canton of Solothurn
{{short description|Canton of Switzerland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Canton of Solothurn
| native_name = {{native name|de|Kanton Solothurn}}
| other_name = Canton of Soleure
| settlement_type = Canton
| image_flag = Flag of Canton of Solothurn.svg
| image_shield = Wappen Solothurn matt.svg
| shield_size = 80x80px
| shield_link =
| image_blank_emblem = Logo solothurn.png
| blank_emblem_type = Logo
| blank_emblem_size = 100
| image_map = {{maplink|frame=y|plain=yes|frame-align=center|zoom=6|type=shape|stroke-width=2|frame-lat=46.7|frame-long=8.25|frame-width=275|frame-height=175}}
| map_alt = Map of Switzerland, location of Solothurn highlighted
| map_caption = Location in Switzerland
{{hidden |ta1 = left| border = 1px solid grey | header = Map of Solothurn | content =
250px }}
| coordinates = {{coord|47|9|N|7|38|E|region:CH-SO|display=inline,title}}
| seat_type = Capital
| seat = Solothurn
| seat1_type = Largest city
| seat1 = Olten
| parts_type = Subdivisions
| parts_style = para
| p1 = 122 municipalities
| p2 = 10 districts
| leader_title = President
| leader_name = Sandra Kolly-Altermatt
| leader_title2 = Executive
| leader_name2 = Regierungsrat (5)
| leader_title3 = Legislative
| leader_name3 = Kantonsrat (100)
| area_footnotes = {{Swiss area data||QUELLE-KT}}
| area_total_km2 = {{Swiss area|SO|km=yes }}
| population_footnotes = {{Swiss populations ref|CH-SO }}
| population_total = {{Swiss populations NC|CH-SO|CH-SO}}
| population_as_of = {{Swiss populations data CH-SO|YM}}
| population_density_km2 = auto
| demographics_type1 = GDP
| demographics1_title1 = Total
| demographics1_info1 = CHF 18.209 billion (2020)
| demographics1_title2 = Per capita
| demographics1_info2 = CHF 65,237 (2020)
| iso_code = CH-SO
| blank_name_sec1 = Highest point
| blank_info_sec1 = {{convert|1445|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}: Hasenmatt
| blank1_name_sec1 = Lowest point
| blank1_info_sec1 = {{convert|277|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}: Birs at the cantonal border in Dornach
| blank_name_sec2 = Joined
| blank_info_sec2 = 1481
| blank1_name_sec2 = Languages
| blank1_info_sec2 = German
| website = {{URL|http://www.SO.ch}}
}}
The canton of Solothurn or canton of Soleure ({{langx|de|Kanton Solothurn}}; {{langx|rm|Chantun Soloturn}}; {{langx|fr|Canton de Soleure}}; {{langx|it|Canton Soletta}}) is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the northwest of Switzerland. The capital is Solothurn.
History
The village of Salodurum was founded in the time of the Roman emperor Tiberius (1st century CE). The territory of the canton comprises land acquired by the former town, mainly in the Middle Ages. For that reason the canton is irregular in shape and includes two exclaves along the French border, separated from the rest of the canton by Basel-Landschaft. In 1481, the canton became a member of the military alliance of the former Swiss confederation. At the end of the Reformation, Solothurn maintained its Catholic religion. Between 1798 and 1803 the canton was part of the Helvetic Republic. In 1803 Solothurn was one of the 19 Swiss cantons that were reconstituted by Napoleon (Mediation). In 1830, the population rebelled against the aristocratic regime and the canton became definitely liberal-democratic. Even though the population was strictly Roman Catholic, Solothurn did not join the Catholic separatist movement (Sonderbund) in 1845–7. Similarly, the federal constitutions of 1848 and 1874 were approved. The current constitution of the canton dates from 1987.
Geography
The canton is located in the north-west of Switzerland. To the west and south lie the cantons of Jura and Bern, to the east is Aargau. To the north the canton is bounded by the canton of Basel-Landschaft. Parts of two of the districts are exclaves and are located along the border of France (Grand Est). The lands are drained by the Aare river and its tributaries. The landscape is mostly flat, but it includes the foothills of the Jura massif. Part of this, the massif of the Weissenstein, overlooks Solothurn and the Mittelland from the north and has views of the Bernese Alps. The flat lands are a plain created by the Aare river. The total area of the canton is 791 km2.
