What are the Cantons of Switzerland?

The 26 cantons are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. Each has its own constitution, parliament, government and courts, and they keep wide powers over education, healthcare, policing and taxation. The cantons are older than modern Switzerland itself: the confederacy began in 1291 with an alliance between Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, and had grown to 13 members by 1513. Napoleon's Act of Mediation added six more in 1803, and Valais, Neuchâtel and Geneva joined in 1815. The 1848 federal constitution turned this loose alliance into a federal state. The newest canton, Jura, split from Bern in 1979. Six of the cantons were traditionally called half-cantons, the result of historical splits in Unterwalden, Appenzell and Basel.