NEUFCHATEL', or NEUCHATEL, known also as :ffevetiburg, a canton in the w. of Switzerland, between lake Neufchatel and the French frontier. Area, 310 sq. miles. Pop. '70, 97,284; '78, about 103,850. Above 17,000 families speak French, and 2,700 German. Neufchatel lies in the midst of the .Tura mountains four chains of which, run ning from n.e. to s.w., traverse the canton, and are separated by elevated longitudinal valleys. The most easterly of these is a broken chain, running parallel to the lake of Neufchatel. on whose banks, and on the second and lower ranges beyond it, the vine is carefully cultivated. This second chain has five principal passes, the highest of which, La Tourne, has an elevation of about 4,000 feet. The third and fourth ranges, abutting on France, consist for the most part of barren hills, separated by elevated valleys; but here and there these high lands are well wooded and fruitful, prodr corn, good pas ture, fruits, etc. The greater number of the numerous streams which water the canton flow into the Rhine. Among these mountain torrents the principal are the Reuse, the Seyon, and the Serriere, the two former of which, together with the rivers Orbe and Broie, are the feeders of the lake of Neufchatel, known also as the lake of Yverdun. The Thiele serves as its outlet, and carries its waters into the neighboring lake of Bienne, and into the river Aar. The lake is 25 m. long and from 3 to 5i in, wale. Its level above the sea is 1420 ft., and it has a depth of 900 or 500 feet.
The natural products are iron ores, coal, asphalt. fruit, including grapes—from which good red and white wines are made—timber and corn, although the latter is not grown in sufficient quantity for the demands of the home consumption. The rearing of cattle constitutes an important branch of 'ndustry, and large quantities of cheese are exported; but the specialty of the canton is watch-making, which occupies from 18,000 to 20,000 persons, and is prosecuted in detail at the hones of the wOrk-people, in the rural districts, where some families manufacture only special parts of the machinery, while others are engaged solely in puffin.. together the separate portions that. have been manufactured by
others; and time watches thus prepared are exported in large quantities to every part of Europe and America. Muslin-printing employs upwards of 10,000 persons, and lace is extensively made by the country-women of the Val the Travers.
The climate of Neufchatel varies greatly with the locality; being temperate on the shores of the lake, cooler in the valleys, and severe on the mountain-sides. The popula tion, with the exception of between 9,000 and 10,000 GathOlies, belongs 'to 'various Prot. estant denominations.
The history of Neufchatel was identical with that of Burgundy till the 11th c. ; and after the principality had been for a time incorporated with the terAtories of the counts of Chalons, to whom it had been granted in 1288 by Rudolph of Hapsburg, it passed to the house of Longueville. In 1707, on the extinction of the Neufchatel branch of the latter family, 15 claimants came forward to advance more or less valid pretensions to the Neuf chatel territory. Frederick I. of Prussia, who based his claim to the principality of Neufchatel on the ground of his descent from the first prince of Orange, a descendant of the house of Chalons. was the successful candidate; and from his time it continued asso ciated with Prussia till 1806, when Napoleon bestowed it upon gen. Berthier; but in 1814 it was restored to the house of Brandenburg. This connection with the Prussian mon archy has been wholly dissolved since 1857, and Neufchatel is now a member of the Swiss confederation.