GRISONS, gre-zOn' (German„ Graubiinden or Biinden), the largest canton of Switzerland; 90 miles east and west, with a total area of 2,753 square miles. It is a mountainous coun try, more than 20 Alpine peaks being above 9,000 feet. The population in 1910 was 118,246. The valleys are generally narrow, Upper and Lower Engadine are the broadest. The famous Saint Gotthard tunnel crosses the Alps at the western end of Grisons. It is the home of many famous glaciers, as Todi, Medels, Riiinewald, Bernina, Albula and Silvretta, all lying at elevations above 10,000 feet. The sources of the river Rhine are here, with the valleys of the Upper Rhine, the Middle Rhine and the Hinter Rhine. The famous Inn River also rises in Grisons, flowing northeasterly to the Black Sea. While the Rhine and its trib utaries flow northward, some smaller streams drain into the Adriatic. The scenery is of un surpassed grandeur. Roadways for vehicles have been built through many mountain passes, as San Bernardino, Lukmanier, Sphigen, Septi mer, Oberalp, etc., all at over 6,000 feet eleva
tion. Among the noted mineral springs fre quented visitors are San Bernadino, Saint Moritz, Schulz, Fideris and Le Prese. The territory was formerly known as the canton of Raetia, but by the Napoleonic Act of Mediation in 1803 it became the canton of Grisons in the Swiss confederation. There are a large number of small lakes. Snow rests on the mountains until the last of May and some times into late July, but the climate of the valleys is warm or temperate nearly all the year. .Agriculture in the valleys and the raising of cattle and sheep on the mountain sides are the chief occupations. Consult Andrea, Burgell' (1901) ; Heierli, 'Urgeschichte Grau bundens mit Anschluss der Romerzeit' (1903). See SWITZERLAND.