Härkingen
Encyclopedia
Härkingen is a municipality
in the district of Gäu
in the canton
of Solothurn in Switzerland
.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 5.3% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 6.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 8.5%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 7.1% of the area Out of the forested land, 20.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 44.9% is used for growing crops and 5.5% is pastures, while 1.3% is used for orchards or vine crops.
The municipality is located in the Gäu district, in the Dünnern valley south of the division of the A1 and A2 motorways.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Azure an Oak Stump with two branches leaved and acorned Or rising from a Mount of 3 Coupeaux Vert.
Most of the population speaks German
(1,105 or 92.4%), with Italian
being second most common (22 or 1.8%) and Albanian
being third (20 or 1.7%). There are 7 people who speak French
.
, the gender distribution of the population was 51.8% male and 48.2% female. The population was made up of 581 Swiss men (44.4% of the population) and 98 (7.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 551 Swiss women (42.1%) and 80 (6.1%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 414 or about 34.6% were born in Härkingen and lived there in 2000. There were 357 or 29.8% who were born in the same canton, while 265 or 22.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 131 or 11.0% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 14 live births to Swiss citizens and 1 birth to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 6 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 8 while the foreign population increased by 1. There were 12 Swiss men and 4 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 3 non-Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland to another country and 5 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 an increase of 44 and the non-Swiss population decreased by 5 people. This represents a population growth rate of 3.2%.
The age distribution, , in Härkingen is; 103 children or 8.6% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 237 teenagers or 19.8% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 43 people or 3.6% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 395 people or 33.0% are between 25 and 44, and 278 people or 23.2% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 101 people or 8.4% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 39 people or 3.3% who are over 80.
, there were 499 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 593 married individuals, 48 widows or widowers and 56 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 62.2% 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 454 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. There were 111 households that consist of only one person and 41 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 467 households that answered this question, 23.8% were households made up of just one person and there were 4 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 130 married couples without children, 185 married couples with children There were 17 single parents with a child or children. There were 7 households that were made up of unrelated people and 13 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 233 single family homes (or 73.0% of the total) out of a total of 319 inhabited buildings. There were 42 multi-family buildings (13.2%), along with 31 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (9.7%) and 13 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (4.1%). Of the single family homes 14 were built before 1919, while 50 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (60) were built between 1981 and 1990.
there were 491 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 143. There were 25 single room apartments and 210 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 445 apartments (90.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 33 apartments (6.7%) were seasonally occupied and 13 apartments (2.6%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 10 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.05%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 33.59% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP
(26.19%), the FDP
(19.72%) and the SP
(13.53%). In the federal election, a total of 495 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 56.6%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 1,598. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 22, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 240 of which 110 or (45.8%) were in manufacturing, 9 or (3.8%) were in mining and 115 (47.9%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,336. In the tertiary sector; 307 or 23.0% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 879 or 65.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 37 or 2.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 67 or 5.0% were in the information industry, 2 or 0.1% were the insurance or financial industry, 13 or 1.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 6 or 0.4% were in education and 12 or 0.9% were in health care.
, there were 1,308 workers who commuted into the municipality and 469 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 2.8 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. Of the working population, 9.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 64.4% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 15 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 1.25% of the population), there were 2 individuals (or about 0.17% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 9 individuals (or about 0.75% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 20 (or about 1.67% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 5 individuals who were Buddhist
. 146 (or about 12.21% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 27 individuals (or about 2.26% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 126 who completed tertiary schooling, 71.4% were Swiss men, 15.9% were Swiss women, 9.5% were non-Swiss men.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 95 students in the Härkingen 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 19 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 Härkingen attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 4 students in Härkingen who came from another municipality, while 89 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 Gäu
Gäu (district)
Gäu District is one of the ten districts of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland, situated in the centre of the canton. It has a population of...
