Gerlafingen
Encyclopedia
Gerlafingen is a municipality
in the district of Wasseramt
in the canton
of Solothurn in Switzerland
.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 15.7% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 44.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 12.4%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.7% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 7.0%. Out of the forested land, 8.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 4.9% is used for growing crops and 3.2% is pastures, while 1.6% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Wasseramt district, on the eastern bank of the Emme river, about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Solothurn
.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Gules a Cramp Azure in bend between two Mullets or one above the other.
Most of the population speaks German
(3,619 or 77.1%), with Italian
being second most common (328 or 7.0%) and Turkish
being third (227 or 4.8%). There are 28 people who speak French
and 3 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.7% male and 50.3% female. The population was made up of 1,397 Swiss men (28.7% of the population) and 1,022 (21.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,552 Swiss women (31.9%) and 893 (18.4%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 1,160 or about 24.7% were born in Gerlafingen and lived there in 2000. There were 971 or 20.7% who were born in the same canton, while 1,063 or 22.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,362 or 29.0% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 29 live births to Swiss citizens and 37 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 40 deaths of Swiss citizens and 7 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 11 while the foreign population increased by 30. There were 7 Swiss men and 3 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 40 non-Swiss men and 17 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 21 and the non-Swiss population increased by 74 people. This represents a population growth rate of 1.1%.
The age distribution, , in Gerlafingen is; 347 children or 7.4% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 748 teenagers or 15.9% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 304 people or 6.5% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 1,406 people or 30.0% are between 25 and 44, and 1,028 people or 21.9% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 593 people or 12.6% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 268 people or 5.7% who are over 80.
, there were 1,830 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,266 married individuals, 338 widows or widowers and 260 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.59 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 36.4% 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 1,950 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 655 households that consist of only one person and 149 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,973 households that answered this question, 33.2% were households made up of just one person and there were 17 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 550 married couples without children, 598 married couples with children There were 104 single parents with a child or children. There were 26 households that were made up of unrelated people and 23 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 510 single family homes (or 56.8% of the total) out of a total of 898 inhabited buildings. There were 279 multi-family buildings (31.1%), along with 62 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (6.9%) and 47 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (5.2%). Of the single family homes 14 were built before 1919, while 31 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (165) were built between 1946 and 1960.
there were 2,187 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 696. There were 44 single room apartments and 519 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 1,898 apartments (86.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 153 apartments (7.0%) were seasonally occupied and 136 apartments (6.2%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.7 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.98%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 29.41% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
(28.52%), the FDP
(20.52%) and the CVP
(10.33%). In the federal election, a total of 1,041 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 41.6%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 1,356. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 6, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 772 of which 643 or (83.3%) were in manufacturing and 129 (16.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 578. In the tertiary sector; 165 or 28.5% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 30 or 5.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 45 or 7.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 28 or 4.8% were in the information industry, 11 or 1.9% were the insurance or financial industry, 57 or 9.9% were technical professionals or scientists, 53 or 9.2% were in education and 124 or 21.5% were in health care.
, there were 1,071 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,613 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.5 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 12.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 59.6% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 138 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 2.94% of the population), there were 11 individuals (or about 0.23% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 107 individuals (or about 2.28% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 7 individuals (or about 0.15% of the population) who were Jewish
, and 787 (or about 16.77% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 12 individuals who were Buddhist
, 31 individuals who were Hindu
and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 692 (or about 14.74% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 125 individuals (or about 2.66% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 365 who completed tertiary schooling, 67.9% were Swiss men, 18.1% were Swiss women, 10.4% were non-Swiss men and 3.6% were non-Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 365 students in the Gerlafingen 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 94 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 271 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 Gerlafingen attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 99 students in Gerlafingen who came from another municipality, while 107 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 Wasseramt
Wasseramt (district)
Wasseramt District is one of the ten districts of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland, situated to the south of the canton. Together with the Bucheggberg District, it forms the Amtei of Wasseramt-Bucheggberg...
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....
.
