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Stans is the capital of the canton of Nidwalden (Nidwald) in Switzerland. The official language of Stans is German (spoken there in the variety of Swiss Standard German), but the main language is the local variant of Alemannic Swiss German.

Stans is one of the oldest settlements in the entire Nidwalden valley. The first traces of human settlement date to the second century BC. During the Roman era there is little evidence of a settlement except for some Gallo Roman Ustrinum or funeral pyres and the Latin root (stagnum meaning a pool or sump) of the name Stans. By 1291, when Unterwalden joined Uri and Schwyz in what became the Swiss Confederation, Stans was already the capital of the section known as Unterwalden nid dem Kernwald which would become the half canton of Nidwalden. In 1386, during the Battle of Sempach, a soldier from Stans, Arnold von Winkelried, is claimed to have thrown himself on the pikes of the Habsburg army which led the Swiss to victory. However it is doubtful whether he existed or died in the battle as the first mention of his selfless act appears over 150 years after the battle and a man who may have been Arnold was party to a lawsuit in 1389. Regardless, the legend is firmly in place in Stans, with a monument and his house located in the town. Following the Swiss victories in the Burgundian Wars the Old Swiss Confederation was nearly torn apart by internal conflict when the city cantons insisted on having the lion's share of the proceeds since they had supplied the most troops. The country cantons resented this and the Tagsatzung or leadership of each of the cantons met in Stans in 1481 to resolve the issues. However, they were unable to resolve the issues and war seemed inevitable. A local hermit, Niklaus von der Flüe, was consulted on the situation. He requested that a message be passed on to the members of the Tagsatzung on his behalf. The details of the message have remained unknown to this day, however it did calm the tempers and led to the drawing up of the Stanser Verkommnis. As part of the Verkommnis Fribourg and Solothurn were admitted into the confederation. During the Middle Ages, Stans was protected with seven towers. However, the town never built a wall to connect the towers and encircle it. In 1814, following the collapse of the Napoleonic Act of Mediation, Nidwalden attempted to return to the Ancien Regime government, with subject lands belonging to the canton. Stans and the rest of Nidwalden only gave up their subject lands when Federal troops marched into the city. Stans and the rest of Nidwalden joined the Sonderbund in 1845 and were involved in the 1847 Sonderbund War. In the 20th century, modern technology and transportation changed Stans. In 1893 Stans was connected to the rail network of Lucerne by steam ferry. In 1964 the Lucerne Stans Engelberg rail way was opened and in 1966 the A2 motorway (which is Switzerland's main north–south axis from Basel to Chiasso) was constructed. The open air assembly (Landsgemeinde) was held in Stans annually until its abolition in 1997.

The area of Stans is Much of the land within the borders of Stans is agricultural (43.7%), while just over a third (36.5%) is forested. Of the remaining area, about 17% is settlements and less than 2.6% is unproductive (mountains, rivers or glaciers). The highest point within the borders of Stans is on the Stanserhorn and is above sea level. The lowest point is at Fronhofen where the elevation is The village square (Dorfplatz) has an elevation of .

Stans has an average of 137.7 days of rain per year and on average receives of precipitation. The wettest month is August when Stans receives an average of of precipitation on 13.6 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is June, with an average of 14.2, but with only of precipitation. The driest month of the year is January with an average of of precipitation over 13.6 days.

Stans has a population (as of ) of as of 2007, 9.4% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 13.2%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (91.6%), with Italian being second most common (2.0%) and Serbo Croatian being third (1.2%). as of 2008 the gender distribution of the population was 48.6% male and 51.4% female. as of 2000 there are 2,816 households, of which 1,837 households (or about 65.2%) contain only one or two individuals. 202 or about 7.2% are large households, with at least five members. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 88% of the vote. Most of the rest of the votes were given to local small right wing parties (10.8%).

The local mountain, the Stanserhorn is also a tourist resort. It is accessible via one of the oldest mountain railways in Switzerland, the Stanserhornbahn (1893), and by cable car. The Stanserhornbahn was originally built as a rack and pinion railway, with three separate sections. In 1970 the upper section was destroyed by a fire following a lightning strike. In 1975 the destroyed upper section and the middle section were replaced by an aerial cable car. At the peak of the Stanserhorn is the Rondorama, a revolving restaurant that was built in 2001. From the peak of the Stanserhorn, on a clear day the view stretches nearly and includes 10 Swiss lakes and the Black Forest of Germany. There is a short hiking trail around the peak of the Stanserhorn and a small population of Marmots are kept near the trail.

Following the fire in 1713, the village square (Dorfplatz) was fully rebuilt, to its current unified appearance, in 1715 according to a plan by Josef Aebi and Ludwig Gassmann. The square now houses the Winkelried fountain and the sculpture Der Tod und das Mädchen (Death and the Maiden). The Winkelried monument was carved from Carrarain marble in Rome and then shipped by boat, rail and horse team to Stans in 1865. The monument is in a Gothic Revival style and was carved by Ferdinand Schlöth. Death and the Maiden was done by Rudolf Brem.

The Parish church, St. Peter und Paul was built from 1641 until 1647 by the architect Jakob Berger. The church was constructed in an early Baroque style, while the bell tower is an older Romanesque structure. The three nave Basilica was built south of the earlier church, though the older bell tower dates from this previous church.

The Salzmagazin (lit. Salt storage house) was originally built to store grain and salt for the community in 1700. It has had many other uses since then including; a theater, a secondary school and finally a museum. The coat of arms of the builder and Landammann Nicolaus Keiser as well as two lions with the Nidwalden shield and two header eagle are visible on the north gable.

In the front garden of the former Nidwaldner Kantonalbank is a monument by the Swiss sculptor August Stanser Blaesi (1903–1979) that was erected in memory of the local artist Melchior Paul von Deschwanden (1811–1881) in the autumn of 1933. Deschwanden was one of the most influential and productive religious painters of his time, trained in the Nazarene style in Munich, Germany, who sent paintings to hang in Roman Catholic churches as far as Annapolis, Maryland and Covington, Kentucky. Amongst his pupils were Adalbert Baggenstos (1863–1897) from Stans, and the Swiss born American portrait painter Adolfo Müller Ury, in whose arms he died in February 1881.