Lignières, Neuchâtel
Encyclopedia
Lignières is a municipality
in the district of Neuchâtel
in the Swiss
canton
of Neuchâtel.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.6%. Out of the forested land, 30.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 34.9% is used for growing crops and 19.9% is pastures and 5.6% is used for alpine pastures.
The municipality is located in the Neuchâtel district. It consists of the village of Lignières, the hamlet
of Le Moulin and the farm houses of Les Près sur Lignières.
Most of the population speaks French
(832 or 91.0%) as their first language, German
is the second most common (46 or 5.0%) and English
is the third (9 or 1.0%). There are 3 people who speak Italian
and 1 person who speaks Romansh.
, the population was 50.8% male and 49.2% female. The population was made up of 433 Swiss men (45.2% of the population) and 53 (5.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 425 Swiss women (44.4%) and 46 (4.8%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 285 or about 31.2% were born in Lignières and lived there in 2000. There were 216 or 23.6% who were born in the same canton, while 283 or 31.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 103 or 11.3% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0-19 years old) make up 26.8% of the population, while adults (20-64 years old) make up 63.2% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 10%.
, there were 404 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 419 married individuals, 33 widows or widowers and 58 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 340 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. There were 85 households that consist of only one person and 29 households with five or more people. , a total of 338 apartments (86.0% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 30 apartments (7.6%) were seasonally occupied and 25 apartments (6.4%) were empty. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 2.41%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 27.08% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
(20.12%), the FDP
(19.09%) and the LPS Party
(13.03%). In the federal election, a total of 293 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 45.8%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 226. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 43, of which 38 were in agriculture and 4 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 47 of which 15 or (31.9%) were in manufacturing and 32 (68.1%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 136. In the tertiary sector; 13 or 9.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 78 or 57.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 15 or 11.0% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 1.5% were in the information industry, 1 was in education and 17 or 12.5% were in health care.
, there were 50 workers who commuted into the municipality and 358 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 7.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 7% used public transportation to get to work, and 69.9% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there was 1 member of an Orthodox church
, there were 5 individuals (or about 0.55% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 22 individuals (or about 2.41% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 6 (or about 0.66% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There was 1 person who was Buddhist
and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 178 (or about 19.47% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 47 individuals (or about 5.14% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 129 who completed tertiary schooling, 58.9% were Swiss men, 19.4% were Swiss women, 14.0% were non-Swiss men and 7.8% were non-Swiss women.
In the canton of Neuchâtel most municipalities provide two years of non-mandatory kindergarten
, followed by five years of mandatory primary education. The next four years of mandatory secondary education is provided at thirteen larger secondary schools, which many students travel out of their home municipality to attend. During the 2010-11 school year, there were 1.5 kindergarten classes with a total of 35 students in Lignières. In the same year, there were 4 primary classes with a total of 71 students.
, there were 3 students in Lignières who came from another municipality, while 77 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 Neuchâtel
Neuchâtel (district)
Neuchâtel District is one of the six districts of the largely French-speaking canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, lying in the Le Littoral Region. The district capital is the town of Neuchâtel...
in the Swiss
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....
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 Neuchâtel.
History
Lignières is first mentioned in 1179 as Linieres. In 1212-20 it was mentioned as in Linieres.Geography
Lignières has an area, , of 12.5 square kilometre. Of this area, 7.62 square kilometre or 60.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 3.98 square kilometre or 31.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.92 square kilometre or 7.4% is settled (buildings or roads).Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.6%. Out of the forested land, 30.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 34.9% is used for growing crops and 19.9% is pastures and 5.6% is used for alpine pastures.
The municipality is located in the Neuchâtel district. It consists of the village of Lignières, the hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Le Moulin and the farm houses of Les Près sur Lignières.
Demographics
Lignières has a population of . , 11.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 9.8%. It has changed at a rate of 6.7% due to migration and at a rate of 10.5% due to births and deaths.Most of the population speaks 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...
(832 or 91.0%) as their first language, 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....
is the second most common (46 or 5.0%) and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
is the third (9 or 1.0%). There are 3 people who 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 1 person who speaks Romansh.
, the population was 50.8% male and 49.2% female. The population was made up of 433 Swiss men (45.2% of the population) and 53 (5.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 425 Swiss women (44.4%) and 46 (4.8%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 285 or about 31.2% were born in Lignières and lived there in 2000. There were 216 or 23.6% who were born in the same canton, while 283 or 31.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 103 or 11.3% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0-19 years old) make up 26.8% of the population, while adults (20-64 years old) make up 63.2% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 10%.
, there were 404 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 419 married individuals, 33 widows or widowers and 58 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 340 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. There were 85 households that consist of only one person and 29 households with five or more people. , a total of 338 apartments (86.0% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 30 apartments (7.6%) were seasonally occupied and 25 apartments (6.4%) were empty. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 2.41%.
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 27.08% 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....
(20.12%), 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....
(19.09%) and the LPS Party
Liberal Party of Switzerland
The Liberal Party of Switzerland was a party with economically liberal policies. It was known as a party of the upper class. On 1 January 2009 it merged with the larger Free Democratic Party to establish FDP.The Liberals....
(13.03%). In the federal election, a total of 293 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
was 45.8%.
Economy
, Lignières had an unemployment rate of 3.4%. , there were 55 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 19 businesses involved in this sector. 50 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 10 businesses in this sector. 164 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 23 businesses in this sector. There were 512 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.9% 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 226. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 43, of which 38 were in agriculture and 4 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 47 of which 15 or (31.9%) were in manufacturing and 32 (68.1%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 136. In the tertiary sector; 13 or 9.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 78 or 57.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 15 or 11.0% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 1.5% were in the information industry, 1 was in education and 17 or 12.5% were in health care.
, there were 50 workers who commuted into the municipality and 358 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 7.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 7% used public transportation to get to work, and 69.9% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 187 or 20.5% were Roman Catholic, while 476 or 52.1% 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 was 1 member of an Orthodox church
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
, there were 5 individuals (or about 0.55% 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 22 individuals (or about 2.41% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 6 (or about 0.66% 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 was 1 person who was 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...
and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 178 (or about 19.47% 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 47 individuals (or about 5.14% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Lignières about 353 or (38.6%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 129 or (14.1%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a FachhochschuleFachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...
). Of the 129 who completed tertiary schooling, 58.9% were Swiss men, 19.4% were Swiss women, 14.0% were non-Swiss men and 7.8% were non-Swiss women.
In the canton of Neuchâtel most municipalities provide two 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...
, followed by five years of mandatory primary education. The next four years of mandatory secondary education is provided at thirteen larger secondary schools, which many students travel out of their home municipality to attend. During the 2010-11 school year, there were 1.5 kindergarten classes with a total of 35 students in Lignières. In the same year, there were 4 primary classes with a total of 71 students.
, there were 3 students in Lignières who came from another municipality, while 77 residents attended schools outside the municipality.