Naters
Encyclopedia
Naters is a municipality
in the district of Brig in the canton
of Valais
in Switzerland
.
The municipality is located in the Brig district, on the right bank of the Rhone
river on the gently sloping alluvial country around the Kelchbach. It covers the entire Natischer mountain between Kelchbach and the Mass. It consists of the villages of Naters, Hegdorn, Geimen, Mehlbaum, Rischinen and Blatten.
The municipalities of Birgisch
and Mund
are seeking approval from the Canton to merge on 1 January 2013 into the municipality of Naters.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Gules, between two Crosiers Or in saltire in chief a Mitre of the same.
Most of the population speaks German
(6,902 or 91.8%) as their first language, Italian
is the second most common (188 or 2.5%) and Albanian
is the third (101 or 1.3%). There are 79 people who speak French
and 7 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 48.4% male and 51.6% female. The population was made up of 3,403 Swiss men (42.0% of the population) and 512 (6.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 3,671 Swiss women (45.3%) and 510 (6.3%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 3,252 or about 43.3% were born in Naters and lived there in 2000. There were 2,579 or 34.3% who were born in the same canton, while 687 or 9.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 796 or 10.6% were born outside of Switzerland. The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24.1% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59.9% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16%.
, there were 3,026 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 3,774 married individuals, 451 widows or widowers and 264 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.62 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.63 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 61.5% 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 3,020 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 869 households that consist of only one person and 198 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 3,100 households that answered this question, 28.0% were households made up of just one person and there were 40 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 885 married couples without children, 1,032 married couples with children There were 147 single parents with a child or children. There were 47 households that were made up of unrelated people and 80 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 932 single family homes (or 54.9% of the total) out of a total of 1,699 inhabited buildings. There were 546 multi-family buildings (32.1%), along with 120 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (7.1%) and 101 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (5.9%).
, a total of 2,882 apartments (69.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 1,049 apartments (25.1%) were seasonally occupied and 242 apartments (5.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 10.9 new units per 1000 residents.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
at Beinhausweg and the Church of St. Mauritius are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance
. The urbanized village of Naters and the village of Blatten are both part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
.
the most popular party was the CVP
which received 46.41% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
(28.69%), the SP
(19.11%) and the FDP
(4.14%). In the federal election, a total of 3,617 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 59.6%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat
election a total of 3,301 votes were cast, of which 296 or about 9.0% were invalid. The voter participation was 54.6%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election
election a total of 3,587 votes were cast, of which 189 or about 5.3% were invalid. The voter participation was 59.6%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 59.88%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 1,381. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 57, of which 50 were in agriculture and 7 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 536 of which 184 or (34.3%) were in manufacturing, 2 or (0.4%) were in mining and 350 (65.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 788. In the tertiary sector; 162 or 20.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 30 or 3.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 176 or 22.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 35 or 4.4% were the insurance or financial industry, 97 or 12.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 70 or 8.9% were in education and 132 or 16.8% were in health care.
, there were 925 workers who commuted into the municipality and 2,480 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.7 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 15.4% of the workforce coming into Naters are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 23.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 41.9% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 86 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 1.14% of the population), there were 2 individuals (or about 0.03% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 86 individuals (or about 1.14% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 233 (or about 3.10% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 10 individuals who were Buddhist
, 3 individuals who were Hindu
and 5 individuals who belonged to another church. 100 (or about 1.33% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 225 individuals (or about 2.99% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 594 who completed tertiary schooling, 70.5% were Swiss men, 20.0% were Swiss women, 5.6% were non-Swiss men and 3.9% were non-Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 762 students in the Naters school system. The education system
in the Canton of Valais allows young children to attend one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten
. During that school year, there 7 kindergarten classes (KG1 or KG2) and 151 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Naters there were a total of 25 classes and 536 students in the primary school. The secondary school
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. There were 226 lower secondary students who attended school in Naters. All the upper secondary students attended school in another municipality.
, there were 324 students in Naters who came from another municipality, while 289 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Naters is home to the Gemeindebibliothek (municipal library of Naters). The library has 17,945 books or other media, and loaned out 47,534 items in the same year. It was open a total of 264 days with average of 16 hours per week during that year.
. The team currently plays in Liga 1.
, the third highest tier in the Swiss football pyramid
.
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 Brig 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...
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
Naters has an area, , of 101.3 square kilometre. Of this area, 16.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and 72.7% is unproductive land.The municipality is located in the Brig district, on 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...
river on the gently sloping alluvial country around the Kelchbach. It covers the entire Natischer mountain between Kelchbach and the Mass. It consists of the villages of Naters, Hegdorn, Geimen, Mehlbaum, Rischinen and Blatten.
