The term is still widely used in common parlance, as befits a country steeped in historical vicissitudes, but the “half-cantons” in Switzerland no longer exist.<\/p>\n
The “Halbkanton” historically indicated six cantons belonging to the Swiss Confederation which, despite having an autonomy equal to that of the other twenty states, have only half the weight in federal votes.<\/p>\n
These are Obwalden<\/a>, Nidwalden<\/a>, Appenzell Ausserrhoden<\/a>, Appenzell Innerrhoden<\/a>, Basel-Stadt<\/a> and Basel-Landschaft<\/a>.<\/p>\n These cantons have only one vote in the Council of States instead of the usual two; in popular consultations, they have half a vote instead of one, in accordance with Article 142 of the Federal Constitution.<\/a><\/p>\n Until the entry into force of the new fundamental charter on January 1, 2000, the term Semicanton was the official definition of these political units, on the assumption that there should be twenty-three Swiss cantons.<\/p>\n With the new Constitution, in the version approved on April 18, 1999 to come into force the following year, the term Halbkanton was replaced in Article 1 by Canton, without any change in the legal situation.<\/p>\n It is significant that the formation of Halbkanton took place before 1848, the year in which the new Federal Constitution, which followed and was a consequence of the Sonderbund War, considerably reduced cantonal sovereignty by introducing the Franc as the common currency.<\/a><\/p>\n Canton Jura, a French-speaking territory, broke away from the German-speaking Bern in 1979 to achieve full rights, but without creating a state that was half of another.<\/p>\nA revolution that began in 2000<\/h3>\n