Bettlach, Switzerland
Encyclopedia
Bettlach is a municipality
in the district of Lebern
in the canton
of Solothurn in Switzerland
.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 7.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.4%. Out of the forested land, 35.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 30.9% is used for growing crops and 10.6% is pastures and 4.3% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Lebern district. It stretches from the Aare river to the edge of the Jura Mountains
.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Argent a Cross pattee couped fitche Gules.
Most of the population speaks German
(4,168 or 88.3%), with Italian
being second most common (153 or 3.2%) and French
being third (80 or 1.7%). There are 3 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 51.0% male and 49.0% female. The population was made up of 2,001 Swiss men (41.5% of the population) and 461 (9.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,991 Swiss women (41.3%) and 372 (7.7%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 1,283 or about 27.2% were born in Bettlach and lived there in 2000. There were 1,488 or 31.5% who were born in the same canton, while 1,100 or 23.3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 718 or 15.2% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 32 live births to Swiss citizens and 2 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 33 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 1 while the foreign population increased by 2. There were 4 Swiss men and 3 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 18 non-Swiss men and 6 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was a decrease of 39 and the non-Swiss population decreased by 12 people. This represents a population growth rate of -1.1%.
The age distribution, , in Bettlach is; 350 children or 7.4% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 746 teenagers or 15.8% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 230 people or 4.9% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 1,503 people or 31.8% are between 25 and 44, and 1,204 people or 25.5% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 529 people or 11.2% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 159 people or 3.4% who are over 80.
, there were 1,816 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,346 married individuals, 235 widows or widowers and 324 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.58 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.56 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 40.6% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
or a rent-to-own agreement).
, there were 1,989 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 599 households that consist of only one person and 118 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 2,014 households that answered this question, 29.7% were households made up of just one person and there were 12 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 653 married couples without children, 618 married couples with children There were 92 single parents with a child or children. There were 15 households that were made up of unrelated people and 25 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 584 single family homes (or 63.9% of the total) out of a total of 914 inhabited buildings. There were 212 multi-family buildings (23.2%), along with 94 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (10.3%) and 24 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.6%). Of the single family homes 18 were built before 1919, while 142 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (116) were built between 1946 and 1960.
there were 2,080 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 643. There were 74 single room apartments and 632 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 1,946 apartments (93.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 55 apartments (2.6%) were seasonally occupied and 79 apartments (3.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.9 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.72%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 32.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP
(20.43%), the CVP
(20.04%) and the SP
(17.22%). In the federal election, a total of 1,526 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 45.4%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 1,992. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 33, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 1,500 of which 1,382 or (92.1%) were in manufacturing and 116 (7.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 459. In the tertiary sector; 116 or 25.3% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 14 or 3.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 49 or 10.7% were in a hotel or restaurant, 6 or 1.3% were the insurance or financial industry, 85 or 18.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 32 or 7.0% were in education and 83 or 18.1% were in health care.
, there were 1,075 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,859 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.7 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 13.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 60.5% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 70 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 1.48% of the population), there were 18 individuals (or about 0.38% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 62 individuals (or about 1.31% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 225 (or about 4.77% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 12 individuals who were Buddhist
, 37 individuals who were Hindu
and 3 individuals who belonged to another church. 525 (or about 11.12% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 146 individuals (or about 3.09% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 522 who completed tertiary schooling, 70.1% were Swiss men, 17.8% were Swiss women, 8.4% were non-Swiss men and 3.6% were non-Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 462 students in the Bettlach school system. The education system
in the Canton of Solothurn allows young children to attend two years of non-obligatory Kindergarten
. During that school year, there were 82 children in kindergarten. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school, with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In the municipality there were 291 students in primary school and 7 students in the special, smaller classes. The secondary school
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. 82 lower secondary students attend school in Bettlach.
, there were 4 students in Bettlach who came from another municipality, while 171 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
in the district of Lebern
Lebern (district)
Lebern District is one of the ten districts of the canton of Solothurn, Switzerland, situated to the west of the canton. Together with the city of Solothurn, it forms the Amtei of Solothurn-Lebern...
in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of Solothurn in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
History
Bettlach is first mentioned in 1181 as Betelacho. In 1279 it was mentioned as Bettelage and in 1329 as Betlach.Geography
Bettlach has an area, , of 12.21 square kilometres (4.7 sq mi). Of this area, 5.67 km² (2.2 sq mi) or 46.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 4.59 km² (1.8 sq mi) or 37.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.64 km² (0.633207540091757 sq mi) or 13.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.17 km² (0.065637366960731 sq mi) or 1.4% is either rivers or lakes and 0.15 km² (37.1 acre) or 1.2% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 7.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.4%. Out of the forested land, 35.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 30.9% is used for growing crops and 10.6% is pastures and 4.3% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Lebern district. It stretches from the Aare river to the edge of the Jura Mountains
Jura mountains
The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each...
