Swiss Associates, also known as Associated Places, Zugewandte Orte (Facing Places), or Pays Alliés (Allied Countries), were associate states of the Old Swiss Confederacy, with some form of alliance agreement with either the entire Confederation or individual cantons.
The associates were extremely heterogeneous. They had no institution that bound them together, other than their alliances with the Swiss Confederacy. Some had extremely close bonds with the Confederation, whereas others were only bound with one or two cantons. Generally, all nations that were related to the Confederation that were not subjects nor fully fledged cantons were considered associates.
