Canton Graubünden has a population of 187,800 (Switzerland as a whole approx. 7.3 million) and with a land area of 7,106 km2 is the largest canton in Switzerland (accounting for 17.2% of the total land area); it is also the canton with the lowest population density (approx. 26 people per km2). By comparison, Canton Zürich has 736 and Tyrol 53 people per km2. Chur, the cantonal capital, has a population of 32,400 and is one of the oldest settlements in Switzerland.
Other vital statistics
Graubünden is the only canton in Switzerland with three official languages, namely German, Romansh and Italian. In fact, this is the only Canton where Romansh is still a living language with five idioms spoken and written. Until just recently, all textbooks were published in seven versions; not just in German and Italian, but in all five written dialects of Romansh as well. These days, however, there is a move to the new standard "Rumantsch Grischun" as the language for education.
Language speakers
Today’s coat-of-arms dates back to a decision of the cantonal government made on 8 November 1932 and ratified by the Federal Council in February 1933. Until that date, the official Graubünden coat-of-arms had been made up of the emblems of the three Bünde or leagues that in 1803 amalgamated to form the new Canton Graubünden:
The ibex – the heraldic beast of Graubünden
The ibex (which in Romansh is called a "capricorn") is just as central to Graubünden as is the water in our mountains lakes. And it is ubiquitous, too – featuring not only on the cantonal coat-of-arms, but on car licence plates, fountains and house walls, too, as well as in the names of countless hotels and restaurants. Not to mention all the ibex to be seen in the wild – especially in the remoter regions of the high Alps – and the laughing ibex that is now in the "graubünden" logo.
| 15 BC | Roman conquest and creation of the province of Raetia |
| 8th century A.D. | Raetia becomes part of the Carolingian empire |
| 1000 A.D. | Gradual Germanization of Curraetia |
| 13th century | Arrival of Valaisian settlers |
| 1352 | Feud of Werdenberg-Belmont |
| 1512 | Conquest of Veltlin |
| 1524 | Constitution of the Three Leagues |
| 1618-1639 | Turmoil caused by the Thirty Years' War |
| 1803 | Demise of the Free State and decision to join the Swiss Confederation |
| 1815 | Veltlin lost forever following the Congress of Vienna |
| 1830-1870 | Transit trade flourishes |
| 1854 | New constitution, division of the canton into regions, districts and communes |
| 1880 | Advent of tourism |
| 1926 | Admission of car traffic |
| 1938 | Recognition of Romansh as Switzerland's fourth official language |
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