The municipalities of Birgisch
Birgisch
Birgisch is a municipality in the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.-Geography:Birgisch has an area, , of . Of this area, 37.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 46.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.0% is settled and 12.6% is unproductive land.The...
and Mund
Mund
Mund is a municipality in the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.-History:Mund is first mentioned in 1259 as Munt. Until about 1800 it was normally known as Wyler and the last mention of that name was in 1850.-Geography:...
are seeking approval from the Canton to merge on 1 January 2013 into the municipality of Naters.
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, between two Crosiers Or in saltire in chief a Mitre of the same.
Demographics
Naters has a population of . , 11.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 6.9%. It has changed at a rate of 5.7% due to migration and at a rate of -0.1% 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....
(6,902 or 91.8%) as their first language, 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 second most common (188 or 2.5%) 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...
is the third (101 or 1.3%). There are 79 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 7 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 48.4% male and 51.6% female. The population was made up of 3,403 Swiss men (42.0% of the population) and 512 (6.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 3,671 Swiss women (45.3%) and 510 (6.3%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 3,252 or about 43.3% were born in Naters and lived there in 2000. There were 2,579 or 34.3% who were born in the same canton, while 687 or 9.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 796 or 10.6% were born outside of Switzerland. The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24.1% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59.9% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16%.
, there were 3,026 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 3,774 married individuals, 451 widows or widowers and 264 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.62 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.63 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 61.5% 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 3,020 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 869 households that consist of only one person and 198 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 3,100 households that answered this question, 28.0% were households made up of just one person and there were 40 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 885 married couples without children, 1,032 married couples with children There were 147 single parents with a child or children. There were 47 households that were made up of unrelated people and 80 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 932 single family homes (or 54.9% of the total) out of a total of 1,699 inhabited buildings. There were 546 multi-family buildings (32.1%), along with 120 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (7.1%) and 101 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (5.9%).
, a total of 2,882 apartments (69.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 1,049 apartments (25.1%) were seasonally occupied and 242 apartments (5.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 10.9 new units per 1000 residents.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
The OssuaryOssuary
An ossuary is a chest, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary...
at Beinhausweg and the Church of St. Mauritius are listed as 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...
. The urbanized village of Naters and the village of Blatten are both part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
The Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage.-Sites of national importance:-Types:...
.
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 46.41% 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...
(28.69%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(19.11%) 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....
(4.14%). In the federal election, a total of 3,617 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 3,301 votes were cast, of which 296 or about 9.0% were invalid. The voter participation was 54.6%, 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 3,587 votes were cast, of which 189 or about 5.3% were invalid. The voter participation was 59.6%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 59.88%.
Economy
, Naters had an unemployment rate of 2.3%. , there were 142 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 71 businesses involved in this sector. 564 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 59 businesses in this sector. 1,009 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 187 businesses in this sector. There were 3,581 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 40.5% 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 1,381. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 57, of which 50 were in agriculture and 7 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 536 of which 184 or (34.3%) were in manufacturing, 2 or (0.4%) were in mining and 350 (65.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 788. In the tertiary sector; 162 or 20.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 30 or 3.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 176 or 22.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 35 or 4.4% were the insurance or financial industry, 97 or 12.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 70 or 8.9% were in education and 132 or 16.8% were in health care.
, there were 925 workers who commuted into the municipality and 2,480 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.7 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 15.4% of the workforce coming into Naters are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 23.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 41.9% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 6,525 or 86.8% were Roman Catholic, while 282 or 3.8% 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 86 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 1.14% of the population), there were 2 individuals (or about 0.03% 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 86 individuals (or about 1.14% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 233 (or about 3.10% 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 10 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...
, 3 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 5 individuals who belonged to another church. 100 (or about 1.33% 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 225 individuals (or about 2.99% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Naters about 2,860 or (38.1%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 594 or (7.9%) 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 594 who completed tertiary schooling, 70.5% were Swiss men, 20.0% were Swiss women, 5.6% were non-Swiss men and 3.9% were non-Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 762 students in the Naters 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 Valais allows young children to attend one year 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 7 kindergarten classes (KG1 or KG2) and 151 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Naters there were a total of 25 classes and 536 students in the 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 (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. There were 226 lower secondary students who attended school in Naters. All the upper secondary students attended school in another municipality.
, there were 324 students in Naters who came from another municipality, while 289 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Naters is home to the Gemeindebibliothek (municipal library of Naters). The library has 17,945 books or other media, and loaned out 47,534 items in the same year. It was open a total of 264 days with average of 16 hours per week during that year.
Sport
The town is home to FC NatersFC Naters
FC Naters is a Swiss football club from the town of Naters in Canton Valais, the French-speaking region of Switzerland. The team currently plays in Liga 1., the third highest tier in the Swiss football pyramid.-History:...
. The team currently plays in Liga 1.
Swiss 1. Liga (football)
1. Liga is the third tier of the Swiss Football League. The division is split into three groups of 16 teams, by geographical region.-Regional Format:...
, the third highest tier in the Swiss football pyramid
Swiss Football League
The Swiss Football League is organised in several leagues.-Proposed system from 2012-13 season onwards:-External links:* * * * *...
.