The small town of Glarus, population 5700, altitude 470m, nestles in the Linth Valley at the foot of the pyramid-shaped Vorderglärnish (2300 m). The name Glarus is thought to derive from the Romanic word “Claron”, meaning a light clearing in the land and points to a Romanic settlement. Glarus' claim to fame is that it is Switzerland’s smallest capital – the capital of Canton Glarus. The municipality covers an area of a little less than 7000 hectares, of which only about 3% is developed. Around one-third is agricultural land, one-quarter forest and the rest rocks and water. Glarus is about 10 km south of the A3 motorway that runs from Zurich to Chur and thus has good access to Switzerland’s major cities.
Glarus is one of the few cantons to still maintain its old traditional form of democracy.
See Landsgemeinde Glarus