Bern

Bern, or BERNE, a Swiss canton, bounded on the N. by France. It is the most populous, and next to the Grisons the most extensive canton of Switzerland; its area being nearly 2650 sq. m., and its population (1888) 539,305—more than one-sixth of the Swiss people. Of these, 66,000 were Roman Catholics and over 1300 Jews. The fertile valleys of the Aar and the Emmen divide the mountainous Alpine region in the south from the Jura Mountains in the north. The Bernese Oberland, or Highlands, comprises the peaks of the Jungfrau, Mönch, Eiger, Schreckhorn, Finsteraarhorn, &c., and the valleys of Hasli, Lauterbrunnen, &c. The lakes of Thun, Brienz, Neuchâtel, and Bienne are in the canton, which is watered by the Aar and its several tributaries. The climate is generally healthy. The plains of the Aar and the Emmen are the most fruitful, producing corn and fruits of various kinds, and affording excellent pasturage for cattle, which, with dairy-produce, form the chief agricultural wealth of Bern. The vine grows in some districts. The horses of the Emmental are much prized. The lakes abound with salmon and trout. Iron-mines are worked, and a little gold is found, and quarries of sandstone, granite, and marble are abundant. Its manufactures, which are not extensive, consist chiefly of linen, coarse woollens, leather, iron, and copper wares, articles of wood, and watches. Bern entered the Swiss Confederation, in which it now holds the second rank, in 1352. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it added to its possessions Aargau and Vaud, which it lost during the wars of the first Napoleon; but it received in return Bienne and its territory, and the greater part of the bishopric of Basel. The present constitution of the canton, proclaimed in 1874, but based on the laws of 1848, is one of representative democracy.