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The canton of Bern
This very large canton, the second largest in Switzerland behind the Grisons, forms a border between the French and German speakers. Even if German is mostly spoken, French remains the official language in a certain areas of Jura and Mitteland, north of Lake Biel.
This situation has spawned a separatist movement in the French spaekaing part of Jura, leading to the autonomy of the region and the creation of a new canton Jura in 1978.
Canton of Bern counts several high peaks over 4,000 meters, like the Jungfrau, Lauteraarhorn, Shreckhorn and Mönch.
Its population of around one million inhabitants represent nearly one-seventh of the total population of Switzerland.
Bern City, capital of Switzerland
Berne ran up against the troops of Napoleon and ends up losing nearly half its possessions, including very large cantons of Vaud and Aargau. The first national parliament elected Bern as the federal capital city of Switzerland in 1848. It is also the capital of the second largest Swiss canton.
Bern is one of the smallest capitals in Europe and counts more than 70 embassies and many international organizations.
Since 1983, the Old City of Bern is listed on the World Heritage List of Unesco.
Canton of Bern / Practical information :
Area : 5959km2
Population : 941'144
Capital : Bern
Language : German and french
Predominant religion : Protestant
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