Political subdivisions
= Districts =
File:Districts of Canton Solothurn.png
From 2005, Solothurn's ten districts are merged pairwise into five electoral districts, termed Amteien (singular: Amtei). From 2005, the districts have only a statistical significance.
| class=wikitable
!Amtei!!Districts | |
| Dorneck-Thierstein (unofficially Schwarzbubenland) | Thierstein, Dorneck |
| Olten-Gösgen (unofficially Niederamt) | Olten, Gösgen |
| Solothurn-Lebern | Lebern, Solothurn |
| Thal-Gäu | Thal, Gäu |
| Wasseramt-Bucheggberg | Bucheggberg, Wasseramt |
=Municipalities=
{{Main|Municipalities of the canton of Solothurn}}
There are 125 municipalities in the canton ({{As of|2009|lc=yes}}).{{cite web | url=http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/fr/index/infothek/nomenklaturen/blank/blank/gem_liste/03.Document.90142.xls | title=Liste officielle des communes de la Suisse - 01.01.2008 | work=Office fédéral de la statistique | access-date=15 December 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612012604/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/fr/index/infothek/nomenklaturen/blank/blank/gem_liste/03.Document.90142.xls | archive-date=12 June 2009 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}{{needs update|date=May 2025}}
Demographics
File:Solothurn 2023.jpg, capital city of the eponymous canton]]
The population is mostly German-speaking. In 2000 about 44% of the population was Roman Catholic, with most of the remainder being Protestant (31%).{{cite web | last = Federal Department of Statistics | title = Wohnbevölkerung nach Religion | year = 2004 | url = http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/01/05/blank/key/religionen.html | format = Interactive Map | access-date = 15 January 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160924182116/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/01/05/blank/key/religionen.html | archive-date = 24 September 2016 | url-status = dead }} The population of the canton (as of {{Swiss populations date|CH-SO}}) is {{Swiss populations|CH-SO|CH-SO}}.{{Swiss populations ref|CH-SO}} {{as of|2007}}, the population included 46,898 foreigners, or about 18.7% of the total population.{{cite web | last = Federal Department of Statistics | title = Ständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Staatsangehörigkeit, Geschlecht und Kantonen | year = 2008 | url = http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/01/02/blank/key/raeumliche_verteilung/kantone__gemeinden.html | format = Microsoft Excel | access-date = 5 November 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081215033605/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/01/02/blank/key/raeumliche_verteilung/kantone__gemeinden.html | archive-date = 15 December 2008 | url-status = dead }}
= Historical population =
The historical population is given in the following table:
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;"
|+Historical Population Data{{Cite web|title=Solothurn (Kanton)|url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/de/articles/007386/2017-05-22/|access-date=2022-01-25|website=Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz|language=de}} ! Year ! Total ! Swiss ! Non-Swiss !Population share |
| 1850
| 69 674 | 68 741 | 933 | 2.9% |
|---|
| 1880
| 80 362 | 78 153 | 2 209 | 2.8% |
| 1900
| 100 762 | 96 562 | 4 200 | 3.0% |
| 1950
| 170 508 | 164 172 | 6 336 | 3.6% |
| 1970
| 224 133 | 189 828 | 34 305 | 3.6% |
| 2000
| 244 341 | 201 877 | 42 464 | 3.4% |
| 2020
| 277 462 || || | 3.2% |
Economy
Up to the 19th century agriculture was the main economic activity in the canton. Agriculture is still of importance, but manufacturing and service industries are now more significant. The industries of the canton are specialized in watches, jewellery, textiles, paper, cement and auto parts. Until recently the manufacturing of shoes was an important economic activity, but this industry became globally uncompetitive.{{fact|date=September 2024}}
The canton is home to the Gösgen Nuclear Power Plant near Däniken which started operation in 1979.{{fact|date=September 2024}}
Politics
=Federal election results=
| class="wikitable sortable" style ="text-align: center"
