Vaud

Canton in southwest Switzerland; area 3,211 sq km/1,240 sq mi; population (1999 est) 616,300. It is roughly triangular in shape, with its base formed by the northern shore of Lake Geneva, and is traversed by the Jura Mountains, which run southwest–northeast. Tourism is the most important industry, but Vaud is also Switzerland's premier vine-growing region. Wine, chocolate, tobacco, clocks, and milk products are among its principal manufactures. The capital of the canton is Lausanne.

Vaud was ruled successively by the Romans, the French, the emperors of Germany, the dukes of Zähringen, and the House of Savoy. It did not become an independent canton until 1798, and entered the Swiss Confederation in 1803. Salt is mined in the district of Bex. Vaud is mainly French-speaking and Protestant, and was one the first two cantons to adopt female suffrage in a plebiscite in 1959.