ZÜRICH, a canton of Switzerland, one of the most ancient of the confederation. It is bounded on one side by the dominions of the grand duke of Baden, and on all other points by the Swiss cantons of Schaffhausen, Thurgau, St Gall, Schwytz, Zug, and Aargau. The whole extent of the canton is about 640 square miles, including the lakes. The population, by a census taken in the year 1837, was found to be 231,576 individuals, all of whom, except 2000 Catholics, belonged to the Protestant reformed church.
The canton is purely of German origin, using only that language, but with a strong patois among the country people. It contains six cities (so denominated from being or having been fortified), eight market-towns, 149 communes, and 467 villages, with 26,400 houses. The education of the people is carefully conducted. Besides a university in the capital, and several private institutions, there are no less than 385 public schools, in which more than 55,000 children are instructed in the lower branches of learning. The contingent of the canton towards the general defence of the confederation is fixed at 3700 men, and the annual payment of 74,000 francs. This canton is one of the governing departments, and is therefore, alternately with Berne and Lucerne, the residence of the diplomatic body, and of the persons engaged in the official business of the confederation. The surface of the canton may be properly described as an undulating succession of plains and hills of no great elevation, except two ranges, whose highest peaks are about 2000 feet above the level of the lakes, or about 3500 feet above the level of the sea. With the exception of those peaks, the land is fertile and well cultivated; producing corn, wine, fruits, and an abundant store of butter and cheese for the support of its own dense population. The towns and villages contain a most industrious population, chiefly employed in the manufacture of silk and cotton goods of a fine and elegant texture, which are formidable rivals of the English and French fabrics at the fairs of Frankfort and Leipzig, and in the cities of Germany. The rapid streams afford a power by which some very extensive cotton and silk mills are turned.
The most prominent feature in the face of the country is the lake of the same name as the canton. It forms a kind of crescent from east to west. It is about twenty-nine miles in length, and in breadth varies from three to four miles. It is chiefly supplied with water from the river Linth, into which descend the melted snows of the glaciers of Taede and Kistenberg. Though its depth in many parts is 600 feet, yet, owing to shoals in other parts, it is only navigable by vessels of a light draught of water, or by steamers, with which, within the last three years, it has, like the other lakes of Switzerland, been abundantly furnished. The lake in the hottest months is raised from ten to fifteen feet by the more rapid melting of the ice on the glaciers. The lake of Zürich is next to that of Geneva in extent; and, though destitute of the grandeur of scenery of that and of the Wallenstadt and Lucerne lakes, its banks exhibit the peculiar charm of rich and high cultivation.