• 26 cantons

Switzerland Map Quiz

Tap or click the canton the question names: large ones and the small central ones in every round.

Switzerland Map Quiz

Name Date

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Write the name of each numbered canton.Answer key

  1. Grisons
  2. Bern
  3. Valais
  4. Vaud
  5. Ticino
  6. St. Gallen
  7. Zürich
  8. Fribourg
  9. Lucerne
  10. Geneva
  11. Neuchâtel
  12. Jura
  13. Solothurn
  14. Basel-Landschaft
  15. Basel-Stadt
  16. Aargau
  17. Schaffhausen
  18. Thurgau
  19. Uri
  20. Schwyz
  21. Obwalden
  22. Nidwalden
  23. Zug
  24. Glarus
  25. Appenzell Ausserrhoden
  26. Appenzell Innerrhoden

Drawn for this site from Natural Earth 5.1.2. Licence: public domain.

Each canton is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a canton is answered.

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All 26 cantons on the diagram

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  1. Grisons Capital: Chur. The largest canton; German, Romansh and Italian are official.
  2. Bern Capital: Bern. Second largest canton by area and by people.
  3. Valais Capital: Sion. Third largest canton; joined in 1815.
  4. Vaud Capital: Lausanne. Third most people; French is its official language.
  5. Ticino Capital: Bellinzona. The only canton with Italian alone as official language.
  6. St. Gallen Capital: St. Gallen. Became a canton in 1803.
  7. Zürich Capital: Zürich. Most people of any canton.
  8. Fribourg Capital: Fribourg. French and German are both official.
  9. Lucerne Capital: Lucerne. Joined the Confederation in 1332.
  10. Geneva Capital: Geneva. Joined in 1815, with Valais and Neuchâtel.
  11. Neuchâtel Capital: Neuchâtel. French is its official language; joined in 1815.
  12. Jura Capital: Delémont. The newest canton, split from Bern in 1979.
  13. Solothurn Capital: Solothurn. Joined in 1481, the same year as Fribourg.
  14. Basel-Landschaft Capital: Liestal. Split from the city of Basel in 1833.
  15. Basel-Stadt Capital: Basel. The smallest canton by area.
  16. Aargau Capital: Aarau. Fourth most people of any canton.
  17. Schaffhausen Capital: Schaffhausen. Joined the Confederation in 1501.
  18. Thurgau Capital: Frauenfeld. Parliament also sits in Weinfelden, half of each year.
  19. Uri Capital: Altdorf. A founding canton, traditionally dated to 1291.
  20. Schwyz Capital: Schwyz. A founding canton, with Uri and Unterwalden.
  21. Obwalden Capital: Sarnen. Paired with Nidwalden as the historic Unterwalden.
  22. Nidwalden Capital: Stans. Paired with Obwalden as the historic Unterwalden.
  23. Zug Capital: Zug. Joined in 1352, the same year as Glarus.
  24. Glarus Capital: Glarus. Joined the Confederation in 1352.
  25. Appenzell Ausserrhoden Capital: Herisau. The Protestant half when Appenzell divided in 1597.
  26. Appenzell Innerrhoden Capital: Appenzell. Fewest people of any canton.

How this list was compiled: The 26 cantons, each capital, the year each became a Swiss canton, the official languages, the areas and populations behind 'largest', 'smallest', 'most people' and 'fewest people' (Grisons 7,105 square km, Bern 5,960, Valais 5,224, Basel-Stadt 37; Zürich 1,553,423 people, Bern 1,043,132, Vaud 814,762, Aargau 694,072, Appenzell Innerrhoden 16,293), the nine largest cantons by area (the first round), Jura the 23rd canton in 1979, the count of 26 in the federal constitution of 1999, the six former half-cantons and how each pair came about (Basel divided in 1833, Appenzell in 1597, Obwalden and Nidwalden the historic Unterwalden) and the parliament of Thurgau alternating between Frauenfeld and Weinfelden: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantons_of_Switzerland (lead, List and its notes, Half-cantons), read 2026-10-09. Names and codes: ISO 3166-2:CH as printed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-2:CH, read 2026-10-09. Bern the federal city and de facto capital of Switzerland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bern; Basel-Stadt made up of three municipalities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_of_Basel-Stadt; both read 2026-10-09. The founding date of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden is the traditional one (the list notes 1307, 1304 or 1291). The labels are the map source's English names; the article writes Zurich. The map was drawn for this site from Natural Earth 5.1.2, a public-domain map dataset; where a part lies on the map (a coast, a corner, a neighbor) was read from that drawing. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_admin_1_states_provinces (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_admin_1_states_provinces.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Surrounding land from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_10m_admin_0_countries (scale 1:10,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_admin_0_countries.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection centred on 47°N 8.1°E. Outlines simplified; small islands are left out. Licence: public domain (Natural Earth terms of use: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/)

How it works

This Switzerland map quiz asks for all 26 cantons. Basel-Stadt, the smallest, is too small to tap, so it carries a ring on the northern border. The two Appenzell cantons are the pair of small shapes enclosed by St. Gallen.

Read the full guide

Three rounds, large and small together

Each round asks eight or nine cantons from all over the country. Nine are large, from Grisons in the southeast to Lucerne in the middle. Nine lie along the west and north, from Geneva at the southwest tip to Thurgau in the northeast. Eight are the small cantons of the center and east.

Capitals and names

Press Show me the labels first, then tap a canton for its name and capital. Twelve cantons share their capital’s name. Vaud is governed from Lausanne, Valais from Sion, Ticino from Bellinzona and Grisons from Chur.

  • Six cantons come in three historic pairs, the old half-cantons: the two Basels, the two Appenzells, and Obwalden with Nidwalden.
  • Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden and Nidwalden, side by side in the center, are the founding cantons, traditionally dated to 1291.
  • The map uses English names such as Geneva and Lucerne; Genf, Genève or Luzern count when typed.

Questions and answers

How many cantons are in Switzerland?

Twenty-six. Jura became the 23rd in 1979, when it split from Bern, and the federal constitution of 1999 counted the six former half-cantons as cantons, which made 26.

Which Swiss cantons speak French?

French is the only official language of Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel and Jura. Bern, Fribourg and Valais are officially French and German. Ticino is Italian, Grisons has German, Romansh and Italian, and the other 17 cantons are German.

What is the smallest canton in Switzerland?

Basel-Stadt, at 37 square kilometers: the city of Basel and two other municipalities. Appenzell Innerrhoden has the fewest people. Grisons is the largest canton by area, and Zürich has the most people.

Which canton is the capital of Switzerland in?

Bern, the federal city and de facto capital of Switzerland, is in the canton of Bern and is also that canton’s capital. The canton is the second largest by area and by people.

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