Districts of Switzerland in the context of "Canton of Schwyz"

The Landsgemeinde ("cantonal assembly"; German: [ˈlantsɡəˌmaɪndə], plural Landsgemeinden) is a public, non-secret ballot voting system operating by majority rule. Still in use – in a few places – at the subnational political level in Switzerland, it was formerly practiced in eight cantons. For practical reasons , the Landsgemeinde has been abolished at the cantonal level in all but two cantons where it still holds the highest political authority: Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus. The Landsgemeinde is also convened in some districts of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Grisons and Schwyz to vote on local questions.

The German term Landsgemeinde itself is attested from at least the 16th century, in the 1561 dictionary of Pictorius.It is a compound from Land "land, canton; rural canton" and Gemeinde "community, commune".

Switzerland has 9 million inhabitants, as of June 2024. Its population quadrupled over the period 1800 to 1990 (average doubling time 95 years). Population growth was steepest in the period after World War II (1.4% per annum during 1950–1970, doubling time 50 years), it slowed during the 1970s and 1980s but has since increased to 1% during the 2000s (doubling time 70 years).

More than 75% of the population live in the central plain, which stretches between the Alps and the Jura Mountains and from Geneva in the southwest to the High Rhine and Lake Constance in the northeast.

Municipalities (German: Gemeinden, Einwohnergemeinden or politische Gemeinden; French: communes; Italian: comuni; Romansh: vischnancas) are the lowest level of administrative division 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 or other sub-cantonal administrative divisions.

There are 2,121 municipalities as of January 2025. Their populations range between several hundred thousand (Zürich), and a few dozen people (Kammersrohr, Bister), and their territory between 0.32 km² (Rivaz) and 439 km² (Scuol).

The Moesa Region is one of the eleven administrative districts in the Canton of the Grisons (or in German: Graubünden) in Switzerland. It had an area of 473.74 square kilometers (182.91 sq mi) and a population of 8,770 (as of 31 December 2020).. It was created on 1 January 2017 as part of a reorganization of the Canton.

The region borders with the Viamala Region to the north, with Italy to the east (Lombardy: Province of Sondrio and of Como) and with the Canton of Ticino (districts of Bellinzona to the southwest, Riviera and Blenio) to the west.

Maloja Region is one of the eleven administrative districts in the canton of Grisons in Switzerland. It has an area of 973.65 square kilometers (375.93 sq mi) and a population of 18,294 (as of 31 December 2020). It was created on 1 January 2017 as part of a reorganization of the Canton.

Bernina Region is one of the eleven administrative districts in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It had an area of 237.31 square kilometers (91.63 sq mi) and a population of 4,561 (as of 31 December 2020).. It was created on 1 January 2017 as part of a reorganization of the Canton.

Albula District was one of the eleven administrative districts in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It had an area of 723.13 km² and had a population of 8,210 in 2015. It was replaced with the Albula Region on 1 January 2017 as part of a reorganization of the Canton.

Albula District consisted of four Kreise (sub-districts) Alvaschein, Belfort, Bergün and Surses, which are formed from a total of 8 municipalities following mergers in 2015 and 2016.

Einsiedeln (German pronunciation: [ˈaɪnziːdl̩n]) is a municipality and district in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland known for its monastery, the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey, established in the 10th century.

The German term Bezirk (German pronunciation: [bəˈtsɪʁk] ; pl. Bezirke [bəˈtsɪʁkə] ; derived from Latin: circulus, "circle") translated as "district" can refer to the following types of administrative divisions:

• Stadtbezirk, a subdivision of a city in the sense of a borough (e.g. in Berlin, Hamburg or Vienna), often again subdivided into several quarters and neighbourhoods. According to German Gemeindeordnung codes, the city council resolves upon the implementation by municipal by-law (Satzung). In some cities the Bezirke have limited powers delegated to them by the city's local government, including an assembly resulting from local elections and an own 'mayor' (Bürgermeister). In the German states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate any municipality is authorized to implement Ortsbezirke with own advisory councils and local administrators. The state law in North Rhine-Westphalia commits the municipal administration of an independent city to subdivide the urban area into Stadtbezirke.
• In Austria, the word Bezirk is used with different meanings in three different contexts:
  • Some of the tasks of the administrative branch of the national and regional governments are fulfilled by the 95 district captaincies (Bezirkshauptmannschaften, also translated as district administrative office). The area a district administrative office is responsible for is often, although informally, called a district (Bezirk). A number of statutory cities, currently 15, are not served by any district administrative office. Their respective municipal bureaucracies handle the tasks normally performed by the district administrative office.
  • The cities of Vienna and Graz are divided into municipal districts (Stadtbezirke), assisting the respective municipal governments.
  • From the point of view of the judiciary of Austria, the country is subdivided into 115 judicial districts (Gerichtsbezirke), each corresponding to one of the country's 115 lowest-level trial courts.
• The Italian autonomous provinces of Trentino and South Tyrol, are divided into Bezirksgemeinschaften (Italian: comunità comprensoriali).
• The districts of Switzerland are called Bezirke in several cantons. In Switzerland as a federal state, every canton is free to implement its own administrative structure. The intermediate administrative level above the Swiss municipalities is also referred to as Verwaltungsregion or Verwaltungskreis, Wahlkreis, Amtei or Amt, as well as French: districts in Suisse romande and Italian: distretto in Svizzera italiana. In Schwyz, the six historic Bezirke are self-governing bodies, some with regional Landsgemeinde assemblies, similar to the municipal Kreise of Graubünden. The six Bezirke of Appenzell Innerrhoden are identically equal to municipalities.
• Historically the primary administrative divisions of East Germany from 1952 were called Bezirke. They were implemented by an administrative reform to supersede the East German federated states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The capital East Berlin was officially equated by resolution of the State Council of East Germany in 1961. Though legislative assemblies (Bezirkstage) and executive councils (Räte) existed, the Bezirke according to the top-down principle of democratic centralism enjoyed no autonomy nor any self-governing rights. They were abolished by law which the East German People's Chamber passed in 1990 on the eve of the German reunification.
• During the Second World War, a special administrative division of Nazi Germany was officially classified as "Bezirk": Bezirk Bialystok.