Zug | Lake Zug, Alpine, Central Switzerland | Britannica (original) (raw)

Zug, smallest undivided canton of Switzerland, with an area of 92 sq mi (239 sq km), of which 12 sq mi are occupied by Lakes Zug and Ägeri. Bounded by the cantons of Lucerne and Aargau on the west, Zürich on the north, and Schwyz on the east and south, Zug lies on the hilly central Swiss Plateau, rising to the Hohe Rone mass (3,953 ft [1,205 m]) near the eastern boundary and to the Zugerberg ridge (3,409 ft) of the Rossberg mass in the south between the lakes. Its principal drainage is afforded by the Lorze River, which flows northward from its source in Schwyz through Lake Ägeri to the lowland at the northern end of the Zugerberg, around the foot of which it curves to enter Lake Zug. It leaves the lake slightly west of its point of entrance and flows north-northwest over fertile lowlands to join the Reuss, which forms the northwestern boundary of the canton.

Historically, the canton consists of the lands acquired and ruled by its capital, the town of Zug (q.v.), until 1798. Near the southeastern corner of Lake Ägeri is Morgarten, the scene of the great victory of the Swiss Confederation (Schwyz and some confederates from Uri) over the Habsburgs in 1315. In 1798 Zug’s inhabitants opposed the French Revolutionary forces, and it formed one of the districts of the huge canton of Waldstätten in the Helvetic Republic until 1803, when it became a separate canton again. As one of the six Catholic cantons, it joined the Sonderbund (separatist Catholic league) in 1845 and took part in the Sonderbund War in 1847. In 1848 and 1874 it voted against the proposed federal constitutions, which were both adopted. Its present cantonal constitution dates from 1894.

The economy is largely based on trade and financial services. Industry includes the manufacture of metal goods and electrical equipment. The population is German speaking and mainly Roman Catholic. Pop. (2007 est.) 107,171.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Jeff Wallenfeldt.