VALAIS, a canton of south Switzerland. The region is the old Vallis Poenina (Upper Rhone valley). The former spelling, "Vallais," was officially replaced (early 19th century) by "Valais." The modern canton includes the entire basin above St. Maurice, but below this point it consists of the western part only; its lower limits are in the Lake of Geneva. The total area is 2,020.7 sq.m. (exceeded only by the Grisons and Berne), of which, however, only 55.9% is reckoned as "productive"; forests cover 282.6 sq.m. and vineyards 12.2 sq. miles. Its unproductive area includes the most considerable stretch of glaciers in Switzerland (c. 375 sq.m.), together with about 5 sq.m. of lakes. Poor as the canton is, it would be poorer were it not for its excellent wines—the area under vineyards is second only to Vaud (q.v.) and is increasing—and for its well organized tourist traffic. Hotels have been built in nearly every tributary glen, and on the majority of the high pastures. The striking beauty of the scenery of its high glens, and the accessibility (see below) of the most characteristic features, have made the canton unusually popular, chiefly with summer visitors. The Upper Rhone occupies a north-east to south-west gorge-like trench from Gletsch to Brig ; below this the valley widens and runs east to west to Leuk; onwards it resumes its original course, ever widening until Martigny is reached, where the remarkably sharp bend carries the feature to the north-west; between St. Maurice and the lake is the only low land in the canton. The lowest commune is St. Gingolph (1,266 ft. alt.). The loftiest point is the Dufourspitze summit (15,217 ft.) of Monte Rosa, but the highest mountain wholly within the canton is the Dom (14,942 ft.). (See SWITZERLAND: Relief.) The chief railway line (about 75 m.) through the canton is from St. Gingolph, on the Lake of Geneva, to Brig, at the north mouth of the Simplon tunnel (1895-1905-121 m. long) ; from St. Maurice onwards it forms part of the main through line from Lausanne towards Milan. There are also several mountain rail ways, e.g., from Visp up to Zermatt (thence a branch up to the Gornergrat), from Vernayaz (near Martigny) past Salvan towards Chamonix, and from Leuk to Leukerbad, near the Gemmi pass and noted for its mineral springs. A new tunnel (1906-12) be
neath the Lotschen pass, connects Kandersteg, in the Bernese Oberland, with Brig, thus opening up a new direct route from Paris to Italy, via Berne. The lofty alpine barriers of Valais are, as a rule, accessible only by footpaths or mule paths, but there are excellent roads over the Great St. Bernard pass (8,111 ft.) and the Simplon pass (6,590 ft.) to Italy, while at the head of the Rhone valley other excellently engineered roads give access to Uri over the Furka pass (7,992 ft.) and to Berne over the Grimsel pass (7,159 ft.).
In general, the boundaries of the canton run along the summit ridges of the surrounding mountains, but from an early date it has held a valuable part of the southern slope of the Simplon pass to below Gondo, as well as the rich Alpine pastures on the northern slopes between the Gemmi pass (7,641 ft.) and Schwarenbach.
The total population by the census of December 1, 1930 was and of these 88,498 were French-speaking, 44,275 were German-speaking and 3,269 were Italian-speaking; the most marked change during the 2oth century being a decrease in the last total. The linguistic frontier has shown much oscillation; at present the inhabitants above Leuk generally speak a dialect of German, while below Leuk a Savoyard patois (French dialect) is the prevailing tongue. In general, the history of Valais (from 1810 to 1814 the French department of the Simplon) is a struggle between French and German elements. It is one of the last three admissions to the Confederation. In 1930 there were 130,801 Catholics, 4,662 Protestants and 48 Jews.