Blenio (district)
Encyclopedia
The district of Blenio is a district of the canton
of Ticino
in Switzerland
. It has a population of (as of ). The capital of the district is Acquarossa.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 0.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.6%. Out of the forested land, 27.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 2.5% is used for growing crops. Of the water in the district, 0.4% is in lakes and 1.2% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 18.1% is unproductive vegetation and 21.6% is too rocky for vegetation.
, 78 people speak French
, 4,716 people speak Italian
, and 10 people speak Romansh. The remainder (182 people) speak another language.
, the gender distribution of the population was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. The population was made up of 2,609 Swiss men (45.9% of the population), and 245 (4.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 2,631 Swiss women (46.3%), and 197 (3.5%) non-Swiss women.
In there were 49 live births to Swiss citizens and births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 70 deaths of Swiss citizens and 2 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 21 while the foreign population decreased by 2. There were 3 Swiss men who immigrated back to Switzerland and 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 14 non-Swiss men and 12 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources) was an increase of 14 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 11 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.4%.
The age distribution, , in the district is; 523 children or 9.2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 569 teenagers or 10.0% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 539 people or 9.5% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 721 people or 12.7% are between 30 and 39, 863 people or 15.2% are between 40 and 49, and 693 people or 12.2% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 706 people or 12.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 623 people or 11.0% are between 70 and 79, there are 445 people or 7.8% who are over 80.
there were 6,471 single family homes (or 75.8% of the total) out of a total of 8,535 inhabited buildings. There were 1,264 two family buildings (14.8%) and 612 multi-family buildings (7.2%). There were also 188 buildings in the district that were multipurpose buildings (used for both housing and commercial or another purpose).
there were 4,642 apartments in the district. The most common apartment size was the 4 room apartment of which there were 1,386. There were 233 single room apartments and 1,174 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 2,255 apartments (48.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 2,314 apartments (49.8%) were seasonally occupied and 73 apartments (1.6%) were empty.
The historical population is given in the following table:
the most popular party was the CVP
which received 30.81% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP
(28.42%), the SP
(15.69%) and the Ticino League
(15.29%). In the federal election, a total of 2,112 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 46.2%.
In the Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 5,182 registered voters in the district, of which 2,874 or 55.5% voted. 51 blank ballots and 5 null ballots were cast, leaving 2,818 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT
which received 656 or 23.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PPD
+GenGiova (with 605 or 21.5%), the SSI (with 474 or 16.8%) and the PS
(with 472 or 16.7%).
In the Consiglio di Stato election, 31 blank ballots and 7 null ballots were cast, leaving 2,835 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 609 or 21.5% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the LEGA (with 596 or 21.0%), the PPD (with 587 or 20.7%) and the PS (with 525 or 18.5%).
. There are 483 individuals (or about 9.14% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 198 individuals (or about 3.75% of the population) did not answer the question.
provides up to three years of non-mandatory kindergarten
and in the district there were 136 children in kindergarten. The primary school program lasts for five years and includes both a standard school and a special school. In the district, 270 students attended the standard primary schools and 13 students attended the special school. In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two year middle school followed by a two year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four year program to prepare for higher education. There were 244 students in the two year middle school and 0 in their pre-apprenticeship, while 58 students were in the four year advanced program.
The upper secondary school includes several options, but at the end of the upper secondary program, a student will be prepared to enter a trade or to continue on to a university or college. In Ticino, vocational students may either attend school while working on their internship or apprenticeship (which takes three or four years) or may attend school followed by an internship or apprenticeship (which takes one year as a full-time student or one and a half to two years as a part-time student). There were 37 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 128 who attend part-time.
The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields. There were 16 students in the professional program.
