The smallest in area of the
cantons of
Switzerland and the one with the coolest name.
(I'm sure a survey would back me up on this, though Uri and Aargau would garner a few votes too.) Looking at the map, my guess is it's about one and a half times the size of
Liechtenstein.
It has a population of somewhat under 100 000, of which the main town, also called Zug, has perhaps two-thirds. Other towns are Baar and Cham. I love Swiss names. It is south of Zurich, and north-east of Lucerne, and a large part of it is occupied by the Lake of Zug (Zugersee), which cethiesus has already noded primarily for its cool name. There is another lake in it called the Ägerisee. The highest peak is, you can probably do this by yourselves now, the Zugerberg (1039 m). (I don't usually use "cool" like this, but with a name like Zug... I'm planning on doing King Zog of Albania some time.)
It joined the Confederation in 1352, having revolted from Habsburg rule. The official name from 1604 to 1814 was Stadt und Amt Zug.
The flag (and arms) of Zug is a horizontal tricolor of white, blue, white.
It is divided into two regions, called Bergregion and Talregion (mountain region and valley region). The basic unit of Swiss local government is the commune. The communes in Bergregion are Menzingen, Neuheim, Oberägeri, and Unterägeri. The communes in Talregion are Baar, Cham, Hünenberg, Risch, Steinhausen, Walchwil, and Zug Stadt.
Zug has been called the Riviera of Switzerland. By the Zug tourism agency. Well they would say that, wouldn't they.
The tiny, peaceful
canton of Zug came to world headlines on 27 September 2001, with the
massacre of fourteen members of the cantonal legislature by a madman, 57-year-old
Friedrich Leibacher. He was known to the police as unstable and had served time for molesting children and forging documents in 1970. A trivial row with a bus conductor, building up to what he thought was a
conspiracy against him by a Zug "mafia", led him to enter the Zug parliament and mow down three councillors of state and eleven deputies.
Switzerland entered a state of deep mourning at this unbelievably violent tragedy.