Montana, Switzerland
Encyclopedia
Montana is a municipality
in the district of Sierre in the canton
of Valais
, Switzerland
. It is one of the six municipalities that form the ski resort Crans-Montana
(together with Icogne
, Lens, Randogne
, Mollens
and Chermignon
).
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 15.5% and transportation infrastructure made up 8.2%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 3.5%. Out of the forested land, 38.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.6% is used for growing crops and 12.5% is pastures, while 10.4% is used for orchards or vine crops and 2.2% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in lakes. Of the unproductive areas, and 1.2% is too rocky for vegetation.
The municipality is located in the Sierre district, above the right bank of the Rhone
. It consists of the villages of Montana and Corin, part of the Champzabé, the hamlet
of Diogne as well as the resort of Montana-Vermala (located at an elevation of 1500 m (4,921.3 ft) and shared between Montana and Randogne).
of the municipal coat of arms
is Gules, two crosiers Or in saltire over those issuant from Coupeaux vert a Pine-tree of the same trunked Gules.
Most of the population speaks French
(1,883 or 81.7%) as their first language, German
is the second most common (125 or 5.4%) and Italian
is the third (109 or 4.7%).
, the population was 49.0% male and 51.0% female. The population was made up of 799 Swiss men (35.2% of the population) and 312 (13.8%) non-Swiss men. There were 854 Swiss women (37.6%) and 304 (13.4%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 820 or about 35.6% were born in Montana and lived there in 2000. There were 493 or 21.4% who were born in the same canton, while 268 or 11.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 639 or 27.7% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0-19 years old) make up 20.8% of the population, while adults (20-64 years old) make up 62% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.2%.
, there were 903 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,168 married individuals, 129 widows or widowers and 105 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 998 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.2 persons per household. There were 382 households that consist of only one person and 49 households with five or more people. , a total of 874 apartments (39.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 1,284 apartments (58.5%) were seasonally occupied and 37 apartments (1.7%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0.9 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.56%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
.
the most popular party was the CVP
which received 42.96% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
(18.8%), the SP
(17.03%) and the FDP
(12.83%). In the federal election, a total of 872 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 59.6%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat
election a total of 758 votes were cast, of which 67 or about 8.8% were invalid. The voter participation was 53.2%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election
election a total of 848 votes were cast, of which 49 or about 5.8% were invalid. The voter participation was 60.3%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 59.88%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 1,141. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 31, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 192 of which 28 or (14.6%) were in manufacturing and 163 (84.9%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 918. In the tertiary sector; 188 or 20.5% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 22 or 2.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 272 or 29.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 14 or 1.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 18 or 2.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 123 or 13.4% were in education and 166 or 18.1% were in health care.
, there were 1,250 workers who commuted into the municipality and 527 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 2.4 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. Of the working population, 6.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 55% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 91 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 3.95% of the population), and there were 23 individuals (or about 1.00% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 10 individuals (or about 0.43% of the population) who were Jewish
, and 19 (or about 0.82% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 3 individuals who were Buddhist
and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 87 (or about 3.77% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 107 individuals (or about 4.64% of the population) did not answer the question.
. The wettest month is December during which time Montana receives an average of 120 mm (4.7 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 9.9 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is January, with an average of 10.4, but with only 108 mm (4.3 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is September with an average of 51 mm (2 in) of precipitation over 6.8 days.
). Of the 356 who completed tertiary schooling, 39.9% were Swiss men, 28.9% were Swiss women, 18.5% were non-Swiss men and 12.6% were non-Swiss women. , there were 507 students in Montana who came from another municipality, while 144 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 Sierre 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 Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. It is one of the six municipalities that form the ski resort Crans-Montana
Crans-Montana
Crans-Montana is a ski resort in western Switzerland, in the heart of the Swiss Alps in the canton of Valais. It is located on a plateau above Sierre at an elevation of about 1500 m above sea level, allowing good view over the Valais Alps and Weisshorn in particular...
(together with Icogne
Icogne
Icogne is a municipality in the district of Sierre in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.-History:Icogne is first mentioned in 1233 as Ucogni. In 1249 it was mentioned as Ucogniez.-Geography:...
, Lens, Randogne
Randogne
Randogne is a municipality in the district of Sierre in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.-Geography:Randogne has an area, , of . Of this area, or 26.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 31.0% is forested...
, Mollens
Mollens, Valais
Mollens is a municipality in the district of Sierre in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.-History:Mollens is first mentioned about 1250 as Molaen. In 1286 it was mentioned as Moleing. The municipality was formerly known by its German name Molei, however, that name is no longer...
and Chermignon
Chermignon
Chermignon is a municipality in the district of Sierre in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.-History:Chermignon is first mentioned in 1228 as Chermenon and Chirminon. It became an independent municipality in 1905 when it separated from Lens....
