The canton of Fribourg, also canton of Freiburg, is located in western

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. The canton is

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

, with French spoken by more than two thirds of the citizens and German by a little more than a quarter. Both are official languages in the canton. The canton takes its name from its capital city of

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

History

On the shores of

Lake Neuchâtel Lake Neuchâtel ( ; ; ) is a lake primarily in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The lake lies mainly in the canton of Neuchâtel, but is also shared by the cantons of Vaud, Fribourg, and Bern. It comprises one of the lakes in th ...

and

Lake Morat Lake Morat or more rarely Lake Murten ( ) is a lake located in the cantons of Fribourg and Vaud in the west of Switzerland. It is named after the small bilingual town of Murten/Morat on its southern shore. It is the smallest of the three lakes ...

significant traces of prehistoric settlements have been unearthed. The canton of Fribourg joined the

Swiss Confederation Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerlan ...

in 1481. The area is made up of lands acquired by the capital Fribourg. The present extent was reached in 1803 when

Murten Murten (German language, German, ) or Morat (French language, French, ; ) is a bilingual Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and a city in the See (district of Fribourg), See district of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Fribourg (can ...

(Morat) was acquired. The canton of Fribourg joined the separatist league of Catholic cantons in 1846 (

Sonderbund The Sonderbund War (, , ) of November 1847 was a civil war in Switzerland, then still a relatively loose confederacy of cantons. It ensued after seven Catholic cantons formed the ("separate alliance") in 1845 to protect their interests against ...

). The following year, its troops surrendered to the federal army.

Geography

The canton is bounded to the west by Lake Neuchâtel, to the west and the south by the canton of

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

, and to the east by the

canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

. The canton includes two

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

s within Vaud and one within the canton of Bern, as well as a large

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

on the lake; it also enclaves the Bernese municipality of

Münchenwiler Münchenwiler () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Bern-Mittelland (administrative district), Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. History Mün ...

. The area of the canton is , including the small enclaves. The canton lies on the elevated Swiss Plateau. In the west the lands are flat, but towards the south east of the canton, the lands rise to a hilly region. This region is commonly called ''pre-

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

'' but is part of the

Bernese Alps The Bernese Alps are a mountain range of the Alps located in western Switzerland. Although the name suggests that they are located in the Berner Oberland region of the canton of Bern, portions of the Bernese Alps are in the adjacent cantons of Va ...

. The highest elevation in the canton is the Vanil Noir with . The river

Saane/Sarine The Sarine (; ) or Saane () is a major river of Switzerland.6th longest, 7th largest basin, see List of rivers of Switzerland It is long and has a drainage area of . It is a tributary of the Aare. The Sarine rises in the Bernese Alps, near Sa ...

flows from the south to the north of the canton. Together with its tributaries it drains most of the lands in the canton, then joins the river

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is the main tributary of the High Rhine (its discharge even exceeds that of the latter at their confluence) and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to i ...

. The river

Broye The Broye (; ''Dictionnaire-Dikchenéro: Français-Patois/Patê-Franché''. Société cantonale des patoisans fribourgeois. Fribourg: 2013. p. 87 ) is a 68 km long river, in the cantons of Fribourg and Vaud, in Switzerland. It has a watershe ...

drains the west of the canton and flows northeast into

(Murtensee). The southwest part of the canton is drained by the river Veveyse, which flows south into

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

().

Political subdivisions

Districts

The Canton is divided into seven districts: *

capital Estavayer-le-Lac * Glâne capital Romont * Gruyère () capital

Bulle Bulle (; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Gruyère (district), Gruyère in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Fribourg (canton), Fribourg in Switzerland. In January 2006 Bulle incorporated the formerly inde ...

* Sarine () capital

Lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

(, ) capital Morat *

Sense A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditio ...

() capital

Tafers Tafers ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Sense (district), Sense in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Fribourg (canton), Fribourg in Switzerland. It is one of the municipalities with a large majority o ...

* Veveyse () capital Châtel-Saint-Denis

Municipalities

There are 121 municipalities in the canton of Fribourg . The number is decreasing as the canton subsidizes mergers between municipalities.

Demographics

In contrast to the mainly Protestant cantons of

to its west and

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

to its east, the canton of Fribourg is a predominantly

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

enclave (, 70%) with a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

minority (15%). This explains why the canton straddles the French-German linguistic border, for in the past, denominational considerations were more important than linguistic when drawing Switzerland's cantonal borders. The main centres of population are the capital Fribourg (34,300 inhabitants) and

(18,200 inhabitants). Two thirds of the population speak French; the remainder speak Alemannic dialects of German. The French-speaking areas are in the west of the canton, the Alemannic-speaking areas in the east. The number of bilingual towns, and consequently the large number of people who can speak both French and German fluently, has attracted businesses such as telesales companies. The population of the canton (as of ) is . , the population included 43,838 foreign-born residents, or about 16.65% of the total population.

Historical population

The canton’s historical population is given in the following table:

Economics

Agriculture is important in the canton of Fribourg. The main agricultural activities are cattle breeding and

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...

. The region is a major cheese producer, especially the district of Gruyère, home of the

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

of the same name. The chocolate industry is also well established in Broc, home to an international chocolate research centre. Other agricultural produces include tobacco, fruit and cereals. Agriculture is predominant in the north of the canton where the most fertile lands lie. There is light industry concentrated around the capital Fribourg. Other centres of light industry are

Villars-sur-Glâne Villars-sur-Glâne (; ) is a municipality in the district of Sarine in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. Geography Villars-sur-Glâne has an area, , of . Of this area, or 29.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 17.5% is fores ...

Düdingen Düdingen (; ; , locally ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Sense (district), Sense in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Fribourg (canton), Fribourg in Switzerland. It is one of the municipalities with a la ...

(Guin),

(Morat) and Estavayer-le-Lac. These five centers have also a large number of established small and medium-sized businesses, many of which are in the service sector. Forests are important in the

La Gruyère LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

(Greyerz) district. Power plants in the district of Sarine export electricity. The mountain areas attract tourists all year round. The lake regions are frequented by tourists in summer and autumn.

Transport

The canton of Fribourg is well connected to other areas of

with motorways A1, A12 and fast rail links. The main railway between

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

and

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

in the south west to

and

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

connects Fribourg with other centres of the country. Connections within the canton are mostly provided by the Transports Publics Fribourgeois, with numerous bus routes and trains connecting the main towns.

Politics

Federal election results

: FDP before 2009, FDP.The Liberals after 2009 : "*" indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton. : Included under "Other" in this election.

Notes

References

External links

*
Official site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fribourg Cantons of Switzerland Cantons of the Helvetic Republic 15th-century establishments in the Old Swiss Confederacy 1480s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1481 establishments in Europe