The basis is article 17 of the Neuchâtel citizenship act, which takes over the material requirements of federal law, among them the "connaissances élémentaires des particularités géographiques, historiques, politiques et sociales de la Suisse". How they are checked, the canton sets out on its page "Préparation à la naturalisation": all candidates, in the ordinary as in the facilitated procedure, are questioned orally about their knowledge of Switzerland at the interview with the Service de la cohésion multiculturelle (COSM). There are 16 questions, four per theme (geography, history, politics, society), at least one per theme about Canton Neuchâtel. You pass with at least 10 correct answers; partial answers count as wrong. The COSM carries out the "enquête d'intégration" under an agreement with the Service cantonal de la population (art. 12 RLDCN); for the second generation it may be simplified.
The canton publishes the pool the questions are drawn from and states that it contains "l'intégralité des questions qui peuvent être posées durant l'entretien": as a PDF without answers and one with answers, currently the June 2026 edition, on the same page. Anyone in the ordinary procedure who can show at least five years of compulsory school in Switzerland or an upper-secondary qualification obtained in Switzerland is exempt from the questions. The same goes for attending the course "Vivre en Suisse et à Neuchâtel: connaissances civiques pour les candidates et candidats à la naturalisation", which the COSM offers and for which you register with a form on the cantonal page; in the facilitated procedure these exemptions do not apply. The course ends with an exam you must pass to receive the attestation; if you fail, you can sit it a second time or take the knowledge test at the COSM interview. Already for registration you must show French at A2 written and B1 spoken.
The test is part of an enquiry that goes beyond knowledge. The COSM checks for the Service cantonal de la population whether you meet the integration criteria: respect for security and public order, respect for constitutional values, French at B1 spoken and A2 written, participation in economic life or training, no social assistance in the last three years, support for your family's integration, familiarity with life in Switzerland with participation in social and cultural life and contacts with Swiss citizens, no threat to security. If the requirements are met, the file goes to the conseil communal of your commune, which decides within three months on the proposal of its naturalisation commission; if they are not, the Conseil d'État refuses the application on the proposal of the cantonal commission.
Our 50 questions on Canton Neuchâtel cover the cantonal part of those 16 questions: the Reformation of 1530 with Guillaume Farel, the principality under the King of Prussia from 1707, the double status as Swiss canton and Prussian principality from 1815 to 1848, the bloodless revolution of 1 March 1848 and the Treaty of Paris of 1857, Lake Neuchâtel as the largest lake entirely within Switzerland, the Chasseral, the watchmaking towns of La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle on the UNESCO list since 2009, Le Corbusier, Piaget and Agassiz, the Grand Conseil with 100 and the Conseil d'État with 5 members, the 24 communes without districts, the vote for foreign residents, absinthe, Oeil de Perdrix and the Fête des Vendanges. Add the federal part from the lessons on Swiss politics, history and geography and work through the COSM's official pool.