Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Bern (canton)

BERN, or BERNE, a Swiss canton, bounded on the N. by France. It is the most populous, and next to the Grisons, the most extensive canton of Switzerland; its area being nearly 2,657 square miles, and its pop. about 683,000, The fertile valleys of the Aar and the Emmen divide the mountainous Alpine region in the S. from the Jura Mountains in the N. The Bernese Oberland, or Highlands, comprises the peaks of the Jungfrau, Mönch, Eiger, Schreckhorn, Finsteraarhorn, etc., and the valleys of Hasli, Lauterbrunnen, etc. The Lakes of Thun, Brienz, Neuchâtel, and Bienne are in the canton, which is watered by the Aar and its several tributaries. The climate is generally healthful. The plains of the Aar and the Emmen are the most fruitful, producing corn and fruits of various kinds, and affording excellent pasturage for cattle, which, with dairy produce, form the chief agricultural wealth of Bern. The vine grows in some districts. The horses of the Emmenthal are much prized. The lakes abound with salmon and trout. Iron mines are worked, and a little gold is found, and quarries of sandstone, granite, and marble are abundant. Its manufactures, which are not extensive, consist chiefly of linen, coarse woolens, leather, iron, and copper wares, articles of wood, and watches. Bern entered the Swiss Confederation, in which it now holds the second rank, in 1352. In the early part of the 19th century it received additions to its territory. The present constitution of the canton, proclaimed in 1874, but based on the laws of 1848, is one of representative democracy.