).
History
Montana is first mentioned in 1243 as Montana. In 1905 it separated from Lens to form an independent municipality.Geography
Montana has an area, , of 4.9 square kilometre. Of this area, 1.26 square kilometre or 25.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.08 square kilometre or 42.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.4 square kilometre or 28.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.08 km² (19.8 acre) or 1.6% is either rivers or lakes and 0.1 km² (24.7 acre) or 2.0% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 15.5% and transportation infrastructure made up 8.2%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 3.5%. Out of the forested land, 38.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.6% is used for growing crops and 12.5% is pastures, while 10.4% is used for orchards or vine crops and 2.2% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in lakes. Of the unproductive areas, and 1.2% is too rocky for vegetation.
The municipality is located in the Sierre district, above the right bank of the Rhone
Rhône
Rhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
. It consists of the villages of Montana and Corin, part of the Champzabé, 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 Diogne as well as the resort of Montana-Vermala (located at an elevation of 1500 m (4,921.3 ft) and shared between Montana and Randogne).
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, two crosiers Or in saltire over those issuant from Coupeaux vert a Pine-tree of the same trunked Gules.
Demographics
Montana has a population of . , 27.8% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010 ) the population has changed at a rate of -5.1%. It has changed at a rate of -2.8% due to migration and at a rate of -0.8% 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...
(1,883 or 81.7%) 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 (125 or 5.4%) 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...
is the third (109 or 4.7%).
, the population was 49.0% male and 51.0% female. The population was made up of 799 Swiss men (35.2% of the population) and 312 (13.8%) non-Swiss men. There were 854 Swiss women (37.6%) and 304 (13.4%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 820 or about 35.6% were born in Montana and lived there in 2000. There were 493 or 21.4% who were born in the same canton, while 268 or 11.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 639 or 27.7% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0-19 years old) make up 20.8% of the population, while adults (20-64 years old) make up 62% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.2%.
, there were 903 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,168 married individuals, 129 widows or widowers and 105 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 998 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.2 persons per household. There were 382 households that consist of only one person and 49 households with five or more people. , a total of 874 apartments (39.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 1,284 apartments (58.5%) were seasonally occupied and 37 apartments (1.7%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0.9 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.56%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
The Hotel Bella Lui is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significanceSwiss 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 CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...
which received 42.96% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were 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...
(18.8%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(17.03%) and 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....
(12.83%). In the federal election, a total of 872 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 59.6%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat
Conseil d'Etat (Switzerland)
In Switzerland, Conseil d'Etat is the name of the council constituting the cantonal government of French-speaking cantons. It is not to be confused with the Conseil des États which is a chamber of the Swiss parliament....
election a total of 758 votes were cast, of which 67 or about 8.8% were invalid. The voter participation was 53.2%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election
Swiss Council of States election, 2007
Elections were held to the Council of States of Switzerland in October and November 2007 as part of the 2007 federal election. All 46 members of the Council of States were elected from all cantons of Switzerland. The first round was held on 21 October...
election a total of 848 votes were cast, of which 49 or about 5.8% were invalid. The voter participation was 60.3%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 59.88%.
Economy
, Montana had an unemployment rate of 4%. , there were 64 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 29 businesses involved in this sector. 206 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 23 businesses in this sector. 1,054 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 135 businesses in this sector. There were 1,199 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 46.3% 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 1,141. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 31, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 192 of which 28 or (14.6%) were in manufacturing and 163 (84.9%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 918. In the tertiary sector; 188 or 20.5% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 22 or 2.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 272 or 29.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 14 or 1.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 18 or 2.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 123 or 13.4% were in education and 166 or 18.1% were in health care.
, there were 1,250 workers who commuted into the municipality and 527 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 2.4 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. Of the working population, 6.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 55% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 1,816 or 78.8% were Roman Catholic, while 158 or 6.9% 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 91 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 3.95% of the population), and there were 23 individuals (or about 1.00% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 10 individuals (or about 0.43% of the population) who were Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and 19 (or about 0.82% 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 3 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...
and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 87 (or about 3.77% 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 107 individuals (or about 4.64% of the population) did not answer the question.
Weather
Montana has an average of 110.5 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 982 mm (38.7 in) of precipitationPrecipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
. The wettest month is December during which time Montana receives an average of 120 mm (4.7 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 9.9 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is January, with an average of 10.4, but with only 108 mm (4.3 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is September with an average of 51 mm (2 in) of precipitation over 6.8 days.
Education
In Montana about 744 or (32.3%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 356 or (15.4%) 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 356 who completed tertiary schooling, 39.9% were Swiss men, 28.9% were Swiss women, 18.5% were non-Swiss men and 12.6% were non-Swiss women. , there were 507 students in Montana who came from another municipality, while 144 residents attended schools outside the municipality.