Although a major hydroelectricity producer, Valais is essentially renowned for its tourism industry and its numerous Alpine resort towns, notably Crans-Montana, Saas Fee, Verbier, and Zermatt.

After having resisted the Protestant Reformation and remained faithful to the Roman Catholic Church, it became a republic under the guidance of the prince-bishop of Sion in 1628.

The Vallis Poenina was conquered by the Romans after the Battle of Octodurus (now known as Martigny) in 57 BC and became part of the Gallo-Roman cultural sphere.

In 999, King Rudolph III of Burgundy gave all temporal rights and privileges to the Bishop of Sion, who was later styled praefect and count of Valais and is still a prince of the Holy Roman Empire.

The count-bishops then struggled to defend their area against the Zähringer and then the dukes of Savoy, so that the medieval history of Valais is inextricably linked with that of the diocese of Sion.

In 1354 the liberties of several of the seven Zenden (Sion, Sierre, Leuk, Raron, Visp, Brig and Conches) were confirmed by the Emperor Charles IV.

Supersaxo von der Fluhe (from Conches) as bishop in 1457, the German-speaking part of the valley finally attained supremacy.

[6] In the early 17th century, the aristocratic governors of the districts in the Upper Valais pressured the prince-bishop of Sion to abdicate secular power, which was achieved temporarily in 1613 and then permanently in 1634, when the country became the federal Republic of the Seven Tithings under the rule of a Landeshauptmann.

The department was occupied by Austrian troops in late 1813;[10] on 4 August 1815, Valais finally entered the Swiss Confederation as a canton.

The beginning of the modern history of Valais essentially coincides with the exploration of the High Alps, the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 marking the end of the golden age of alpinism.

Valais is also one of the three large southern cantons lying partially in the Po basin, therefore south of the Alps, along with Ticino and the Grisons.

Due to the high mountains surrounding the plains of the Rhône, the climate of central Valais is particularly dry, much drier than in the rest of Switzerland.

Other popular resorts are Verbier, Les Marécottes, Champéry, Grimentz, Zinal, Anzère, Crans-Montana, Evolène, Leukerbad and Fiesch.

The language border crosses the Rhône between the towns of Sierre and Salgesch and follows the mountain ridge including Bella Tola, Weisshorn, and Dent Blanche.

This form of agriculture is often irrigated through the use of small open-air wooden canals, called bisses in French and Suonen in German, that transport water from the glaciers above.

Vineyards are grown on terraces, typically on the south-facing slopes overlooking the Rhône Valley, where they have become an integral part of the landscape.

[citation needed] The canton is nowadays a year-round destination, renowned for its wild landscapes and numerous tourist facilities.

Valais counts more than 120 winter and summer destinations, including: The Matterhorn near Zermatt is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the Swiss mountains, as is its sister valley immediately east Saas Fee.

Other parts of the mountains of the canton further west are popular as well,[citation needed] such as the more French-speaking resorts near Verbier and the Evolene and Arolla region.

[citation needed] The only natural low-elevation access to Valais is via the banks of Lake Geneva, which have several railways and highways leading towards Martigny, Sion, and the rest of the canton.

On the south side of Lake Geneva, from the French border, is only a highway and the historical Tonkin Railway, now operating in Valais only.

The main road passes are the Grimsel (towards the canton of Bern and the Swiss Plateau), the Furka (Uri), the Nufenen (Ticino), the Simplon and the Great St. Bernard (Italy), and the Forclaz and the Morgins (France).

Also notable are the historical and pedestrian passes of the Sanetsch, Rawil, Gemmi, and the Lötschberg, connecting Valais with the Swiss Plateau, through the Bernese Oberland.

It connects directly Brig to the Swiss Plateau across the Bernese Alps, via Spiez in the canton of Bern, through the high-elevation Lötschberg Tunnel.

In 2007, the importance of that axis was further increased with the opening of the low-elevation Lötschberg Base Tunnel, the first high-speed railway connecting Valais to Bern, following essentially the same route, but at the level of the plains.

This is a metre-gauge railway owned by the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, which ultimately leads to Disentis and Chur, from Zermatt via Visp and Brig.

The Glacier Express directly connects Zermatt with St. Moritz, using both Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn and Rhaetian Railway network.

All inhabited side valleys are accessible to motorized transport since the 1960s; the high-elevation reservoirs built during those years, notably the Grande Dixence, necessitating paved roads as well.

As in most other cantons, localities are essentially served by PostBus Switzerland, which also operates numerous tourist lines on the Alpine passes and to the high-elevation lakes.

Contemporary religious architecture has also given rise to interesting buildings, such as the works of the Genevan architect Jean-Marie Ellenberger (1913-1988) in Sierre (Sainte-Croix church) or Verbier.