GRISONS, (Ger. Graublinden). The largest, the most eastern, and the most thinly inhabited of the cantons of Switzerland. It is bounded on the north by the cantons of Glarus and Saint Gall, and by Liechtenstein and Vorarl berg; on the east by Tyrol; on the south by Lom bardy; and on the west by the cantons of Ticino and Uri (Map: Switzerland, D 2). Its area is 2770 square miles. The surface of the canton is broken by mountains. The Glarner Alps border on the northwest, and the Bernina on the south east. The Leopontine Alps enter from the west, the Adula group being in the southwestern part of the canton. In the east is the Rhaetian range. There are two large valley districts, of which the first and most important lies along the course of the Hither Rhine, and occupies the northwest ern portion of the canton; and the second, that of the Inn, forming the Engadine (q.v.), extends through the southeastern and eastern parts. In the southern or southeastern sections are the val leys belonging to the basins of the Ticino, Adda, and the Adige. The lakes are small. The cli mate is quite varied. In some districts winter reigns for nearly eight months, while the climate in the southern valleys is like that of the northern border of Italy. The upper valleys, particularly the Engadine and Davos, attract invalids from all the civilized world. Among the many famous 'air-cure' resorts are Davos-Platz and Saint Mo ritz.
About 55 per cent. of the canton is productive. In the colder districts crops of barley and rye are raised with difficulty. In the southern val leys, however, wheat, corn, the vine, fig, and almond are successfully cultivated. Pastures and forests occupy a large portion of the coun try. Cattle, skins, timber, and cheese are the principal exports. The rivers abound in salmon and trout, and in the mountains are deer. cham ois, bears, and other game. The mineral deposits are nearly exhausted. Rare varieties of marble are quarried, and there are numerous mineral springs. The manufacturing industries are unimportant, and are confined chiefly to the production of cotton goods, leather, and beer. The railway mileage is small, but there are many good roads in every part of the canton. The legislative power is in the hands of the Grosser Rat (Great Council), consisting of members elected at the rate of one for every 1300 inhabitants. The executive power is vested in a council of five elected members. The obligatory and facultative referendum and the initiative are in force. The Constitution of the canton dates from 1892. There are fourteen administrative districts. The cantonal finances are on a safe and self-adjusting basis, owing to the rather unique fact that the land tax must each year cover any deficit. Population, in 1888, 94,810;
in 1900, 104,510, about equally divided between Protestants and Catholics. German is spoken by about half of the population, and about one third speak Rhxto-Romanic (Rumansh). The emigration is very light. The higher educational institutions include a 'real' school, a gymna sium, a technical and a commercial school, and a priests' seminary. The capital and chief town is Chur (q.v.).
The canton constituted a part of the ancient Rluetia, which was subdued by the Romans in the reign of Augustus. From the Goths, who overran the country about A.D. 490, it passed into the power of the Frankish kings, and by the Treaty of Verdun (843) was included in the portion of Louis the German, forming a part of the Duchy of Alemannia. During the early Middle Ages the peasantry suffered cruelly from the oppression of their feudal nobles, whose perpetual strife often brought devastation upon the country. With the rise of free towns some attempt was made to check the feudal anarchy by associations of burghers, acting in alliance with the great ecclesiastical lords, chief of whom was the Bishop of Chur, or Coire. In 1367 the league known as the Gotteshausbund was estab lished, and in 1395 the Upper or Gray League (German Grauer Buad) was organized. A third league, the Zehngerichtenbund (League of the Ten Jurisdictions), was formed in 1436, out of the possessions of the House of Toggenburg. About the middle of the fifteenth century these leagues formed a loose federal union, and be tween 1497 and 1567 all three had entered into alliance with the Swiss Confederation. In the early part of the sixteenth century the inhab itants of Grisons succeeded in conquering Bormio, Chiavenna, and the Valtellina, in Northern Italy. The Reformation early made its way into Grisons. The bulk of the inhabitants included in the Gray League, however, adhered to the Catholic Church, and religious strifes long distracted the region. The claims of Austria to certain territories were bought off in 1652. From that time to the end nearly of the eighteenth century the history of the country is one of petty strife between fac tions. In 1797 its Italian possessions were an nexed to the Cisalpine Republic, and during the next two years it was the battlefield of the Russians, the Austrians, and the French. In 1803 it was constituted by Napoleon a member of the Swiss Confederation. Its history during the nineteenth century was principally one of constitutional reform, marked by progress in the direction of a closely centralized form of government.