List of forms of government
32-501: Nesslau is a municipality in the Toggenburg district of the canton of St. Gallen , Switzerland . The current municipality was formed in 2013 and includes the villages of Nesslau, Krummenau and Stein . The area was incorporated into the domains of the counts of Toggenburg and the Abbey of St. Gall from the 12th century. Nesslau is first mentioned in 1178 as Mezellouo . In 1261 it
64-471: A certain time in Switzerland are also allowed to participate in municipal politics. As at the cantonal and federal level, citizens enjoy political rights, including direct democratic ones, in their municipality. Municipalities are financed through direct taxes (such as income tax ), with rates varying more or less within a framework set by the canton (see Taxation in Switzerland ). As among the cantons, there
96-553: A country is sometimes called the " first-level (or first-order ) administrative division" or "first administrative level". Its next subdivision might be called "second-level administrative division" or "second administrative level" and so on. An alternative terminology is provided by the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics which terms the principal division as the second level or NUTS-2. Administrative divisions are conceptually separate from dependent territories , with
128-401: A different Community Identification Number (SFOS) (3355) and was smaller than the current municipality of Nesslau. The new municipality of Nesslau has an area of 92.7 km (35.79 sq mi). Nesslau-Krummenau had an area, as of 2006, of 80.4 km (31.0 sq mi). Of this area, 53.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 36.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.2%
160-406: A number of smaller entities. Within those entities are the large and small cities or towns, which may or may not be the county seat . Some of the world's larger cities culturally, if not officially, span several counties, and those crossing state or provincial boundaries have much in common culturally as well, but are rarely incorporated within the same municipal government. Many sister cities share
192-660: A particular independent sovereign state is divided. Such a unit usually has an administrative authority with the power to take administrative or policy decisions for its area. Usually, sovereign states have several levels of administrative division. Common names for the principal (largest) administrative divisions include: states (subnational states, rather than sovereign states), provinces , lands , oblasts and regions . These in turn are often subdivided into smaller administrative units known by names such as comarcas , raions or districts , which are further subdivided into municipalities , communes or communities constituting
224-427: A province, region, canton, land, governorate, oblast, emirate, or country. Administrative units that are not federated or confederated but enjoy a greater degree of autonomy or self-government than other territories within the same country can be considered autonomous regions or de facto constituent states of that country. This relationship is by some authors called a federacy or asymmetric federalism . An example
256-467: Is (by area or population), the fewer levels of administrative divisions it has. For example, Vatican City does not have any administrative subdivisions, and Monaco has only one level (both are city-states ), while such countries as France and Pakistan have five levels each. The United States is composed of states, possessions, territories , and a federal district , each with varying numbers of subdivisions. The principal administrative division of
288-449: Is a tax transfer among the municipalities to balance various levels of tax income. Switzerland has a relatively high number of small municipalities, with a population of 1,000 or less, especially in rural areas. Because of the increasing difficulty in providing professional government services and in finding volunteers for political offices in small municipalities, the cantons tend to encourage voluntary mergers of municipalities. This led to
320-730: Is no fixed rule, for " all politics is local " as is perhaps well demonstrated by their relative lack of systemic order. In the realm of self-government, any of these can and does occur along a stretch of road—which for the most part is passing through rural, unsettled countryside. Since the terms are administrative political divisions of the local regional government, their exact relationship and definitions are subject to home rule considerations, tradition, as well as state statute law and local governmental (administrative) definition and control. In British cultural legacy, some territorial entities began with fairly expansive counties which encompass an appreciably large area, but were divided over time into
352-662: Is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (6.6%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes). The former municipality was located on both sides of the Thur river between the Speer and Stockberg and from the Silberplatten in the Säntis range over the Schwägalp Pass to Mistelegg. After the merger in 2005 it was, in terms of land area, the third largest municipality in the canton. It consists of
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#1732884044967384-479: Is the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan within Uzbekistan . Due to variations in their use worldwide, consistency in the translation of terms from non-English to English is sometimes difficult to maintain. In many of the following terms originating from British cultural influence, areas of relatively low mean population density might bear a title of an entity one would expect to be either larger or smaller. There
416-798: The Bürgerrecht (citizenship), regardless of where they were born or where they may currently live. Instead of the place of birth , Swiss legal documents, e.g. passports, contain the Bürgerort (place of citizenship, or place of origin ). The Bürgergemeinde also often holds and administers the common property in the village for the members of the community. Each canton determines the powers and responsibilities of its municipalities. These may include providing local government services such as education, medical and social services, public transportation, and tax collection. The degree of centralization varies from one canton to another. The federal constitution protects
448-403: The autonomy of municipalities within the framework set out by cantonal law. Municipalities are generally governed by an executive council headed by a president or mayor . Legislative authority is exercised by a town meeting of all citizens, or by a municipal parliament, depending on the size of the municipality, and on cantonal and municipal law. In some cantons, foreigners who have lived for
480-697: The exercise of political rights for everyone except the members of the Bürgergemeinde . In the Regeneration era (1830–1848), the liberal revolutions of the common people helped to restore some rights again in a few cantons. In other cantons, the Bürgergemeinden were able to maintain power as political communities. In the city of Zürich it was not until the Municipal Act of 1866 that the political municipality came back into existence. The relationship between
