong to and are governed by the districts Appenzell and Schwende-Rüte. Because of that, for firefighting, energy and water, the village of Appenzell has a special-purpose municipality, the Feuerschaugemeinde.

Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden (German: Kanton Appenzell Ausserrhoden [ˈapn̩tsɛl ˈaʊsərˌroːdn̩] ; Romansh: Chantun Appenzell Dadora; French: Canton d'Appenzell Rhodes-Extérieures; Italian: Canton Appenzello Esterno), in English sometimes Appenzell Outer Rhodes, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of twenty municipalities. The seat of the government and parliament is Herisau, and the seat of judicial authorities are in Trogen. It is traditionally considered a "half-canton", the other half being Appenzell Innerrhoden.

Appenzell Ausserrhoden is located in the north east of Switzerland. Together with the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, it forms an enclave within the canton of St. Gallen. The canton is essentially located in the Alpine foothills of the Alpstein massif, culminating at the Säntis.

The Alpstein are a subgroup of the Appenzell Alps in Eastern Switzerland. The Alpstein massif is located south of the village of Appenzell and extends across the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and St. Gallen. It is a popular tourist site.

Despite it being rather low when compared to other Alpine peaks – the highest mountain is the Säntis at 2,501.9 metres (8,208 ft) – the Alpstein, due to their northern "outpost" position only a short distance from Lake Constance (nearly 30 km (19 mi) away) are relatively tall when compared to the surrounding area. The range also includes the Altenalp Türm as the northernmost summit above 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) in Switzerland.

The Council of States is a house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, the other house being the National Council. As the powers of the houses are the same, it is sometimes called perfect bicameralism.

It comprises 46 members. Twenty of the country's cantons are represented by two councillors each. Six cantons, traditionally called "half cantons", are represented by one councillor each for historical reasons. These are Obwalden, Nidwalden, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden. The councillors serve for four years, and are not bound in their vote to instructions from the cantonal authorities.