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
Härkingen is first mentioned in 1080 as quendam comitatum nomine Härichingen in pago Buchsgeowe situm (Kopie). In 1101 it was mentioned as 03 apud Harichingen.Geography
Härkingen has an area, , of 5.5 square kilometres (2.1 sq mi). Of this area, 2.84 km² (1.1 sq mi) or 51.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.21 km² (0.467183611896967 sq mi) or 22.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.52 km² (0.586875281060653 sq mi) or 27.6% is settled (buildings or roads).Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 5.3% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 6.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 8.5%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 7.1% of the area Out of the forested land, 20.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 44.9% is used for growing crops and 5.5% is pastures, while 1.3% is used for orchards or vine crops.
The municipality is located in the Gäu district, in the Dünnern valley south of the division of the A1 and A2 motorways.
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 Azure an Oak Stump with two branches leaved and acorned Or rising from a Mount of 3 Coupeaux Vert.
Demographics
Härkingen has a population of . , 11.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 9.9%.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....
(1,105 or 92.4%), 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 (22 or 1.8%) and 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 third (20 or 1.7%). There are 7 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...
.
, the gender distribution of the population was 51.8% male and 48.2% female. The population was made up of 581 Swiss men (44.4% of the population) and 98 (7.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 551 Swiss women (42.1%) and 80 (6.1%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 414 or about 34.6% were born in Härkingen and lived there in 2000. There were 357 or 29.8% who were born in the same canton, while 265 or 22.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 131 or 11.0% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 14 live births to Swiss citizens and 1 birth to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 6 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 8 while the foreign population increased by 1. There were 12 Swiss men and 4 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 3 non-Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland to another country and 5 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 an increase of 44 and the non-Swiss population decreased by 5 people. This represents a population growth rate of 3.2%.
The age distribution, , in Härkingen is; 103 children or 8.6% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 237 teenagers or 19.8% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 43 people or 3.6% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 395 people or 33.0% are between 25 and 44, and 278 people or 23.2% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 101 people or 8.4% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 39 people or 3.3% who are over 80.
, there were 499 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 593 married individuals, 48 widows or widowers and 56 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 62.2% 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 454 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. There were 111 households that consist of only one person and 41 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 467 households that answered this question, 23.8% were households made up of just one person and there were 4 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 130 married couples without children, 185 married couples with children There were 17 single parents with a child or children. There were 7 households that were made up of unrelated people and 13 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 233 single family homes (or 73.0% of the total) out of a total of 319 inhabited buildings. There were 42 multi-family buildings (13.2%), along with 31 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (9.7%) and 13 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (4.1%). Of the single family homes 14 were built before 1919, while 50 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (60) were built between 1981 and 1990.
there were 491 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 143. There were 25 single room apartments and 210 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 445 apartments (90.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 33 apartments (6.7%) were seasonally occupied and 13 apartments (2.6%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 10 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.05%.
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 33.59% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were 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...
(26.19%), 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....
(19.72%) and the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(13.53%). In the federal election, a total of 495 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 56.6%.
Economy
, Härkingen had an unemployment rate of 2.7%. , there were 31 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 10 businesses involved in this sector. 255 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 30 businesses in this sector. 1,487 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 90 businesses in this sector. There were 646 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 39.9% 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 1,598. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 22, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 240 of which 110 or (45.8%) were in manufacturing, 9 or (3.8%) were in mining and 115 (47.9%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,336. In the tertiary sector; 307 or 23.0% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 879 or 65.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 37 or 2.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 67 or 5.0% were in the information industry, 2 or 0.1% were the insurance or financial industry, 13 or 1.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 6 or 0.4% were in education and 12 or 0.9% were in health care.
, there were 1,308 workers who commuted into the municipality and 469 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 2.8 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. Of the working population, 9.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 64.4% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 720 or 60.2% were Roman Catholic, while 252 or 21.1% 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 15 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 1.25% of the population), there were 2 individuals (or about 0.17% 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 9 individuals (or about 0.75% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 20 (or about 1.67% 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 5 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...
. 146 (or about 12.21% 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 27 individuals (or about 2.26% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Härkingen about 442 or (37.0%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 126 or (10.5%) 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 126 who completed tertiary schooling, 71.4% were Swiss men, 15.9% were Swiss women, 9.5% were non-Swiss men.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 95 students in the Härkingen 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 19 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 Härkingen attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 4 students in Härkingen who came from another municipality, while 89 residents attended schools outside the municipality.