Schwyz
a central canton of Switzerland, bounded on the N. by the Lake of Zürich and canton of St. Gall, W. by Zug and Lucerne, S. by Lake Lucerne, and E. by Glarus; area, 351 square miles. It belongs to the so-called mountain cantons, being traversed in all directions by lofty peaks, including including the Mythen, the Rigi, the Rossberg, the Drusberg, etc.
The whole canton belongs to the basin of the Rhine, more than two-thirds of the surface being drained by the Sihl and the Lake of Zürich; a third, by the Lake of Lucerne, chiefly by means of the Muota; and the remainder, forming only an_unimportant portion, by the Lake of Zug. The chief industry is the rearing of cattle, sheep, and swine. The canton is very poor in minerals. Manufactures are almost confined to some cotton and silk spinning and weaving. Schwyz being the most important of the cantons which first threw off the yoke of Austria, gave the name to the whole confederation. Its present government is an extreme democracy, the whole power, legislative and executive, being lodged in the male population of legal age, who hold a general assembly every two years. The great body of the inhabitants are Roman Catholics. Pop. (1920) 59,475. Schwyz, the capital, is a straggling and picturesque town at the foot of the Mythen, about 1,680 feet above the sea, with a handsome parish church and an interesting town hall. Pop. about 8,000.