Regions of the Canton of Neuchâtel
The regions of the canton of Neuchâtel , Switzerland , have been used for statistical purposes and as electoral regions for the canton parliament , the Grand Council ( French: Grand Conseil ) , since January 1, 2018 . Although the four regions together form a single constituency , they guarantee the various parts of the canton a number of parliamentary seats according to their population. They do not serve any administrative purposes and thus do not replace the six districts of the canton that were dissolved as of December 31, 2017.
background
As part of the vote on the “reform of the institutions” on September 24, 2017, the Neuchâtel voted with almost 58%, among other things, for the abolition of the six districts of the canton and the creation of a single constituency. The six districts were dissolved as of December 31, 2017, but the four already existing regions will be retained and will be the statistical intermediate level of the canton from January 1, 2018 and a measure that guarantees a minimum number of seats in the Grand Council for each region.
“The reform largely takes into account the need to guarantee the unity of the canton by respecting regional characteristics and treating them fairly. A united canton, but strong in its differences. This is the purpose of introducing the concept of electoral regions (Littoral, Montagnes, Val-de-Ruz, Val-de-Travers) into legislation. They neither replace districts nor do they have the status of a zoning. But they guarantee a minimum representation of every person in the Grand Council (this corresponds to half of the seats they would receive on the basis of a proportional distribution), with a system of guaranteed seats (at least four), regardless of future population trends. "
Elective regions from January 1, 2018
| Region from January 1, 2018 |
BFS no. | Number of municipalities |
Population (December 31, 2018) |
Area in km² |
main place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Littoral | 2407 | 16 | 94,180 | 185.59 | - |
| Mondays | 2410 | 10 | 53,392 | 236.64 | - |
| Val-de-Ruz | 2408 | 2 | 17,499 | 128.02 | - |
| Val-de-Travers | 2409 | 3 | 11,779 | 166.47 | - |
| Total Canton (4) | 31 | 176,850 | 716.72 * | Neuchâtel |
* Excluding lake shares from Lake Neuchâtel and Lake Biel
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Andrea Kucera: Canton Neuchâtel abolishes constituencies. In: nzz.ch . September 24, 2017, accessed January 16, 2018 .
- ^ Réforme des institutions. In: ne.ch. State Chancellery of the Canton of Neuchâtel, accessed on January 16, 2018 (French): “la notion de régions électorales (Littoral, Montagnes, Val-de-Ruz, Val-de-Travers). Elles ne remplacent pas les districts, n'ont pas comme eux le statut de division territoriale. Mais elles garantissent une representation minimale de chacun au Grand Conseil (equivalant à la moitié des sièges qu'elle obtiendrait sur la base d'une répartition proportional) "
- ^ Official register of Swiss municipalities. (PDF; 274 KB) 2 List of announced changes. In: bfs.admin.ch. Federal Statistical Office , October 24, 2017, p. 10; Page 2 , accessed February 3, 2018 .
