See-Gaster

See-Gaster is a constituency (Wahlkreis) in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Wahlkreis (SFOS number 1726) has been established on June 10, 2001 with an area of 246.16 km² (95.04 sq mi).

It was formed from the former See and Gaster districts in 2001.

History

The name Gaster is from Latin castrum "castle"; a it is first recorded in 1230. The Gaster districts corresponded to the historical county of Windegg. The See district corresponded to the historical counties of Rapperswil and Uznach.

In the medieval period, the area was owned by the counts of Lenzburg, from 1172 by Kyburg, from 1269 by Habsburg, from 1406 by Toggenburg and from 1436 again briefly by Habsburg, until 1438 when duke Frederick gave it to Schwyz and Glarus as a condominium. Schänis was administrative center and site of the Landsgemeinde of Gaster. Rapperswil was ruled by its own counts until its destruction in 1350, after which it fell under Habsburg rule, until it became a protectorate of the Swiss Confederacy in 1464. In 1798, Gaster became a district of the canton of Linth in the Helvetic Republic, and was inherited by the canton of St. Gallen in 1803. The historical county of Uznach was separated from Gaster in 1831 to form the See district, until the reunification of the two districts in 2001.

Gaster (insect anatomy)

The gaster is the bulbous posterior portion of the metasoma found in hymenopterans of the suborder Apocrita (bees, wasps and ants). This begins with abdominal segment III on most ants, but some make a postpetiole out of segment III, in which case the gaster begins with abdominal segment IV.

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