Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the south-western part of the country, in the Pennine Alps around the valley of the Rhone.
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To the south of the canton of
Valais lies
Italy, to the southwest
France. To the north the canton is bounded by the Swiss cantons of
Vaud and
Bern; the cantons of
Uri and
Ticino lie to its east.
The wide, glacial
Rhone Valley dominates the area; there are many side valleys which branch off the main valley. At the head of the
Mattertal Valley lies
Zermatt, a pretty tourist village dominated by views of the
Matterhorn (4,477 m), which is is one of the biggest touristic attractions in the Swiss mountains.
Apart from tourism, agriculture is still important, particularly cattle breeding in the mountains and dairy farming in the plains. The vine industry of the canton is the largest in
Switzerland. There are also a large number of orchards in the area.
The European Graduate School, focusing primarily on media and communications, is located in the canton of
Valais.
The world's tallest gravity dam is located at
Grande Dixence in the canton. Hydroelectric power plants from the canton produce about a quarter of the Swiss electricity.
Near
Visp there is a large plant of aluminium manufacturing, other metal products and chemicals are produced around
Visp and
Sierre; there is also an oil refinery in the canton.
