Flumenthal
Encyclopedia
Flumenthal is a municipality
in the district of Lebern
in the canton
of Solothurn in Switzerland
.
was erected in the 1970s on river Aare during the Second Jura water correction
in order to regulate the waters of the Seeland's three lakes hydrological system further downstream of the regulating dam Port
.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.3% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 7.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 6.8%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 3.5%. Out of the forested land, 21.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.9% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 33.8% is used for growing crops and 14.5% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Lebern district. The northern part of Flumenthal lies on a gravel terrace that was built up by the Aare river, while the southern part lies along the river.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Gold a Moor's head with Headband and Collar Silver and Lips Gules.
Most of the population speaks German
(956 or 95.0%), with Albanian
being second most common (11 or 1.1%) and Italian
being third (10 or 1.0%). There are 2 people who speak French
and 1 person who speaks Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 50.1% male and 49.9% female. The population was made up of 446 Swiss men (45.2% of the population) and 48 (4.9%) non-Swiss men. There were 458 Swiss women (46.4%) and 35 (3.5%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 306 or about 30.4% were born in Flumenthal and lived there in 2000. There were 352 or 35.0% who were born in the same canton, while 227 or 22.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 90 or 8.9% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 4 live births to Swiss citizens and were 7 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 3 while the foreign population remained the same. There was 1 Swiss man who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there was 1 non-Swiss man 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 18 and the non-Swiss population increased by 8 people. This represents a population growth rate of -1.0%.
The age distribution, , in Flumenthal is; 77 children or 7.7% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 152 teenagers or 15.1% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 57 people or 5.7% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 340 people or 33.8% are between 25 and 44, and 253 people or 25.1% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 102 people or 10.1% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 25 people or 2.5% who are over 80.
, there were 400 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 502 married individuals, 54 widows or widowers and 50 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.54 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 51.5% 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 428 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 125 households that consist of only one person and 23 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 438 households that answered this question, 28.5% were households made up of just one person and there were 2 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 131 married couples without children, 136 married couples with children There were 26 single parents with a child or children. There were 8 households that were made up of unrelated people and 10 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 168 single family homes (or 66.4% of the total) out of a total of 253 inhabited buildings. There were 50 multi-family buildings (19.8%), along with 30 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (11.9%) and 5 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.0%). Of the single family homes 15 were built before 1919, while 22 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (34) were built between 1981 and 1990.
there were 443 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 169. There were 6 single room apartments and 160 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 408 apartments (92.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 27 apartments (6.1%) were seasonally occupied and 8 apartments (1.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.65%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
of St. Peter and Paul is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance
.
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 26.43% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
(22.39%), the FDP
(21.46%) and the CVP
(19.07%). In the federal election, a total of 327 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 41.7%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 259. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 15, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 61 of which 17 or (27.9%) were in manufacturing and 45 (73.8%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 183. In the tertiary sector; 6 or 3.3% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 5 or 2.7% were in the movement and storage of goods, 34 or 18.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 3 or 1.6% were in the information industry, 3 or 1.6% were the insurance or financial industry, 10 or 5.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 6 or 3.3% were in education and 113 or 61.7% were in health care.
, there were 65 workers who commuted into the municipality and 503 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 7.7 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 13.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 68% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 7 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 0.70% of the population), there were 5 individuals (or about 0.50% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 21 individuals (or about 2.09% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 20 (or about 1.99% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 2 individuals who were Buddhist
. 183 (or about 18.19% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 23 individuals (or about 2.29% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 83 who completed tertiary schooling, 75.9% were Swiss men, 18.1% were Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 94 students in the Flumenthal 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 18 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 76 students in primary school. The secondary school
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower secondary students from Flumenthal attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 11 students in Flumenthal who came from another municipality, while 55 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....
.
Flumenthal dam
The Flumenthal damFlumenthal dam
The Flumenthal Dam is a regulating dam at Flumenthal, Switzerland, which was erected as the most important element of all the works of the Second Jura water correction. It was built to regulate the outflow of Seeland's three-lake hydrologic system as far downstream as Solothurn and the confluence...
was erected in the 1970s on river Aare during the Second Jura water correction
Jura water correction
The correction of the waters of the Swiss Jura consisted in a wide series of hydrological undertakings carried out in Switzerland in the region of the three lakes: Lake Morat connected to Lake Neuchâtel by the Broye canal, the latter connected to Lake of Bienne by the Thielle canal, an area so...
in order to regulate the waters of the Seeland's three lakes hydrological system further downstream of the regulating dam Port
Regulating Dam Port, Seeland, Switzerland
thumb|500px|right|Map of the area following the construction of the canalDuring the first Jura water correction, a temporary dam had been built across the Nidau-Büren channel in order to maintain the water level in Lake Bienne...
