The extent of democracy in the cantons is captured on a scale running from one to six.
Sunni and Shia politicians alike denounced the barrier for splitting Baghdad into cantons and widening the sectarian gap.
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Switzerland is really 23 countries under one flag--that's how many cantons (autonomous districts) there are in that mountainous country.
After a few days of eating fondue in five Swiss cantons, I was ready to break all the rules.
In some cantons, more than 70% of voters rejected the ban, according to Geneva newspaper La Tribune de Geneve.
Its shares, 52.7% of them owned by the Swiss cantons and cantonal banks, are listed on the Swiss stock exchange.
In Switzerland, two-thirds of total taxes, including individual and corporate income taxes, are levied by the cantons, not the central government.
Preliminary results from Sunday's vote indicate that the initiative received unanimous support from all of Switzerland's 26 cantons, the government said.
In 1712, in Switzerland the Treaty of Aargau was signed which ended the Swiss war and guaranteed Protestant superiority over Catholic Cantons.
The FN is thought to have qualified for run-off votes in nearly 400 cantons - France's smallest administrative units - next weekend.
UN's backers achieved only the narrowest of victories, 12 cantons to 11.
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Although Geneva voted slightly in favour, results from the country's other 25 cantons showed a majority of voters rejected a full ban.
Zurich and its surrounding cantons have a history of strange behaviour.
The cantons also wield other powers that enable them compete for business, such as the authority to make residency and building permits easy to get.
Others have been enraged by the suggestion of the new Serbian Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica, that Kosovo should be divided into cantons along ethnic lines.
Mr Blocher was cheered by a crowd of middle-aged mainly German-speakers, stressing the support his People's Party enjoys in eastern Switzerland, particularly in the smaller, tradition-minded cantons.
Switzerland has a federal structure that reserves major powers to the 26 cantons, and the cantons themselves vary in the ease with which which citizens participate .
Geneva and seven other cantons have already imposed their own comprehensive bans on indoor smoking in places of employment while the remaining, smaller cantons have been less restrictive.
The 26 cantons are sovereign in cultural and educational affairs.
In Sunday's cantonal elections, the National Front won at least two cantons, though the party's share of the vote decreased from 15% in the first round of voting the previous weekend.
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Federalism and direct democracy, as well as respect and consideration for the interests of minorities and small cantons, are valuable concepts developed by Switzerland and used to the benefit of its people.
Zurich, the most populous of the cantons, and the heart of the Swiss banking world, plans to start compulsory English at an early age, maybe even from the first class, the six-plus lot.
La Tribune de Geneve suggests voters rejected a full ban because they did not want to force the smaller cantons into changing their local laws, and because of resentment at perceived state interference in people's lives.
One reason why Switzerland ranks at the top is that income taxes there are relatively low, at only 25% for Zurich and 30% for Geneva. (Switzerland's different regions, or cantons, also have varying tax rates.) While it's nice to have a generous employer, it helps to have a laid-back government too.
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