Obwalden lies entirely in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. German is the official language of the canton and the main language of over 90 percent of the population of Obwalden. The colloquial language is Obwaldnerdeutsch, a Swiss dialect. This dialect can again vary greatly depending on the municipality.

The canton of Obwalden is predominantly Catholic. In 2020, around 68 percent of the people of Obwalden stated that they were Religious affiliation Roman Catholic denomination. Around 8 percent were Protestant Reformed or belonged to other denominations. The proportion of non-denominational persons was 17 percent in 2020.

At the cantonal level, the political system has the same structures as at the federal level.
Again, the distinction in:
Legislature (legislative power): Cantonal Council
Executive (executive power): Government Council
Judiciary (judicial power): Cantonal Court



The Cantonal Council has 55 members. The seats are distributed among the municipalities according to the resident population, whereby each municipality is entitled to at least four representatives.

The Government Council of the Canton of Obwalden has 5 members. It is the highest executive authority of the canton and directs, plans and coordinates the state activities.

The most important parties in the cantonal council are the Swiss People's Party (SVP), the Center, the Liberals (FDP), the Christian Social Party Obwalden (CSP OW) and the Social Democratic Party Obwalden (SP).

• Services and tourism
  • Cantonal Hospital Obwalden
  • Obwalden Tourism
  • Mountain railroads Engelberg Titlis
• Industry and trade
  • Maxon Motor AG (micromotors)
  • Leister Process Technologies (Electrical appliances and high-tech medicine)
  • Bio-familia AG (Food / Muesli)
• Agriculture and forestry
  • consists to a large extent of family businesses