Exactly 40 years ago, on September 24, 1978, Swiss voters gave the go-ahead for the creation of the new canton of Jura, which seceded from canton Bern after several years of strife.
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La naissance agitée du dernier canton suisse
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An emphatic majority of Swiss voters, some 82.3%, came out in favour of the new canton, leaving the path clear for the districts of Délemont, Porrentruy, and Franches-Montagnes to break from Bern and form their own canton – Switzerland’s 26th.
The Jura region had been given to canton Bern following the 1815 Congress of Vienna, after passing through the hands of the bishop of Basel and – during the Revolution and Napoleonic Empire – France.
The integration of the region’s french-speaking and Catholic minority into mainly German-speaking and Protestant Bern proved problematic, however, and tensions escalated notably in the 1960s, before being peacefully settled at the ballot box.
That’s not to say the story is over: just last year, Moutier, a French-speaking town in western canton Bern, voted by a tiny majority to secede to the young canton Jura. The results have since been challenged, however, and the question yet to be sealed.
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Accusations of fraud frame final Jura votes
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Two small Bernese municipalities are deciding whether to join the canton of Jura amid voter fraud accusations after the last such vote.
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Sorvilier and Belprahon, two small Bernese municipalities, have voted to remain in canton Bern rather than switch to neighbouring canton Jura.
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But time has softened the rebellious spirit of many of its citizens who succeeded in gaining national approval to redraw Switzerland’s political boundaries and create the country’s 26th canton. On September 24, 1978 Swiss voters paved the way for the creation of canton Jura, finally giving recognition to the region that had long seen itself…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.