!colspan="1" align=center bgcolor="#EFEFEF" | Area km²
|-
| || Malvaglia
|| align="center" | || align="center" | 80.31
|-
| || Semione
|| align="center" | || align="center" | 10.42
|-
| || Ludiano
|| align="center" | || align="center" | 6.19
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF" | ||bgcolor="#EFEFEF" | Total || bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="center" |
| bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="center" | 96.92
|}
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 Ticino
Ticino
Canton Ticino or Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. Named after the Ticino river, it is the only canton in which Italian is the sole official language...
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....
. It has a population of (as of ). The capital of the district is Acquarossa.
Geography
The district has an area, , of 360.74 square kilometres (139.3 sq mi). Of this area, 13.19 km² (5.1 sq mi) or 3.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 133.15 km² (51.4 sq mi) or 36.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 6.4 km² (2.5 sq mi) or 1.8% is settled (buildings or roads), 5.75 km² (2.2 sq mi) or 1.6% is either rivers or lakes and 143.3 km² (55.3 sq mi) or 39.7% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 0.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.6%. Out of the forested land, 27.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 2.5% is used for growing crops. Of the water in the district, 0.4% is in lakes and 1.2% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 18.1% is unproductive vegetation and 21.6% is too rocky for vegetation.
Demographics
Of the Swiss national languages , 301 speak GermanGerman 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....
, 78 people speak 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...
, 4,716 people speak 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...
, and 10 people speak Romansh. The remainder (182 people) speak another language.
, the gender distribution of the population was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. The population was made up of 2,609 Swiss men (45.9% of the population), and 245 (4.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 2,631 Swiss women (46.3%), and 197 (3.5%) non-Swiss women.
In there were 49 live births to Swiss citizens and births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 70 deaths of Swiss citizens and 2 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 21 while the foreign population decreased by 2. There were 3 Swiss men who immigrated back to Switzerland and 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 14 non-Swiss men and 12 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources) was an increase of 14 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 11 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.4%.
The age distribution, , in the district is; 523 children or 9.2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 569 teenagers or 10.0% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 539 people or 9.5% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 721 people or 12.7% are between 30 and 39, 863 people or 15.2% are between 40 and 49, and 693 people or 12.2% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 706 people or 12.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 623 people or 11.0% are between 70 and 79, there are 445 people or 7.8% who are over 80.
there were 6,471 single family homes (or 75.8% of the total) out of a total of 8,535 inhabited buildings. There were 1,264 two family buildings (14.8%) and 612 multi-family buildings (7.2%). There were also 188 buildings in the district that were multipurpose buildings (used for both housing and commercial or another purpose).
there were 4,642 apartments in the district. The most common apartment size was the 4 room apartment of which there were 1,386. There were 233 single room apartments and 1,174 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 2,255 apartments (48.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 2,314 apartments (49.8%) were seasonally occupied and 73 apartments (1.6%) were empty.
The historical population is given in the following table:
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1850 | 7,687 |
| 1880 | 7,209 |
| 1900 | 6,363 |
| 1950 | 5,568 |
| 1970 | 5,152 |
| 1980 | 5,040 |
| 1990 | 5,080 |
| 2000 | 5,287 |
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 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...
which received 30.81% 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....
(28.42%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(15.69%) and the Ticino League
Ticino League
The Ticino League is an isolationist, national conservative political party in Switzerland active in the canton of Ticino.In 1991, after some public campaigning in the Sunday journal Mattino della Domenica against political power and use of public money, the editor Giuliano Bignasca and the...
(15.29%). In the federal election, a total of 2,112 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 46.2%.
In the Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 5,182 registered voters in the district, of which 2,874 or 55.5% voted. 51 blank ballots and 5 null ballots were cast, leaving 2,818 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT
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....
which received 656 or 23.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PPD
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...
+GenGiova (with 605 or 21.5%), the SSI (with 474 or 16.8%) and the PS
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(with 472 or 16.7%).
In the Consiglio di Stato election, 31 blank ballots and 7 null ballots were cast, leaving 2,835 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 609 or 21.5% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the LEGA (with 596 or 21.0%), the PPD (with 587 or 20.7%) and the PS (with 525 or 18.5%).
