24 practice questions with answers and explanations on the authorities, history, geography and culture of Aargau. The app has all 743 questions on Aargau and Switzerland.
Aargau publishes an official question bank. Our questions are written by us and complement it. You can find the official question bank on the canton page under “Official documents”.
Tap an answer to see if it is right. Under “Show answer” you find the solution with an explanation and the source.
Correct answer: B – Grosser Rat (Grand Council)
The parliament of the canton of Aargau is called the Grosser Rat. It is the legislative and supreme supervisory authority of the canton. The Regierungsrat, by contrast, is the government.
Source: gemeinden-ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: B – 140
The Grand Council has 140 members (as of 2026). It used to have 200, but in 2003 the people approved an initiative reducing it to 140 seats. The seats are distributed among the eleven districts according to population.
Source: ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: D – every 4 years
The Grand Council is elected by the people every four years. Swiss citizens aged 18 and over living in the canton may vote. The last general election took place in October 2024.
Source: gemeinden-ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: B – 5
The Aargau Regierungsrat has five members. Each member heads one of the five departments of the cantonal administration, plus the State Chancellery.
Source: gemeinden-ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: B – the voters of Aargau
The five members of the Regierungsrat are elected directly by the people of Aargau, not by the Grand Council. At federal level it is different: the Federal Council is elected by the Federal Assembly.
Source: gemeinden-ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: C – 1803
Through Napoleon Bonaparte's Act of Mediation, the canton of Aargau was created in 1803 within its present borders. 19 March 1803 is regarded as the canton's birthday. Since then Aargau has been an independent canton of the Confederation.
Source: gemeinden-ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: B – Napoleon Bonaparte
After the failure of the Helvetic Republic, Napoleon Bonaparte issued the Act of Mediation in 1803, uniting the Bernese Aargau with the cantons of Baden and Fricktal. This created Aargau's present borders.
Source: ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: A – Bernese Aargau, County of Baden, Fricktal and Freie Ämter
The new canton united four very different areas: the Protestant Bernese Aargau and the Catholic County of Baden, Fricktal and Freie Ämter. Initially the inhabitants had little in common, so the young canton first had to grow together.
Source: ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: D – Philipp Albert Stapfer
Philipp Albert Stapfer, a citizen of Brugg, played an important role behind the scenes in founding the canton. He lobbied in Paris for an independent canton of Aargau. Stapfer had previously been a minister of the Helvetic Republic.
Source: ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: D – Aarau
On 12 April 1798 the Helvetic Republic was proclaimed in Aarau, which was thus briefly the capital of Switzerland until the seat of government moved to Lucerne in autumn 1798.
Source: ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: C – Aarau
Aarau is the capital of the canton of Aargau. The government building and the seat of the Grand Council are located here. Baden is well known but is not the capital.
Source: gemeinden-ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: A – North-western Switzerland
Together with Solothurn, Basel-Landschaft and Basel-Stadt, Aargau forms North-western Switzerland. It lies in the Central Plateau and the Jura. Western Switzerland (Romandy) is French-speaking.
Source: gemeinden-ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: B – Lucerne
Aargau borders the cantons of Zurich, Zug, Lucerne, Bern, Solothurn and Basel-Landschaft. Thurgau, Fribourg and Glarus are not neighbours. To the north, the Rhine forms the border with Germany.
Source: gemeinden-ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: C – the Rhine
To the north the Rhine separates Aargau from Germany. Towns such as Rheinfelden, Laufenburg and Kaiserstuhl lie on its banks. The canton's lowest point is also on the Rhine.
Source: als-aargauer-unterwegs.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: D – Aare, Reuss and Limmat
At the 'Wasserschloss' near Brugg, the Aare from Bern, the Reuss from Lucerne and Zug and the Limmat from Zurich meet. This river landscape is of national importance. Shortly afterwards the Aare flows into the Rhine.
Source: ao.aargautourismus.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: C – with kindergarten
In Aargau kindergarten is part of compulsory schooling. It is followed by primary school and lower secondary school. Playgroup is voluntary.
Source: gemeinden-ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: C – the school management
Every public school in Aargau is run on a day-to-day basis by a school management. Since 2022 there have been no school boards (Schulpflegen); strategic leadership of the school lies with the municipal council. Parents can take part but do not run the school.
Source: gemeinden-ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: D – Aargauer Zeitung
The 'Aargauer Zeitung' is the canton's most important daily newspaper. It was created in 1996 by the merger of the 'Aargauer Tagblatt' and the 'Badener Tagblatt'. Local papers and online media report on politics and events in the canton and municipalities, which helps people prepare for votes.
Source: gemeinden-ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: B – the district
Taxes are paid to the Confederation, the canton and the municipality. Districts are administrative and electoral units but levy no taxes. The amount of municipal tax depends on the tax rate of the municipality of residence.
Source: gemeinden-ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: C – the machinery and electrical industry
Aargau is an important industrial canton; the machinery and electrical industry is particularly significant. An example is Brown, Boveri & Cie. (today ABB), founded in Baden in 1891. The watch industry, by contrast, is mainly at home in the Jura.
Source: gemeinden-ag.ch · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: C – Beznau
The Beznau (Döttingen) and Leibstadt nuclear power plants are in Aargau. Gösgen is in the canton of Solothurn; Mühleberg in Bern was shut down in 2019. The Kaiseraugst plant was never built after strong opposition.
Source: de.wikipedia.org · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: B – Baden
Charles Brown and Walter Boveri founded BBC in Baden in 1891, making Baden an important industrial town. In 1988 BBC merged with the Swedish company ASEA to form ABB.
Source: de.wikipedia.org · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: A – Maienzug
The Maienzug is Aarau's youth festival, more than 400 years old. It takes place in early July at the end of the school year; girls wear white dresses and flower wreaths. Sechseläuten and Knabenschiessen are Zurich customs, the Zibelemärit a Bernese one.
Source: de.wikipedia.org · Checked October 2026
Correct answer: A – a large festival in Baden held only every few years
The Badenfahrt is Aargau's largest festival and one of the largest in Switzerland. It traditionally takes place in Baden about every ten years, most recently in 2017 and – for its 100th anniversary – in 2023. Around a million visitors come over ten days each time.
Source: de.wikipedia.org · Checked October 2026
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