Geography
Gerlafingen has an area, , of 1.85 square kilometre (0.71428899339619 sq mi). Of this area, 0.18 km² (0.0694983885466563 sq mi) or 9.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.19 km² (0.0733594101325817 sq mi) or 10.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.52 km² (0.586875281060653 sq mi) or 82.2% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.02 km² (4.9 acre) or 1.1% is either rivers or lakes.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 15.7% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 44.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 12.4%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.7% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 7.0%. Out of the forested land, 8.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 4.9% is used for growing crops and 3.2% is pastures, while 1.6% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Wasseramt district, on the eastern bank of the Emme river, about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Solothurn
Solothurn
The city of Solothurn is the capital of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. The city also comprises the only municipality of the district of the same name.-Pre-roman settlement:...
.
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 Gules a Cramp Azure in bend between two Mullets or one above the other.
Demographics
Gerlafingen has a population of . , 39.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 2%. It has changed at a rate of 1.8% due to migration and at a rate of 1.4% due to births and deaths.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....
(3,619 or 77.1%), 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 (328 or 7.0%) and Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
being third (227 or 4.8%). There are 28 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 3 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.7% male and 50.3% female. The population was made up of 1,397 Swiss men (28.7% of the population) and 1,022 (21.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,552 Swiss women (31.9%) and 893 (18.4%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 1,160 or about 24.7% were born in Gerlafingen and lived there in 2000. There were 971 or 20.7% who were born in the same canton, while 1,063 or 22.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,362 or 29.0% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 29 live births to Swiss citizens and 37 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 40 deaths of Swiss citizens and 7 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 11 while the foreign population increased by 30. There were 7 Swiss men and 3 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 40 non-Swiss men and 17 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 21 and the non-Swiss population increased by 74 people. This represents a population growth rate of 1.1%.
The age distribution, , in Gerlafingen is; 347 children or 7.4% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 748 teenagers or 15.9% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 304 people or 6.5% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 1,406 people or 30.0% are between 25 and 44, and 1,028 people or 21.9% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 593 people or 12.6% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 268 people or 5.7% who are over 80.
, there were 1,830 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,266 married individuals, 338 widows or widowers and 260 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.59 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 36.4% 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 1,950 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 655 households that consist of only one person and 149 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,973 households that answered this question, 33.2% were households made up of just one person and there were 17 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 550 married couples without children, 598 married couples with children There were 104 single parents with a child or children. There were 26 households that were made up of unrelated people and 23 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 510 single family homes (or 56.8% of the total) out of a total of 898 inhabited buildings. There were 279 multi-family buildings (31.1%), along with 62 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (6.9%) and 47 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (5.2%). Of the single family homes 14 were built before 1919, while 31 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (165) were built between 1946 and 1960.
there were 2,187 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 696. There were 44 single room apartments and 519 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 1,898 apartments (86.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 153 apartments (7.0%) were seasonally occupied and 136 apartments (6.2%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.7 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.98%.
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 29.41% 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....
(28.52%), 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....
(20.52%) 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...
(10.33%). In the federal election, a total of 1,041 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 41.6%.
Economy
, Gerlafingen had an unemployment rate of 6.3%. , there were 9 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 3 businesses involved in this sector. 795 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 36 businesses in this sector. 771 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 141 businesses in this sector. There were 2,243 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 41.3% 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 1,356. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 6, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 772 of which 643 or (83.3%) were in manufacturing and 129 (16.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 578. In the tertiary sector; 165 or 28.5% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 30 or 5.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 45 or 7.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 28 or 4.8% were in the information industry, 11 or 1.9% were the insurance or financial industry, 57 or 9.9% were technical professionals or scientists, 53 or 9.2% were in education and 124 or 21.5% were in health care.
, there were 1,071 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,613 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.5 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 12.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 59.6% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 1,238 or 26.4% were Roman Catholic, while 1,544 or 32.9% 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 138 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 2.94% of the population), there were 11 individuals (or about 0.23% 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 107 individuals (or about 2.28% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 7 individuals (or about 0.15% of the population) who were Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and 787 (or about 16.77% 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...
, 31 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 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 692 (or about 14.74% 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 125 individuals (or about 2.66% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Gerlafingen about 1,552 or (33.1%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 365 or (7.8%) 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 365 who completed tertiary schooling, 67.9% were Swiss men, 18.1% were Swiss women, 10.4% were non-Swiss men and 3.6% were non-Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 365 students in the Gerlafingen 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 94 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 271 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 Gerlafingen attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 99 students in Gerlafingen who came from another municipality, while 107 residents attended schools outside the municipality.