Санкт-Галлен кантоны: географиясы, халқы және экономикасы

Canton of Switzerland

The canton of St. Gallen or St Gall (link=no ; ; ; ) is a canton of Switzerland. Its capital is St. Gallen. Located in northeastern Switzerland, the canton has an area of (5% of Switzerland) and a resident population close to half a million as of 2015 (6% of Switzerland). It was formed in 1803 as a conflation of the city of St. Gallen, the territories of the Abbey of St. Gall and various former subject territories of the Old Swiss Confederacy.

The canton is located in the north east of Switzerland. It is bounded to the north by Lake Constance (Bodensee). To the east lies the Rhine valley. Over the Rhine are Austria (state of Vorarlberg) and Liechtenstein. To the south, the canton of St. Gallen is bounded by the cantons of Graubünden, Glarus and Schwyz. To the west lie the cantons of Zürich and Thurgau. The two half cantons Appenzell Innerrhoden and Appenzell Ausserrhoden are completely surrounded by lands of the canton of St. Gallen. The main rivers of the canton are the Rhine, Thur, Linth and Seez. The topography changes from the plains, near river Rhine and Lake Constance, towards the mountainous areas of the Alps in the south (Appenzell Alps and Glarus Alps). About one third of the canton is wooded, while nearly half is is used for farming. of the farm land is alpine pastures. Of the rest of the canton, is considered unproductive while is filled with housing or roads. The altitude above the sea level varies from (the lake of Constance) to (the Ringelspitz). The canton includes portions of the lake of Constance , of the Walensee (rather over ), and of the lake of Zürich , and several small lakes wholly within its limits. The mountains of the canton include part of a thrust fault that was declared a geologic UNESCO World Heritage Site, under the name Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona, in 2008.

There are 77 municipalities in the canton (as of 2017).

88% of the population is German speaking. The main centres of population are the capital St. Gallen (69,700 inhabitants), Rapperswil Jona (27,000), Wil (17,500) and Gossau (17,000). as of 2007, the population included 97,461 foreigners, or about 20.9% of the total population. The majority of the population (as of 2000) is Roman Catholic (52%) while a large minority is Protestant (28%).

Agricultural activity consists predominantly of dairy farming and cattle breeding in the mountainous areas. In the plains fruit and wine production are important, but there is also mixed farming. Industries of the canton include optical goods, pyrotechnics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Tourism plays an important role in the many resorts. There is a thermal spa in Bad Ragaz and another in St. Margrethen and a great number of winter sports facilities.

Higher educational institutions include the Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil and the University of St. Gallen.