.
Coat of arms
The blazonBlazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
of the municipal coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
is Argent a Cross pattee couped fitche Gules.
Demographics
Bettlach has a population of . , 15.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 2.8%.Most of the population speaks German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
(4,168 or 88.3%), with Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
being second most common (153 or 3.2%) and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
being third (80 or 1.7%). There are 3 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 51.0% male and 49.0% female. The population was made up of 2,001 Swiss men (41.5% of the population) and 461 (9.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,991 Swiss women (41.3%) and 372 (7.7%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 1,283 or about 27.2% were born in Bettlach and lived there in 2000. There were 1,488 or 31.5% who were born in the same canton, while 1,100 or 23.3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 718 or 15.2% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 32 live births to Swiss citizens and 2 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 33 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 1 while the foreign population increased by 2. There were 4 Swiss men and 3 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 18 non-Swiss men and 6 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was a decrease of 39 and the non-Swiss population decreased by 12 people. This represents a population growth rate of -1.1%.
The age distribution, , in Bettlach is; 350 children or 7.4% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 746 teenagers or 15.8% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 230 people or 4.9% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 1,503 people or 31.8% are between 25 and 44, and 1,204 people or 25.5% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 529 people or 11.2% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 159 people or 3.4% who are over 80.
, there were 1,816 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,346 married individuals, 235 widows or widowers and 324 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.58 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.56 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 40.6% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
or a rent-to-own agreement).
, there were 1,989 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 599 households that consist of only one person and 118 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 2,014 households that answered this question, 29.7% were households made up of just one person and there were 12 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 653 married couples without children, 618 married couples with children There were 92 single parents with a child or children. There were 15 households that were made up of unrelated people and 25 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 584 single family homes (or 63.9% of the total) out of a total of 914 inhabited buildings. There were 212 multi-family buildings (23.2%), along with 94 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (10.3%) and 24 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.6%). Of the single family homes 18 were built before 1919, while 142 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (116) were built between 1946 and 1960.
there were 2,080 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 643. There were 74 single room apartments and 632 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 1,946 apartments (93.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 55 apartments (2.6%) were seasonally occupied and 79 apartments (3.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.9 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.72%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Politics
In the 2007 federal electionSwiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...
the most popular party was the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
which received 32.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP
FDP.The Liberals
FDP.The Liberals is a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It is the joint-largest party in the Federal Council, third-largest party in the National Council, and second-largest in the Council of States....
(20.43%), the CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...
(20.04%) and the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(17.22%). In the federal election, a total of 1,526 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
was 45.4%.
Economy
, Bettlach had an unemployment rate of 3.9%. , there were 53 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 21 businesses involved in this sector. 1,557 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 56 businesses in this sector. 579 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 112 businesses in this sector. There were 2,628 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.7% of the workforce.the total number of full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent , is a unit to measure employed persons or students in a way that makes them comparable although they may work or study a different number of hours per week. FTE is often used to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization...
jobs was 1,992. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 33, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 1,500 of which 1,382 or (92.1%) were in manufacturing and 116 (7.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 459. In the tertiary sector; 116 or 25.3% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 14 or 3.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 49 or 10.7% were in a hotel or restaurant, 6 or 1.3% were the insurance or financial industry, 85 or 18.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 32 or 7.0% were in education and 83 or 18.1% were in health care.
, there were 1,075 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,859 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.7 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 13.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 60.5% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 1,980 or 41.9% were Roman Catholic, while 1,643 or 34.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed ChurchSwiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 70 members of an Orthodox church
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
(or about 1.48% of the population), there were 18 individuals (or about 0.38% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...
, and there were 62 individuals (or about 1.31% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 225 (or about 4.77% of the population) who were Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic. There were 12 individuals who were Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, 37 individuals who were Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and 3 individuals who belonged to another church. 525 (or about 11.12% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
or atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, and 146 individuals (or about 3.09% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Bettlach about 1,855 or (39.3%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 522 or (11.1%) have completed additional higher education (either University or a FachhochschuleFachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...
). Of the 522 who completed tertiary schooling, 70.1% were Swiss men, 17.8% were Swiss women, 8.4% were non-Swiss men and 3.6% were non-Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 462 students in the Bettlach school system. The education system
Education in Switzerland
The education system in Switzerland is very diverse, because the constitution of Switzerland delegates the authority for the school system mainly to the cantons...
in the Canton of Solothurn allows young children to attend two years of non-obligatory Kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
. During that school year, there were 82 children in kindergarten. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school, with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In the municipality there were 291 students in primary school and 7 students in the special, smaller classes. The secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. 82 lower secondary students attend school in Bettlach.
, there were 4 students in Bettlach who came from another municipality, while 171 residents attended schools outside the municipality.