512-480: The former Benedictine Abbey of Neu St. Johann are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance . The village of Ennetbühl is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites . Municipalities of Switzerland Municipalities ( German : Gemeinden , Einwohnergemeinden or politische Gemeinden ; French : communes ; Italian : comuni ; Romansh : vischnancas ) are
544-431: The former being an integral part of the state and the other being only under some lesser form of control. However, the term "administrative division" can include dependent territories as well as accepted administrative divisions (for example, in geographical databases ). Communities united in a federation under a federal government are more specifically known as federated states . A federated state may be referred to as
576-511: The land, 2.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (3.3%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes). The historical population is given in the following chart: The village of Stein has a pair of notable churches. The Reformed church was built in 1497 and renovated in 1929. The north tower has a gabled roof. The Catholic church of St. Jacob was built in 1927-28, but the Rococo pulpit dates from 1770. The house at Sidwaldstrasse 6 and
608-646: 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 2,131 municipalities as of January 2024 . 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 beginnings of
640-567: The modern municipality system date back to the Helvetic Republic . Under the Old Swiss Confederacy , citizenship was granted by each town and village to only residents. These citizens enjoyed access to community property and in some cases additional protection under the law. Additionally, the urban towns and the rural villages had differing rights and laws. The creation of a uniform Swiss citizenship, which applied equally for citizens of
672-462: The municipalities under cantonal or federal law. Municipalities are numbered by the Swiss Federal Office for Statistics (see Community Identification Number#Switzerland ). One or more postal codes (PLZ/NPA) can by assigned to a municipality or shared with other municipalities. Between 2011 and 2021 nine of the smallest municipalities merged into others as part of the effort to eliminate
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#1732884044967704-436: The number of municipalities dropping by 384 between the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2019. Some municipalities designate themselves as "city" ( ville or Stadt ) or as "village" ( Dorf ). These designations result from tradition or local preference – for example, several small municipalities designated as cities held city rights in medieval times – and normally do not impact the legal or political rights or obligations of
736-525: The old towns and their tenants and servants, led to conflict. The wealthier villagers and urban citizens held rights to forests, common land and other municipal property which they did not want to share with the "new citizens", who were generally poor. The compromise solution, which was written into the municipal laws of the Helvetic Republic, is still valid today. Two politically separate but often geographically similar organizations were created. The first,
768-408: The political municipality and the Bürgergemeinde was often dominated by the latter's ownership of community property. Often the administration and profit from the property were totally held by the Bürgergemeinden , leaving the political municipality dependent on the Bürgergemeinde for money and use of the property. It was not until the political municipality acquired rights over property that served
800-447: The political voting and electoral body rights from the Bürgergemeinde . In the cities, the percentage of members in the Bürgergemeinde in the population was reduced as a result of increasing emigration to the cities. This led to the Bürgergemeinde losing its former importance to a large extent. However, the Bürgergemeinde has remained, and it includes all individuals who are citizens of the Bürgergemeinde , usually by having inherited
832-498: The public (such as schools, fire stations, etc.) and taxes, that they obtained full independence. For example, in the city of Bern, it was not until after the property division of 1852 that the political municipality had the right to levy taxes. It was not until the Federal Constitution of 1874 that all Swiss citizens were granted equal political rights on local and Federal levels. This revised constitution finally removed all
864-601: The smallest communities. Only Bister has not merged into a new municipality although the smallest municipality is now Kammersrohr with a population of just 32. In addition to the municipalities as basic territorial political subdivisions, a number of other local subdivisions exist in several cantons. These include: Administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units , administrative regions , #-level subdivisions , subnational entities , or constituent states , as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which
896-402: The smallest units of subdivision (the local governments ). Some administrative division names (such as departments , cantons , prefectures , counties or governorates ) can be used for principal, second-level, or third-level divisions. The levels of administrative divisions and their structure largely varies by country (and sometimes within a single country). Usually the smaller the country
928-659: The so-called municipality, was a political community formed by election and its voting body consists of all resident citizens. However, the community land and property remained with the former local citizens who were gathered together into the Bürgergemeinde /bourgeoisie. During the Mediation era (1803–1814), and especially during the Restoration era (1814–1830), many of the gains toward uniform citizenship were lost. Many political municipalities were abolished and limits were placed on
960-458: The villages of Nesslau, Krummenau, Neu St. Johann, Dorf and Ennetbühl as well as the hamlets of Lutenwil, Krümmenschwil, Büel, Schneit, Laad, Schlatt (until the merger an exclave of Nesslau in Krummenau), Aemelsberg and Beiereggbis. Stein had an area, as of 2006, of 12.3 km (4.7 sq mi). Of this area, 57.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 37.3% is forested. Of the rest of
992-427: Was mentioned as Nesselove and ze dem Wassere . In 912 the hamlet of Lutenwil was mentioned as Lutherraheimara . Krummenau is first mentioned in 1266 as Crumbenowe . Sidwald developed into a regional cattle market from the 16th century. After a series of fires in the benedictine abbey of St. John's in the upper Toggenburg, the monastery was moved to Neu St. Johann near Sidwald in 1626. From 1831 to 2002, Nesslau
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1024-418: Was the administrative center of the constituency of Obertoggenburg . The railway connecting Ebnat-Kappel to Nesslau-Neu St. Johann was opened in 1912, resulting in development of tourism in the region. The former municipality of Nesslau was merged with Krummenau into Nesslau-Krummenau in 2005. A further merger with Stein in 2013 resulted in the current municipality of Nesslau. The pre-2005 Nesslau had
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