.
Geography
Flumenthal has an area, , of 3.11 square kilometres (1.2 sq mi). Of this area, 1.52 km² (0.586875281060653 sq mi) or 48.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.77 km² (0.297298662116252 sq mi) or 24.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.61 km² (0.235522316741446 sq mi) or 19.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.17 km² (0.065637366960731 sq mi) or 5.5% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km² (4.9 acre) or 0.6% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.3% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 7.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 6.8%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 3.5%. Out of the forested land, 21.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.9% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 33.8% is used for growing crops and 14.5% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Lebern district. The northern part of Flumenthal lies on a gravel terrace that was built up by the Aare river, while the southern part lies along the river.
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 Gold a Moor's head with Headband and Collar Silver and Lips Gules.
Demographics
Flumenthal has a population of . , 8.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of -4%.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....
(956 or 95.0%), with Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
being second most common (11 or 1.1%) and 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 third (10 or 1.0%). There are 2 people who 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...
and 1 person who speaks Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 50.1% male and 49.9% female. The population was made up of 446 Swiss men (45.2% of the population) and 48 (4.9%) non-Swiss men. There were 458 Swiss women (46.4%) and 35 (3.5%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 306 or about 30.4% were born in Flumenthal and lived there in 2000. There were 352 or 35.0% who were born in the same canton, while 227 or 22.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 90 or 8.9% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 4 live births to Swiss citizens and were 7 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 3 while the foreign population remained the same. There was 1 Swiss man who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there was 1 non-Swiss man 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 18 and the non-Swiss population increased by 8 people. This represents a population growth rate of -1.0%.
The age distribution, , in Flumenthal is; 77 children or 7.7% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 152 teenagers or 15.1% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 57 people or 5.7% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 340 people or 33.8% are between 25 and 44, and 253 people or 25.1% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 102 people or 10.1% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 25 people or 2.5% who are over 80.
, there were 400 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 502 married individuals, 54 widows or widowers and 50 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.54 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 51.5% 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 428 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 125 households that consist of only one person and 23 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 438 households that answered this question, 28.5% were households made up of just one person and there were 2 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 131 married couples without children, 136 married couples with children There were 26 single parents with a child or children. There were 8 households that were made up of unrelated people and 10 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 168 single family homes (or 66.4% of the total) out of a total of 253 inhabited buildings. There were 50 multi-family buildings (19.8%), along with 30 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (11.9%) and 5 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.0%). Of the single family homes 15 were built before 1919, while 22 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (34) were built between 1981 and 1990.
there were 443 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 169. There were 6 single room apartments and 160 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 408 apartments (92.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 27 apartments (6.1%) were seasonally occupied and 8 apartments (1.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.65%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
The Parish ChurchParish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of St. Peter and Paul is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance
Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...
.
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 26.43% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(22.39%), 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....
(21.46%) and 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...
(19.07%). In the federal election, a total of 327 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 41.7%.
Economy
, Flumenthal had an unemployment rate of 2.7%. , there were 23 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 8 businesses involved in this sector. 67 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 14 businesses in this sector. 265 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 28 businesses in this sector. There were 585 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 259. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 15, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 61 of which 17 or (27.9%) were in manufacturing and 45 (73.8%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 183. In the tertiary sector; 6 or 3.3% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 5 or 2.7% were in the movement and storage of goods, 34 or 18.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 3 or 1.6% were in the information industry, 3 or 1.6% were the insurance or financial industry, 10 or 5.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 6 or 3.3% were in education and 113 or 61.7% were in health care.
, there were 65 workers who commuted into the municipality and 503 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 7.7 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 13.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 68% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 396 or 39.4% were Roman Catholic, while 349 or 34.7% 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 7 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 0.70% of the population), there were 5 individuals (or about 0.50% 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 21 individuals (or about 2.09% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 20 (or about 1.99% 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 2 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...
. 183 (or about 18.19% 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 23 individuals (or about 2.29% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Flumenthal about 447 or (44.4%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 83 or (8.3%) 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 83 who completed tertiary schooling, 75.9% were Swiss men, 18.1% were Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 94 students in the Flumenthal 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 18 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 76 students in primary school. 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. All the lower secondary students from Flumenthal attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 11 students in Flumenthal who came from another municipality, while 55 residents attended schools outside the municipality.