Glarus Canton is located in the basin of the Linth River, a
mountainous and pastoral region with forests and meadows in the valleys. It lies
between the Walensee to the north and the Glarus Alps in the south.
The area was sparely settled by the Romans after 15 BC, Glarus was
permanently occupied in 500 AD by the Alemanni. Glarus joined the Swiss
Confederation in 1352. Zwingli was a parish priest in the town from 1506 to
1516.
Canton Glarus is one of the oldest cantons or provinces in Switzerland and
still keeps up the original form of democracy with its 'Landsgemeinde', this is
when all the citizens who are entitled to vote gather in the main town of Glarus
on the first Sunday in May to discuss and decide on laws and tasks that are to
be undertaken by the Canton’s government.