The
canton of Uri (German: Kanton ) is one of the 26
cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the
Swiss Confederation. It is located in
Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the
Reuss between the
St. Gotthard Pass and
Lake Lucerne. The official language of Uri is (the Swiss variety of Standard)
German, but the main spoken language is the
Alemannic Swiss German dialect called Urner German. Uri was the only canton where the children in school had to learn Italian as their first foreign language. But in the school year of 2005/2006 this was changed to English as in most other cantons. The population is about 35,000 of which 3,046 (or 8.7%) are foreigners. The legendary
William Tell is said to have hailed from Uri. The historical landmark
Rütli lies within the canton of Uri.