Nidwalden

Canton of Nidwalden Kanton Nidwalden (German) Canton of Nidwald
Canton
Flag Coat of arms
Location in Switzerland Map of Nidwalden
Coordinates: 46°56′N 8°4′E / 46.933°N 8.067°E / 46.933; 8.067
Capital	Stans
Subdivisions	11 municipalities
Government
• Executive	Regierungsrat (7)
• Legislative	Landrat (60)
Area [1]
• Total	275.84 km2 (106.50 sq mi)
Population  (December 2020)[2]
• Total	43,520
• Density	160/km2 (410/sq mi)
GDP [3]
• Total	CHF 2.867 billion (2020)
• Per capita	CHF 66,209 (2020)
ISO 3166 code	CH-NW
Highest point	2,901 m (9,518 ft): Rotstöckli
Lowest point	434 m (1,424 ft): Lake Lucerne
Joined	1291
Languages	German
Website	www.nw.ch

Nidwalden or Nidwald (German: Kanton Nidwalden [ˈniːdˌvaldn̩] ^ⓘ; Romansh: Chantun Sutsilvania; French: Canton de Nidwald; Italian: Canton Nidvaldo) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven municipalities and the seat of the government and parliament is in Stans. It is traditionally considered a "half-canton", the other half being Obwalden.

Nidwalden lies in Central Switzerland. It borders the canton of Obwalden to the west, the cantons of Lucerne and Schwyz to the north, the canton of Uri to the east and the canton of Bern to the south. The canton is essentially in the Alps, south of Lake Lucerne.

It is one of the smallest cantons, the population is 40,287 (in 2007).^[4] The largest town is Stans, followed by Hergiswil and Buochs.

Together with Obwalden, Nidwalden was part of the forest canton of Unterwalden, one of the three participants in the foundation of the Old Swiss Confederacy, named in the Pact of Brunnen of 1315 with Uri and Schwyz. The division of Unterwalden into two separate territories, Obwalden and Nidwalden, appears to develop over the course of the 14th and 15th centuries.