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Neuchâtel (canton)

République et Canton de Neuchâtel
Canton of Switzerland
Coat of arms of République et Canton de Neuchâtel
Coat of arms
Map of Switzerland, location of Neuchâtel highlighted
Location in Switzerland
Coordinates: 46°59′N 6°47′E / 46.983°N 6.783°E / 46.983; 6.783Coordinates: 46°59′N 6°47′E / 46.983°N 6.783°E / 46.983; 6.783
Capital Neuchâtel
Largest City La Chaux-de-Fonds
Subdivisions 53 municipalities, 6 districts
Government
 • Executive Conseil d'État (5)
 • Legislative Grand Council (115)
Area
 • Total 802.93 km2 (310.01 sq mi)
Population (12/2015)
 • Total 178,107
 • Density 220/km2 (570/sq mi)
ISO 3166 code CH-NE
Highest point 1,552 m (5,092 ft): Chasseral Ouest
Lowest point 429 m (1,407 ft): Lake Biel
Joined 1815
Languages French
Website NE.ch
County (Principality) of Neuchâtel
Grafschaft (Fürstentum) Neuenburg  (German)
Comté (Principauté) de Neuchâtel  (French)
State of the Holy Roman Empire (to 1648)
Associate of the Old Swiss Confed. (from 1406)
1034–1848


Coat of arms

Capital Neuchâtel
Government Principality
Historical era Middle Ages
 •  City founded 1011
 •  County founded 1034
 •  Became associate of Old Swiss Confed. from 1406
 •  Inherited by Orléans-Longueville 1504
 •  Elected to Prussia 1707
 •  French occupation 1806–14
 •  Joined Swiss Confed. as canton (and monarchy) 1815 1848
 •  Neuchâteloise revolution 1 March 1848
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Duchy of Burgundy
Switzerland


Coat of arms

The Republic and Canton of Neuchâtel (French: la République et canton de Neuchâtel, IPA: [kɑ̃tɔ̃ də nøʃɑtɛl]) is a canton of French-speaking western Switzerland. In 2007, its population was 169,782, of whom 39,654 (or 23.4%) were foreigners. The capital is Neuchâtel.

The only part of present-day Switzerland to enter the Confederation as a principality (in 1814), Neuchâtel has a unique history. Its first recorded ruler, Rudolph III of Burgundy, mentioned Neuchâtel in his will in 1032. The dynasty of Count Ulrich von Fenis took over the town and its territories in 1034. The dynasty prospered and, by 1373, all the lands now part of the canton belonged to the count. In 1405, the cities of Bern and Neuchâtel entered a union. The lands of Neuchâtel had passed to the lords of Freiburg in the late 14th century as inheritance from the childless Elisabeth, Countess of Neuchâtel, to her nephews, and then in 1458 to margraves of Sausenburg who belonged to the House of Baden. Their heiress, Jeanne de Rothelin, and her husband, the Duke of Longueville, inherited it in 1504, after which the French house of Orléans-Longueville (Valois-Dunois). Neuchâtel's Swiss allies then occupied it from 1512-1529 before returning it to its widowed Countess Jeanne de Hochberg, chatelaine of Rothelin, dowager duchess of Longueville.


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