Religion
From the , 4,422 or 83.6% were Roman Catholic, while 184 or 3.5% 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...
. There are 483 individuals (or about 9.14% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 198 individuals (or about 3.75% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In the district there were a total of 902 students . The Ticino education systemEducation 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...
provides up to three years of non-mandatory 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...
and in the district there were 136 children in kindergarten. The primary school program lasts for five years and includes both a standard school and a special school. In the district, 270 students attended the standard primary schools and 13 students attended the special school. In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two year middle school followed by a two year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four year program to prepare for higher education. There were 244 students in the two year middle school and 0 in their pre-apprenticeship, while 58 students were in the four year advanced program.
The upper secondary school includes several options, but at the end of the upper secondary program, a student will be prepared to enter a trade or to continue on to a university or college. In Ticino, vocational students may either attend school while working on their internship or apprenticeship (which takes three or four years) or may attend school followed by an internship or apprenticeship (which takes one year as a full-time student or one and a half to two years as a part-time student). There were 37 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 128 who attend part-time.
The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields. There were 16 students in the professional program.
Circles and municipalities
!colspan="1" align=center bgcolor="#EFEFEF" | Area km²
|-
| || Malvaglia
Malvaglia
Malvaglia is a former municipality in the district of Blenio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Since 15 March 2011, it is part of the municipality Serravalle. The reservoir Bacino di Val Malvaglia is located above the village of Malvaglia.-History:...
|| align="center" | || align="center" | 80.31
|-
| || Semione
Semione
Semione is a former municipality in the district of Blenio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Since 15 March 2011, it is part of the municipality Serravalle.-Geography:...
|| align="center" | || align="center" | 10.42
|-
| || Ludiano
Ludiano
Ludiano is a former municipality in the district of Blenio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Since 15 March 2011, it is part of the municipality Serravalle.-History:...
|| align="center" | || align="center" | 6.19
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF" | ||bgcolor="#EFEFEF" | Total || bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="center" |
| bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="center" | 96.92
|}
!colspan="1" align=center bgcolor="#EFEFEF" | Area km²
|-
| || Acquarossa || align="center" | || align="center" | 61.59
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF" | ||bgcolor="#EFEFEF" | Total || bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="center" |
| bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="center" | 61.59
|}
!colspan="1" align=center bgcolor="#EFEFEF" | Area km²
|-
| || Blenio
Blenio
Blenio is a municipality of the district of Blenio, in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.Blenio was created on 22 October 2006 when it incorporated the formerly autonomous municipalities of Aquila, Campo Blenio, Ghirone, Olivone and Torre of the upper Blenio valley.A legal challenge to the merger...
|| align="center" | || align="center" | 202.06
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF" | ||bgcolor="#EFEFEF" | Total || bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="center" |
| bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="center" | 202.06
|}
Mergers
- In 2006 the municipality of Blenio was formed from: AquilaAquila, SwitzerlandAquila is a former municipality in the district of Blenio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.On 25 January 2005, the cantonal authorities announced that Aquila would merge with Campo Blenio, Ghirone, Olivone and Torre to form a new municipality to be called Blenio...
, Campo BlenioCampo BlenioCampo Blenio was a municipality in the district of Blenio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.On 25 January 2005, the cantonal authorities announced that Campo Blenio would merge with Aquila, Ghirone, Olivone and Torre to form a new municipality to be called Blenio. This union was carried...
, GhironeGhironeGhirone was a municipality in the district of Blenio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.On 25 January 2005, the cantonal authorities announced that Ghirone would merge with Aquila, Campo Blenio, Olivone and Torre to form a new municipality to be called Blenio...
, OlivoneOlivoneOlivone was a municipality in the district of Blenio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.On 25 January 2005, the cantonal authorities announced that Olivone would merge with Aquila, Campo Blenio, Ghirone and Torre to form a new municipality to be called Blenio...
.