Grisons (Ger. Graubünden), the largest and the most thinly peopled of the Swiss cantons, is bounded E. by Tyrol and S. by Lombardy. Area, 2773 sq. m.; pop. (1888) 94,810. Nearly half are Germans; next comes the characteristic Romansch (q.v.) element (37,000), with 13,000 Italians. More than half of the whole number are Protestants. The whole canton is an assemblage of mountains intersected by narrow valleys. These last form three groups, of which the first and most important lies along the course of the Rhine, and stretches northward, occupying nearly the whole of the western portion of the canton; the second, forming the Engadine (q.v.), extends north-east along the course of the Inn; and the third comprises several smaller valleys, whose streams run southward, belonging to the basins of the Ticino and the Adige. Pastures and forests occupy a large portion of the canton; cattle and timber are the principal exports. Numerous mineral springs are found within the canton; also the health-resorts of Davos, the Upper Engadine, Seewis, &c. Iron, lead, copper, zinc, and silver occur. Within the Grisons too are several passes leading to Italy, such as the Splügen, St Bernardino, Bernina. The canton is democratic in constitution (see SWITZERLAND). The cantonal capital is Chur or Coire (q.v.).
The country was anciently inhabited by the Rætii, who are supposed to have been of Etruscan race (see ETRURIA). It was conquered by the Romans under Augustus, and added by Charlemagne to his empire in 807. During the middle ages the Bishop of Chur was the most powerful of the numerous nobles who sought to oppress the people, till they in self-defence formed themselves into leagues. One of these leagues, formed in 1424, was called the gray league (Ger. der graue bund), from the gray home-spun worn by the unionists, and hence the German and French names of the canton—Graubünden and Grisons. In 1471 these separate unions entered into a general federation, which then (1497–98) formed an alliance with the Swiss cantons. See works in German by Jecklin (6 vols. Coire, 1874–86).