Canton of Aargau

47.4188.11Coordinates: 47° 25′ N, 8° 7′ E; CH1903: 650664 / 252127 Aargau (abbreviation AG; Swiss German older Aargöi, younger Aargau, Aargou; French Argovie; Italian Argovia; Rhaeto-Romanic Argovia^{? /i}) is a canton in the north of German-speaking Switzerland^. It borders Germany to the north, the cantons of Basel-Landschaft, Solothurn, and Bern to the west, the canton of Lucerne to the south, and the cantons of Zug and Zurich to the east. Aargau occupies the northeastern part of the Swiss Plateau with the lower reaches of the Aare River, from which it takes its name.

In 1415, the Confederates conquered the region from the Habsburgs, whose ancestral castle was located near the present-day capital of Aarau. The south-western part became the subject territory of the Republic of Bern. With the founding of the Helvetic Republic in 1798, the Canton of Aargau was created from the Bernese Aargau, while the remaining area formed the Canton of Baden. These two and the Anterior Austrian Fricktal merged in 1803 to form the Canton of Aargau in its present form.

Aargau is one of the most fertile regions in Switzerland. Agricultural production is dominated by dairy farming and the cultivation of fruit and cereals. Historically, straw weaving was important. In industry, the sectors of mechanical and electrical engineering, food processing, electronics and precision instruments as well as cement production are represented. Aargau is an important energy producer for Switzerland and the site of several nuclear facilities.

For tourists, the canton offers numerous castles and palaces, a wide range of museums and thermal springs in Bad Zurzach, Baden, Rheinfelden and Schinznach-Bad. The population is largely German-speaking, the canton is traditionally parity, although today a slight majority is Roman Catholic. A total of about 678,000 inhabitants (as of 2018) live in an area of 1403.81 km².

Geography

Aargau is located in the north of Switzerland, on the Central Plateau and in the eastern foothills of the Jura. The canton takes its name from the river Aare. It borders the Rhine and thus Baden-Württemberg (Germany) to the north, the canton of Zurich to the east, the cantons of Lucerne and Zug to the south, and the cantons of Bern, Solothurn and Basel-Landschaft to the west.

Aargau has a strong natural structure. The northern part of the canton was shaped by the mountain building of the Jura, while the southern part, situated on the Central Plateau, was shaped by the glacial movements of the ice ages. The Riss Ice Age, which reached its peak around 140,000 years ago, covered almost the entire area of today's canton, with the exception of the western Fricktal around Rheinfelden and a few Jura peaks that rose out of the sea of ice.

During the Würm Ice Age, glaciation was far less extensive (only the south-eastern part of the cantonal territory was covered by ice), but it left a lasting mark on the landscape. The Reuss Glacier and the Linth Glacier, which reached their greatest thickness around 20,000 years ago, left behind numerous erratic boulders which were moved from the Alpine region to the plain. The former extent of these glaciers is still clearly visible today in the terminal moraines at Killwangen, Mellingen, Othmarsingen, Seon, Staffelbach, Würenlos and Zetzwil. The rock masses left behind at the moraine of Seon dammed Lake Hallwil, which at the end of the Ice Age was about twice as large as it is today and within a few thousand years shrank to its present size by filling the former lake basin with sediments. The rivers deposited extensive gravel fields in the valleys in advance of the glaciers, which are important aquifers.

The highest point of the canton is on the Geissflue ridge at 908 m above sea level.

Land use

Land use in the canton of Aargau (2006)
Type	Share of total area (%)
Agricultural land	44,1
Settlement areas	17,0
afforested areas	36,4
unproductive land	02,6

In 2020, 11.5 percent of the agricultural land in the canton was managed organically by 303 farms.

Water system

A special feature of the canton of Aargau is the union of those major Swiss rivers that drain into the North Sea via the Rhine. The Rhine forms the northern border of the canton and also the state border with Germany. The Aare flows into the Rhine at Koblenz, just twelve kilometres after the union of the largest rivers of the Swiss midlands in the Wasserschloss. Shortly after each other, the Reuss and Limmat flow into the Aare in the Vogelsang district of Gebenstorf. The Limmat comes from the southeast and brings water from the Reppisch and the Egelsee, the Reuss from the south. The Aare, which forms the cantonal border with Canton Solothurn between Murgenthal and Aarburg, takes in the Wigger, Suhre and Aabach before reaching the moated castle shortly after Brugg. With the Limmat, Reuss, Aare and Rhine rivers, water from 24 cantons flows through Aargau (exceptions: cantons of Geneva and Basel-Stadt).