|+Percentages of the total vote by in the canton in the Federal Elections 1971–2015{{cite report |title=Nationalratswahlen: Stärke der Parteien nach Kantonen (Schweiz = 100%) |publisher=Swiss Federal Statistical Office |date=2015 |url=http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/17/02/blank/dos/09.html |access-date=5 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802014002/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/17/02/blank/dos/09.html |archive-date=2 August 2016 |url-status=dead }} | |||||||||||||
| colspan="2" | Party | class="unsortable" | Ideology | 1971 | 1975 | 1979 | 1983 | 1987 | 1991 | 1995 | 1999 | 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FDP.The Liberals{{ref|a|a}}
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|FDP.The Liberals}}"| || Classical liberalism || 34.3 || 38.7 || 39.0 || 37.2 || 36.3 || 32.8 || 25.4 || 25.4 || 24.0 || 21.0 || 18.4 || 21.2 | |||||||||||||
| CVP/PDC/PPD/PCD
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland}}"| || Christian democracy || 27.7 || 26.0 || 27.6 || 26.7 || 25.1 || 22.2 || 21.5 || 21.4 || 21.0 || 20.4 || 17.9 || 14.8 | |||||||||||||
| SP/PS
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Switzerland}}"| || Social democracy || 26.3 || 31.4 || 28.4 || 27.8 || 22.3 || 19.8 || 24.2 || 27.2 || 25.4 || 19.5 || 18.3 || 20.0 | |||||||||||||
| SVP/UDC
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Swiss People's Party}}"| || Swiss nationalism || * {{ref|b|b}} || * || * || * || * || * || 6.7 || 18.6 || 22.5 || 27.1 || 24.3 || 28.8 | |||||||||||||
| Ring of Independents
| || Social liberalism || 7.2 || * || * || 4.0 || 3.5 || 2.9 || 1.6 || * || * || * || * || * | |||||||||||||
| EVP/PEV
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland}}"| || Christian democracy || * || * || * || * || * || 1.2 || * || * || 1.2 || 1.8 || 1.5 || 1.2 | |||||||||||||
| GLP/PVL
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Green Liberal Party of Switzerland}}"| || Green liberalism || * || * || * || * || * || * || * || * || * || * || 5.0 || 3.5 | |||||||||||||
| BDP/PBD
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland}}"| || Conservatism || * || * || * || * || * || * || * || * || * || * || 4.4 || 3.4 | |||||||||||||
| PdA/PST-POP/PC/PSL
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Swiss Party of Labour}}"| || Socialism || * || * || 1.0 || * || 0.3 || * || * || * || * || * || * || * | |||||||||||||
| POCH
| || Progressivism || * || 3.4 || 4.1 || 3.5 || * || * || * || * || * || * || * || * | |||||||||||||
| GPS/PES
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Green Party of Switzerland}}"| || Green politics || * || * || * || * || * || 7.3 || 5.8 || 4.9 || 6.0 || 10.0 || 7.5 || 5.6 | |||||||||||||
| SD/DS
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Swiss Democrats}}"| || National conservatism || 4.6 || * || * || * || * || * || 2.8 || * || * || 0.4 || 0.4 || * | |||||||||||||
| EDU/UDF
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland}}"| || Christian right || * || * || * || * || * || * || * || * || * || * || 0.5 || 0.5 | |||||||||||||
| FPS/PSL
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Freedom Party of Switzerland}}"| || Right-wing populism || * || * || * || * || 4.9 || 9.1 || 10.6 || 1.3 || * || * || * || * | |||||||||||||
| Other
| || || * || 0.6 || * || 0.9 || 7.5 || 4.7 || 1.3 || 1.3 || * || * || 2.3 || 1.0 | |||||||||||||
| Voter participation % || || || 64.2 || 64.1 || 56.9 || 60.7 || 60.8 || 56.1 || 48.3 || 50.0 || 47.4 || 50.7 || 51.7 || 50.2 |
:{{note|a|a}} FDP before 2009, FDP.The Liberals after 2009
:{{note|b|b}} "*" indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton.
Transport
Notes and references
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [http://www.so.ch/ Official site] {{in lang|de}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20131115013428/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/regionen/kantone/so/key.html Official statistics]
- {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Soleure (canton) | volume= 25 |last= Coolidge |first= William Augustus Brevoort |author-link= W. A. B. Coolidge| pages = 358–359 |short= 1}}
{{Cantons of Switzerland}}
{{Switzerland topics}}
{{Portal bar|Switzerland}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solothurn}}