In Germany and Switzerland, a Landeskirche (German: [ˈlandəsˌkɪʁçə] ; plural: Landeskirchen, German: [ˈlandəsˌkɪʁçn̩] ) is the church of a region. The term usually refers to Protestant churches, but—in case of Switzerland—also Roman Catholic dioceses. They originated as the national churches of the independent states, States of Germany (Länder) or Cantons of Switzerland (Kantone, Cantons, Cantoni), that later unified to form modern Germany (in 1871) or modern Switzerland (in 1848), respectively.