Canton of Zug (Switzerland)

Zug lies between the cantons of Zurich, Schwyz, Lucerne and Aargau in the transition area between the Pre-Alps and the Central Plateau. The higher mountains on the Schwyz border, such as the Rossberg (1582 m), Chaiserstock (1426 m), Morgartenberg (1244 m) and Höhrohnen (1229 m), are replaced by foothills to the north-west. The foothills include the Zugerberg (991 m a.s.l. ) and Gubel (909 m a.s.l. ).

Land use

The canton of Zug has an area of approximately 239 square kilometres. Of this, about 110 square kilometres are meadows and farmland, about 61 square kilometres are woodland, about 33 square kilometres are water, about 27 square kilometres are built-up areas and about nine square kilometres are pastures and wasteland.

In some areas of Canton Zug, housing estates have sprung up outside cohesively built-up places, such as between Cham, Steinhausen and Lorzen, a Zug district to the west of the town. The two villages of Oberägeri and Unterägeri have also almost grown together due to urban sprawl along the Ägerisee.

Rivers and lakes

The canton's main river is the Lorze, which rises from the pre-Alpine Ägerisee in Canton Zug and flows into Lake Zug between Zug and Cham. From there it flows on into the Reuss, which, like the Sihl on the north-eastern border, merely touches the canton.

flora and fauna

Flora

Today there are 6,371 hectares of forest in the canton of Zug. As recently as 1845 there were only 2,400 hectares of forest. By 1950 the forest had been increased to 6,000 hectares through intensive afforestation. This corresponds to about 30 percent of the area of the canton of Zug (excluding the lake area). For the last 56 years, the forest area has been increasing slightly each year. Less wood is used than grows back. As a result, the trees are getting older and the age of the forests is increasing.

Most of the forest is located in the foothills of the Alps (around 80 percent). The Central Plateau, on the other hand, tends to have many smaller forests such as the Baarburg or the Steinhauser forest. The forest belongs 5 percent to the canton, 30 percent to private owners, 64 percent to various cooperatives and 1 percent to various municipalities, civic and church communities and the federal government.

Forest damage in the canton of Zug has been increasing every year (for about 40 years). The causes are fungal diseases, silver fir dieback, storm damage and insect damage, especially by the bark beetle.

Fauna

Many different species live in the canton of Zug. Deer are particularly numerous. Red deer and brown hares are also widespread in the canton. Chamois are also occasionally found in the hillier regions.

In addition, there are many rodents such as squirrels, mice, rats and sometimes beavers. Because of the large number of rodents, the buzzard is also widespread throughout the canton. Lake Zug and Lake Aegeri are also home to swans, ducks, pigeons and gulls. The capercaillie is endangered, which is why a conservation project is under way.

The fox continues to be very widespread, although in recent years there have been practically no more cases of rabies due to vaccinations. The fox also appears more and more in the cities to search for food.

The badger has become more common in recent years. It is also becoming less and less shy of people and is visiting the cities more and more often.

There are currently 32 species of fish in the lakes of Canton Zug. In addition to the brown trout, rainbow trout, lake trout, pike, perch and eel, there are the following fish species: eel, grayling, barbel, bitterling, bleak, bream, minnow, whitefish, bullhead, gudgeon, dace, carp, ruffe, bleak, roach, rudd, tench, loach, tailor, Arctic char, sunfish, rock bass, stickleback, bream and zander. There is also a roundmouth, the brook lamprey, and three species of crayfish: the stone crayfish, the noble crayfish and the Galician crayfish.

As of 31 December 2019, the population of Canton Zug was 127,642, with a population density of 535 inhabitants per square kilometre, which is above the Swiss average (208 inhabitants per square kilometre). The proportion of foreigners (registered residents without Swiss citizenship) was 28.3 per cent on 31 December 2019, compared to 25.3 per cent registered foreigners nationwide. As of January 31, 2021, the unemployment rate was 3.0 percent compared to 3.7 percent at the federal level.

Language

The official language of the canton is German. The colloquial language in the canton of Zug is Swiss German.

There is no actual "Zugerdeutsch", as the canton is intersected by several basic dialect boundaries:

• Ägeri and Walchwil go in the direction of Schwyz: schnye 'to snow', Süü 'sows', üüs 'us', appe 'down, down', Haar 'hair', grouss 'big', täüf 'deep';
• Steinhausen, Baar, Neuheim and Menzingen go with schneie 'snow', Söi 'sow', öis 'us', grooss 'big' in the direction of the Central Plateau; with täif 'deep', Haar 'hair' in Neuheim and Menzingen on the one hand and with töif, Hoor in Steinhausen and Baar on the other hand, these places join more southern or western dialect spaces;
• Cham, Hünenberg and Risch go more clearly in the direction of Aargau and Lucerne, one says there not only (as in Steinhausen and Baar) normal-mediterranean schneie, Söi, öis, grooss, töif, Hoor, but also specifically luzernisch and partly freiämterisch chromm 'krumm', Loft 'air', Löffu 'spoon';
• the city of Zug lies in the center of these three dialect areas and has something of all of them, typical for this is the sentence es schnyt uf d Hoor, i.e. with schnye as in Southeast Zugerian and Hoor as in West Zugerian.

Religion

The canton of Zug is traditionally Catholic. 50 percent of the total population belong to the Roman Catholic Church and are thus assigned to the diocese of Basel. In addition, 14 percent belong to the Reformed Church and thus to the Evangelical Reformed Parish of the Canton of Zug (as of the end of 2017). Many other religions and denominations are also represented in the canton.

Since the 2000 census, no precise membership figures have been available for other religious communities in the canton of Zug. However, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) carries out sample surveys that also cover other religious communities in the canton. In the 2017 sample survey, around a third of people aged 15 and over in the canton of Zug stated that they did not belong to either of the two national churches. In addition, there are major differences in religious affiliation among the various population groups (depending on the nationality or origin of the respondents):