Canton of Solothurn

The canton of Solothurn or canton of Soleure (German: Kanton Solothurn; Romansh: Chantun Soloturn; French: Canton de Soleure; Italian: Canton Soletta) is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the northwest of Switzerland. The capital is Solothurn.

Canton of Solothurn Kanton Solothurn (German) Canton of Soleure
Canton
Flag Coat of arms Logo
Location in Switzerland Map of Solothurn
Coordinates: 47°9′N 7°38′E
Capital	Solothurn
Largest city	Olten
Subdivisions	122 municipalities, 10 districts
Government
• President	Sandra Kolly-Altermatt
• Executive	Regierungsrat (5)
• Legislative	Kantonsrat (100)
Area [1]
• Total	790.45 km2 (305.19 sq mi)
Population  (December 2020)[2]
• Total	277,462
• Density	350/km2 (910/sq mi)
GDP [3]
• Total	CHF 18.209 billion (2020)
• Per capita	CHF 65,237 (2020)
ISO 3166 code	CH-SO
Highest point	1,445 m (4,741 ft): Hasenmatt
Lowest point	277 m (909 ft): Birs at the cantonal border in Dornach
Joined	1481
Languages	German
Website	www.so.ch

History

Figures 2 and 3 in the image are wearing traditional costumes of the Canton of Solothurn.

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

Districts of Canton Solothurn

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.

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 article: Municipalities of the canton of Solothurn

There are 125 municipalities in the canton (as of 2009^[update]).^{[4][needs update]}

Demographics

Solothurn, 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%).^[5] The population of the canton (as of 31 December 2020) is 277,462.^[2] As of 2007^[update], the population included 46,898 foreigners, or about 18.7% of the total population.^[6]

Historical population

The historical population is given in the following table:

Historical Population Data^[7]

Year	Total	Swiss	Non-Swiss	Population share of total country
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.^{[citation needed]}

The canton is home to the Gösgen Nuclear Power Plant near Däniken which started operation in 1979.^{[citation needed]}

Politics

Federal election results

Percentages of the total vote by in the canton in the Federal Elections 1971–2015^[8]

Party		Ideology	1971	1975	1979	1983	1987	1991	1995	1999	2003	2007	2011	2015
FDP.The Liberalsa		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		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		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		Swiss nationalism	* 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		Christian democracy	*	*	*	*	*	1.2	*	*	1.2	1.8	1.5	1.2
GLP/PVL		Green liberalism	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	5.0	3.5
BDP/PBD		Conservatism	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	4.4	3.4
PdA/PST-POP/PC/PSL		Socialism	*	*	1.0	*	0.3	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
POCH		Progressivism	*	3.4	4.1	3.5	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
GPS/PES		Green politics	*	*	*	*	*	7.3	5.8	4.9	6.0	10.0	7.5	5.6
SD/DS		National conservatism	4.6	*	*	*	*	*	2.8	*	*	0.4	0.4	*
EDU/UDF		Christian right	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	0.5	0.5
FPS/PSL		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

^a FDP before 2009, FDP.The Liberals after 2009

^b "*" indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton.

Transport

The canton has good connections with other parts of Switzerland, both by rail and by road. There is a railway junction at Olten with direct trains to Geneva, Zürich, Basel and the Ticino via Lucerne.