In detail, the water system of the Aargau presents itself as follows:

• Rhine
• Sissle
• Zeiherbach
• Aare
• Klingnau reservoir
• Surb
• Limmat
• Reppisch
• Lake Egel
• Reuss
• Aabach
• Bünz
• Lake Hallwil
• Suhre
• Wyna
• Uerke
• Ruederche
• Wigger
• Valley Brook

Constitution

The current cantonal constitution dates from 1980 (with subsequent amendments).

Legislative

The legislative authority is the Grand Council, which consists of 140 (until 2005 200) members elected by the people for a fixed four-year term of office on the basis of proportional representation.

Since 2005, the mandates have been distributed among the districts as follows: Aarau (16), Baden (30), Bremgarten (16), Brugg (11), Kulm (9), Laufenburg (6), Lenzburg (12), Muri (7), Rheinfelden (10), Zofingen (15), Zurzach (8). In 2009, the election procedure of the "double-proportional allocation procedure" was also used for the first time in Aargau, which, as expected, benefited the smaller parties.

In addition, the people are directly involved in legislation: Amendments to the Constitution and laws that have not been adopted by the Grand Council with an absolute majority are subject to a mandatory referendum; other laws must be submitted to a popular vote if requested by 3000 voters (optional referendum). In addition, 3000 persons entitled to vote may propose an amendment to the Constitution or a law or propose a law at all (popular initiative).

• see also: Grand Council Election in Aargau for current and previous results

The canton of Aargau is today (in marked contrast to the 19th century) considered to be the most conservative of the larger cantons, which is evident not only from its behaviour in federal referendums but also from the very strong representation of the SVP.

Executive

The governing and supreme executive authority of the Canton of Aargau is the Government Council, which comprises five members elected by popular vote for a fixed term of four years. The Landammann, as primus inter pares, presides over the Regierungsrat and is elected by the Grand Council from among the members of the Regierungsrat for a term of one year; his deputy, the Landstatthalter, is also appointed in accordance with the same provisions.

Members of the Government Council (term of office 2021-2024)
Government Council	Official	Party	Department
Stephan Attiger	Landammann	FDP	Department of Construction, Transport and Environment (BVU)
Alex Hürzeler	State Governor	SVP	Department of Education, Culture and Sport (BKS)
Dieter Egli	Government Council	SP	Department of Economic Affairs and Home Affairs (DVI)
Markus Dieth	Government Council	CVP	Department of Finance and Resources (DFR)
Jean-Pierre Gallati	Government Council	SVP	Department of Health and Social Services (DGS)

The office of State Secretary is held by Vincenza Trivigno; she thus heads the Aargau State Chancellery (SK).

Elections 2020

In the elections to the cantonal government on 18 October 2020, all cantonal councillors were re-elected with the exception of Urs Hoffmann (SP), who did not stand for re-election. Dieter Egli (SP) was newly elected. All five achieved an absolute majority in the first round of voting. Thus, the distribution of seats by party did not change compared to the previous legislative period.

Elections 2016

Roland Brogli (CVP) and Susanne Hochuli (GPS) announced during the course of the year that they would not be running again for the government council. In the first ballot on 23 October 2016, Markus Dieth (CVP) was elected to the Government Council alongside Urs Hofmann (SP), Alex Hürzeler (SVP) and Stephan Attiger (FDP). Franziska Roth (SVP) was elected as the fifth member of the Government Council in the second ballot on 27 November 2016. In the 2017-2020 legislature, the Swiss People's Party (SVP) is represented with two seats in the executive, the SP, FDP and CVP with one seat each. The Green Party of Canton Aargau (GPS) no longer has an executive member.

Elections 2012

On 21 October 2012, the new elections to the Government Council took place, for the first time at the same time as the elections to the Grand Council. All five seats could already be filled in this first ballot. Roland Brogli (CVP), Urs Hofmann (SP), Alex Hürzeler (SVP) and Susanne Hochuli (GPS) were re-elected. Newly elected and thus representing his party is Stephan Attiger (FDP), who took office on 1 April 2013.

Judiciary

The highest cantonal court is the Supreme Court with its seat in Aarau. Courts of first instance with regional reach are the district and juvenile courts. The justices of the peace, who mainly have a mediating function, have a local reach. There are also special courts.

Administrative jurisdiction is essentially exercised by the Administrative Court and the Insurance Court.

Party system

The canton's party system coincides with that of Switzerland. The cantonal sections of the four federal government parties SP, CVP, FDP and SVP hold the sceptre. The middle-class parties tend to be more right-wing than their Swiss parent parties.

Grand Council building in Aarau