BERNE, the largest of the Swiss cantons, after Grisons. It ex tends from beyond the Jura to the snow-clad ranges over against the Valais. Area, 2,657 sq.m., of which over loo sq.m. are occupied by glaciers. It is mainly watered by the river Aar (q.v.), with its affluents, the Saane (left) and the Emme (right) ; the Aar forms the two lakes of Brienz and Thun (q.v.). Three divisions are usually distinguished : The Oberland or highlands, which in cludes the snowy Alps culminating in the Finsteraarhorn, 54,026 ft., and the Jungfrau, 13,669f t., as well as the famous summer re sorts of Grindelwald, Miirren, Interlaken, Meiringen, Kandersteg, Thun and the fine pastoral valley of the Simme. (2) The Mittel land or midlands, comprising the valley of the Aar below Thun, that of the Emme, the outliers of the high Alps and the open country around the town of Berne. (3) The Seeland (lakeland) and the Jura, extending from Bienne across the Jura to Porren truy, in the extreme north-west of Switzerland. The Oberland and Mittelland form the "old" canton, the Jura having been acquired only in 1815, and differing from the rest of the canton in being French-speaking and Roman Catholic. The population, mainly German-speaking Protestants, numbered 688,774 in the 1930 census. The capital is Berne (q.v.), while the other important towns are Bienne, Burgdorf, Delsberg (Delemont), Porrentruy, Thun and Langenthal (q.v.). The canton is divided into 3o ad ministrative districts, and contains 507 communes. The existing constitution dates from 1893, but in 1906 the direct popular elec tion of the executive of nine members (hitherto named by the legislature) was introduced. The legislature or grossrat is elected for four years (like the executive) . The obligatory referendum obtains in the case of all laws, and of decrees relating to an ex penditure of over half a million francs, while 12,000 citizens have the right of initiative in the case of legislative projects, and 15,000 may demand the revision of the cantonal constitution. The two members sent by the canton to the federal stdnderat (Council of States) are elected by the grossrat, while the 34 members sent, on the basis of the census of 1920, to the federal nationalrat (na tional council) are chosen by a popular vote.
In the Alpine portions of the canton the breeding of cattle is the chief industry ; next come the elaborate arrangements for sum mer travellers (the Fremdenindustrie). The cheese of the Emme valley is locally much esteemed. Other industries in the Alpine region are wood-carving (at Brienz) and wine manufacture (around Lakes Bienne and Thun). The Mittelland is mainly agri cultural. Watchmaking is the principal industry of the Jura, Bienne and St. Imier being the chief centres of this industry. Iron mines are also worked in the Jura, while the Heimberg potteries, near Thun, produce a locally famous ware, and there are quarries and tile factories.
The canton of Berne is composed of the various districts ac quired by the town of Berne (q.v.). The more important, with dates of acquisition, are the following: Laupen (13 24) ; Hash and Meiringen ; Thun and Burgdorf (1384) ; Unterseen and the Upper Simme valley (1386) ; Frutigen, etc. (1400) ; Lower Simme valley ; Interlaken, with Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen and Brienz (1528, on the suppression of the Austin Canons of Interlaken) ; Saanen or Gessenay (15 5 5) ; Koniz (1729), and the Bernese Jura with Bienne from the bishopric of Basle) . But certain regions previously won were lost in 1798: Aargau ; Aigle and Grandson 5) ; Vaud (1536) ; and the Pays d'En-Haut or Château d'Oex (1555). From 1798 to 1802 the Oberland formed a separate canton (capital, Thun) of the Hel vetic republic. From 1803 to 1814 the canton of Berne was one of the six "directorial" cantons of the confederation.