A canton is a territorial division or state of Switzerland, having its own laws and a local government which deals with domestic affairs such as taxation and the expenditure of public money.
Canton is the English name of Kwangchow in China, a large and important city some 80 miles from the sea, on the Pearl River, in the province of Quang-tung (of which name Canton is a corruption). Canton was the chief foreign emporium in China until 1850, when Shanghai began to surpass and other ports to compete. In 1856 the foreign factories were pillaged and destroyed by the Chinese, and about a year after this Canton was taken by an English force, and occupied by an English and French garrison until 1861.
Abbreviations
Gazetteer
Research Canton
