The Sopraceneri ('Above the Ceneri'; ) is the part of the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

canton of Ticino that lies to the north of the Monte Ceneri Pass through the Lugano Prealps. It includes the whole of the valley of the Ticino river and its side valleys, the Swiss shore of

Lake Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; ; ; ; literally 'greater lake') or Verbano (; ) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest lake in Italy and the largest in southern Switzerland. The lake and its shoreline are divided be ...

, the cities of Bellinzona and

Locarno Locarno (; ; Ticinese dialect, Ticinese: ; formerly in ) is a southern Switzerland, Swiss List of towns in Switzerland, town and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district Locarno (district), Locarno (of which it is the capita ...

, as well as towns including

Biasca Biasca is a town of the district of Riviera (district), Riviera in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland. History Biasca is first mentioned in 830 as ''Aviasca'' in the ''Liber viventium'' of Pfäfers Abbey. In 1119 it wa ...

and Riviera. The Sopraceneri is not a half-canton with formally defined boundaries, but roughly maps to the districts of Bellinzona,

Blenio Blenio is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality of the Blenio (district), district of Blenio, in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino, Switzerland. Blenio was created on 22 October 2006 when it incorporated the formerly autonomous ...

, Leventina,

, Riviera and Vallemaggia. The remainder of the canton is described as the

Sottoceneri The Sottoceneri ('Under the Ceneri'; ) is the part of the Swiss canton of Ticino that lies to the south of the Monte Ceneri Pass through the Lugano Prealps. It includes the Swiss shore of Lake Lugano, and the cities and towns of Lugano, Mendrisi ...

('Under the Ceneri'), and includes the towns of

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

Mendrisio Mendrisio (; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Mendrisio (district), Mendrisio in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Mendrisio is the seat of the Accademia di Architettura di Mendris ...

and Chiasso. Whilst the Sopraceneri comprises , or about 85% of the land area of the canton, it contains 142,627 people, or only 43% of the cantonal population (2008). It is therefore characterised by a markedly lower population density and level of economic activity, when compared to the Sottoceneri.

References

Geography of Ticino {{Ticino-geo-stub