Switzerland cantons quiz

The 26 cantons in the quiz

Switzerland has 26 cantons: 26 in the quiz. Use the Capitals button in the panel to find their capitals instead.

How to play

In Point mode we name a canton and you tap it on the map; in Type mode one lights up and you type its name (accents don’t matter); and in Time trial you get 6 seconds per question. If you miss, we show you where it was, which way it lies and a hint drawn from the data: its size rank and its neighbors.

Each game has 10, 20 or all the questions, and at the end you can practice just the ones you missed. Your best score for each mode is saved in this browser only: neither we nor anyone else can see it, and there’s no sign-up.

The hardest ones

The smallest cantons are the hardest, since they barely show on the map: Basel-Stadt (about 15 sq mi), Appenzell Innerrhoden (about 64 sq mi), and Zug (about 92 sq mi). Zoom in with the buttons or two fingers to tap them.

And watch out for look-alike names: Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden; Basel-Landschaft and Basel-Stadt.

Tips to learn them

• Start with the three largest: Grisons, Bern, and Valais cover 44% of the area of Switzerland.
• The 8 cantons bordering France trace that border on the map: Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel, Solothurn, Valais, and Vaud.
• Bern has the most neighbors: it borders 11 cantons. Once you place it, you have a landmark for many more.

Playing in class

If you teach in Switzerland, start with your school’s canton and its neighbors and add a few each day. Otherwise, it’s a good way to get to know the country before studying it.

With the Challenge your class link, everyone gets the same questions in the same order, with no accounts or passwords, and each student sees their own score, time and streak. To practice on paper, there’s a printable worksheet of the same map with an answer key.

List of all 26 cantons

1. Aargau Aarau
2. Appenzell Ausserrhoden Herisau
3. Appenzell Innerrhoden Appenzell
4. Basel-Landschaft Liestal
5. Basel-Stadt Basel
6. Bern Bern
7. Fribourg Fribourg
8. Geneva Geneva
9. Glarus Glarus
10. Grisons Chur
11. Jura Delémont
12. Lucerne Lucerne
13. Neuchâtel Neuchâtel
14. Nidwalden Stans
15. Obwalden Sarnen
16. Schaffhausen Schaffhausen
17. Schwyz Schwyz
18. Solothurn Solothurn
19. St. Gallen St. Gallen
20. Thurgau Frauenfeld
21. Ticino Bellinzona
22. Uri Altdorf
23. Valais Sion
24. Vaud Lausanne
25. Zug Zug
26. Zürich Zürich