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Easy answers about life in Switzerland
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  • Political system
  • Parliament
  • Number of seats in Parliament
All themes
  • Political system
  • Parliament
  • Number of seats in Parliament

Number of seats in Parliament

The more populated a canton is, the more seats it is entitled to in the National Council. In the Council of States, on the other hand, each canton has one or two seats.

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The Swiss Parliament has 200 seats in the National Council and 46 seats in the Council of States.

National Council

In the National Council, seats are allocated in proportion to the resident population of a canton. This means that the more populated a canton is, the more seats it has in the National Council. At the federal elections in 2023, seats per canton range from 36 seats to only 1 seat. Each canton always has at least one seat in the National Council.

Council of States

In the Council of States, 20 cantons are entitled to two seats. The former half-cantons of Obwalden, Nidwalden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Basel Stadt and Basel Landschaft are only entitled to one. This difference is due to historical reasons (web page available in German, French and Italian).

Two seats:
Aargau, Bern, Freiburg, Geneva, Glarus, Graubünden, Jura, Luzern, Neuchâtel, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Ticino, Uri, Vaud, Valais, Zug, Zurich.

One seat:
Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Nidwalden, Obwalden.

  • For more information on the distribution of seats in the 2023 federal elections, click here (web page available in German, French and Italian).

  • The Federal Statistical Office provides the key population figures for the various cantons.

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