Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Appenzell Ausserrhoden, called Appenzell Outer Rhodes in English, is one of the 26 cantons that form the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of twenty municipalities. The seat of its government and parliament is Herisau, while the judicial authorities sit in Trogen. It is traditionally considered a half-canton, the other half being Appenzell Innerrhoden. The canton lies in the northeast of Switzerland and, together with Appenzell Innerrhoden, forms an enclave within the canton of St. Gallen, in the Alpine foothills of the Alpstein massif that culminates at the Santis. It was part of the historical canton of Appenzell until 1597, when the Swiss Reformation divided it into the Protestant Appenzell Ausserrhoden and the Catholic Appenzell Innerrhoden. Settlement began in the seventh and eighth centuries along the river Glatt, Herisau is first mentioned in 907, and the canton is named first in 1071.