Uri

Uri controls the Gotthard—the most strategic Alpine crossing—and leveraged this infrastructure chokepoint from medieval trade routes to the 2016 Gotthard Base Tunnel (world's longest at 57.1km). The December 2024 opening of the new cantonal railway station in Altdorf connects the founding canton to high-speed European rail. Andermatt's CHF 1.67 billion Sawiris investment has created 500+ jobs and 7.7% annual property appreciation since 2005. The canton offers Switzerland's lowest dividend taxation and flat-rate taxes, while Föhn winds enabled record wind power production in 2024. Uri demonstrates how infrastructure control translates to economic leverage across centuries.