From the middle of the 19th century onwards, trade, industry and tourism gained momentum. Still, until the 1950s, agriculture took over the canton. Today, many small and middle-sized businesses fill the economy. The largest employer is the airplane constructor Pilatus. The small and middle-sized businesses work in a lot of areas. Many provide work in machine construction, medical equipment, international trade, optics and electronics.
Traditional areas such as forestry and agriculture are still important. Most farming is done with cattle and dairy products. Family farms are still common in Nidwalden today.
In recent years, Nidwalden is becoming an increasingly popular place to live and work. This is caused by its low taxes, its central location between Zürich and Milan, and the pretty countryside.
Because of the mountainous geography, tourism is important to Nidwalden. The lake and mountains attract many tourists around the year.
Many local charities have kept local traditions intact. There is traditional music, yodeling, dances, theaters and festivals. There are a number of modern cultural events, such as concerts and galleries.
There are eleven municipalities:
Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen is a town in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name. It has a population of about 36,000 as 2016.
The old portion of the town has many fine Renaissance era buildings decorated with exterior frescos and sculpture, as well as the impressive old canton fortress, the "Munot". A train runs out of town to the nearby Rhine Falls in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Europe's largest waterfall, a tourist attraction.
Schaffhausen was a city state in the Middle Ages, documented to have struck its own coins starting in 1045. For a time it was under Habsburg domination, but regained its independence in 1415. It allied itself with Zürich in 1457, and became a full member of the Swiss Confederation in 1501. The first railroad came to Schaffhausen in 1857.
Schaffhausen is in a finger of Swiss land surrounded on three sides by Germany. On April 1, 1944, Schaffhausen suffered a bombing raid by United States Army Air Forces aircraft which strayed from German airspace into neutral Switzerland. While the United States immediately offered four million dollars in reparations, the raid occurred only a month after the Swiss Air Force had shot down an American bomber.
In 1947 it merged with the former municipality of Buchthalen. In 1964 it merged with the former municipality of Herblingen. Since 2009, Hemmental has been part of the town.
Schaffhausen has some well-known industrial companies (Georg Fischer) in piping systems, machine tools and automotives, one internationally-reputed watches manufacturer (IWC), and drug industry (Cilag, founded by Bernhard Joos).
Obwalden
Obwalden is a canton of Switzerland. It is in the centre of Switzerland. As of 2004, 33,300 people lived there. Its capital is Sarnen.
Lakes in the canton include: parts of Lake Lucerne, Lake Sarnen, Lungerersee, Wichelsee, Tannensee and Melchsee.
There are seven municipalities: Sarnen, Kerns, Sachseln, Alpnach, Giswil, Lungern and Engelberg.
Canton of Jura
The canton of Jura is one of the Cantons of Switzerland. It is the newest of the 26 Swiss cantons (created in 1979) and is in the northwestern part of Switzerland. The capital is Delémont. It shares borders with the canton of Basel-Landschaft, the Canton of Bern, and the French département of Jura.
Canton Jura is in northwest Switzerland. It includes parts of the Jura mountains in the south and the Jura plateau in the north. The Jura plateau is hilly and almost entirely limestone.
To the north and the west of Jura is France. The canton of Solothurn and Basel-Landschaft are east of Jura, while the canton of Bern is south of Jura. The River Doubs and the river Birs drain the lands.
The king of Burgundy donated much of the land that today makes up Canton Jura to the Bishop of Basel in 999. The area was a sovereign state within the Holy Roman Empire for more than 800 years. After the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 the Jura had close ties with the Swiss Confederation. In the Congress of Vienna the Jura was given to the Canton Bern. This act caused dissension. The Jura was French-speaking and Roman Catholic, whereas the canton of Bern was mostly German-speaking and Protestant. The people of the Jura region called for independence. After a long struggle, a constitution was accepted in 1977. In 1978 the split was made official when the Swiss people voted in favour of it, and in 1979 the Jura joined the Swiss Confederation as a full member. However, the southern part of the Jura region, which is also predominantly French-speaking but has a Protestant majority, opted not to join the newly formed canton, and instead remained part of Bern. This area is now known as Bernese Jura. The word Jura, therefore, may refer either to Canton Jura, or to the combined territory of Canton Jura and Bernese Jura.
On creation, the canton adopted the title Republic and Canton of the Jura. Other cantons in Switzerland using the title "Republic and Canton" are Ticino, Canton Geneva, and Canton Neuchâtel. In each case the title asserts the autonomy of the canton and its nominal sovereignty within the Swiss Confederation.
Agriculture is important in Canton Jura. Cattle breeding is significant and there is also horse breeding. The main industries are watches, clothing and tobacco. There are a growing number of small and middle-sized businesses.
The people are almost fully French-speaking. The majority is Roman Catholic.
Jura is divided into 3 districts:
This is a list of the canton's 83 municipalities by district.
French Community
The French Community () was the body which replaced the French Union in 1958. Under the 1958 Constitution, member territories, former French colonies, had a lot of independence, but France controlled the currency, defence, foreign affairs and national security.
When the Community was established, French President de Gaulle said that any country in the French Community could move to complete independence. Apart from Guinea, which chose by referendum in 1958 not to join the Community, all French-ruled territories in sub-Saharan Africa joined the French Community. They obtained independence in 1960.
Usury
Usury is lending money for interest. Nowadays it usually means lending at a high, often extortionate rate of interest on a loan.
Usury is illegal in many parts of the world. In muslim countries charging any interest at all is strictly illegal.
Some people argue that this is against the Old Testament, especially Exodus and Deuteronomy which states that those who lend to someone in need will be blessed, but the point about usury is the high levels of interest, not the act of lending in itself.
Aristotle also condemned usury as "contrary to nature" in his book on Politics, because it increases by itself and makes money without labour.
John Bates
John Lewis Bates (September 18, 1859–June 8, 1946) was born in Massachusetts.
He was a Republican, and was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1894 to 1899; from 1897 to 1899 he was Speaker of the House. From 1900 to 1903 he was Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.
In 1902, Bates was elected Governor, holding office from 1903 to 1905. Bates then retired to his private law practice in Boston. From 1917 to 1919 Bates was a delegate to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention.
Bates was a member of the American Bar Association, the Freemasons, the Odd Fellows, and Beta Theta Pi.
Acoustic music
Acoustic music is music which is played by using acoustic musical instruments, i.e. instruments in which the sound is not made louder by electronic amplification. Before electronic musical instruments were created in the 20th century all instruments were acoustic.