Niedergesteln
Encyclopedia
Niedergesteln is a municipality
in the district of Raron
in the canton
of Valais
in Switzerland
.
The municipality is located in the Westlich Raron district, on the northen edge of the Rhone
valley.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Impalled Azure issuant from Coupeaux Vert a house Argent, and Gules two Cavalry Sabres Argent hilted Or in saltire between three Mullets [of Six] Or one and two.
Most of the population speaks German
(556 or 97.0%) as their first language, French
is the second most common (8 or 1.4%) and Bulgarian is the third (3 or 0.5%). There are 2 people who speak Italian
.
, the population was 48.8% male and 51.2% female. The population was made up of 315 Swiss men (46.3% of the population) and 17 (2.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 329 Swiss women (48.4%) and 19 (2.8%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 330 or about 57.6% were born in Niedergesteln and lived there in 2000. There were 178 or 31.1% who were born in the same canton, while 32 or 5.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 16 or 2.8% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0-19 years old) make up 27.2% of the population, while adults (20-64 years old) make up 61.8% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 11%.
, there were 250 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 284 married individuals, 27 widows or widowers and 12 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 209 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household. There were 51 households that consist of only one person and 20 households with five or more people. , a total of 204 apartments (77.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 48 apartments (18.3%) were seasonally occupied and 10 apartments (3.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.5 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.33%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
. The entire village of Niedergesteln is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
.
the most popular party was the CVP
which received 78.84% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
(8.99%), the SP
(8.68%) and the FDP
(1.37%). In the federal election, a total of 330 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 65.5%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat
election a total of 337 votes were cast, of which 13 or about 3.9% were invalid. The voter participation was 67.9%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election
election a total of 332 votes were cast, of which 11 or about 3.3% were invalid. The voter participation was 66.3%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 90. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 16, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 29 of which 17 or (58.6%) were in manufacturing and 12 (41.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 45. In the tertiary sector; 11 or 24.4% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 17 or 37.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 9 or 20.0% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 4.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 4 or 8.9% were in education.
, there were 39 workers who commuted into the municipality and 257 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 6.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 10.3% of the workforce coming into Niedergesteln are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 20.5% used public transportation to get to work, and 67.2% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 2 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 0.35% of the population). There was 1 individual who was Islam
ic. 3 (or about 0.52% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 21 individuals (or about 3.66% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 37 who completed tertiary schooling, 67.6% were Swiss men, 27.0% were Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 48 students in the Niedergesteln 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 was one kindergarten class (KG1 or KG2) and 11 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Niedergesteln there were a total of 4 classes and 48 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. All the lower and upper secondary students from Niedergesteln attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 27 students from Niedergesteln who 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 Raron
Raron (district)
The district of Raron was one of the 12 districts comprising the Republic of Wallis and after 1848 the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Today it is divided into two demi-districts, which are geographically separated by 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....
.
History
Niedergesteln is first mentioned around 1179-84 as Chastellon. In 1224 it was mentioned as Castellion. The municipality was formerly known by its French name Châtillon-le-Bas, however, that name is no longer used.Geography
Niedergesteln has an area, , of 17.5 square kilometre. Of this area, 12.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 28.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.0% is settled (buildings or roads) and 55.9% is unproductive land.The municipality is located in the Westlich Raron district, on the northen edge 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...
valley.
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 Impalled Azure issuant from Coupeaux Vert a house Argent, and Gules two Cavalry Sabres Argent hilted Or in saltire between three Mullets [of Six] Or one and two.
Demographics
Niedergesteln has a population of . , 4.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010 ) the population has changed at a rate of 13.5%. It has changed at a rate of 6.5% due to migration and at a rate of 6.8% 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....
(556 or 97.0%) as their first language, 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...
is the second most common (8 or 1.4%) and Bulgarian is the third (3 or 0.5%). There are 2 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...
.
, the population was 48.8% male and 51.2% female. The population was made up of 315 Swiss men (46.3% of the population) and 17 (2.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 329 Swiss women (48.4%) and 19 (2.8%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 330 or about 57.6% were born in Niedergesteln and lived there in 2000. There were 178 or 31.1% who were born in the same canton, while 32 or 5.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 16 or 2.8% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0-19 years old) make up 27.2% of the population, while adults (20-64 years old) make up 61.8% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 11%.
, there were 250 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 284 married individuals, 27 widows or widowers and 12 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 209 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household. There were 51 households that consist of only one person and 20 households with five or more people. , a total of 204 apartments (77.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 48 apartments (18.3%) were seasonally occupied and 10 apartments (3.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.5 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.33%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
The Gestelnburg 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...
. The entire village of Niedergesteln is 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 78.84% 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...
(8.99%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(8.68%) 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....
(1.37%). In the federal election, a total of 330 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 65.5%.
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 337 votes were cast, of which 13 or about 3.9% were invalid. The voter participation was 67.9%, which is much more than 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 332 votes were cast, of which 11 or about 3.3% were invalid. The voter participation was 66.3%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.
Economy
, Niedergesteln had an unemployment rate of 0.9%. , there were 35 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 15 businesses involved in this sector. 29 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 4 businesses in this sector. 56 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 16 businesses in this sector. There were 302 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 38.7% 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 90. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 16, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 29 of which 17 or (58.6%) were in manufacturing and 12 (41.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 45. In the tertiary sector; 11 or 24.4% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 17 or 37.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 9 or 20.0% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 4.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 4 or 8.9% were in education.
, there were 39 workers who commuted into the municipality and 257 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 6.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 10.3% of the workforce coming into Niedergesteln are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 20.5% used public transportation to get to work, and 67.2% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 535 or 93.4% were Roman Catholic, while 11 or 1.9% 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 2 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 0.35% of the population). There was 1 individual who was Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic. 3 (or about 0.52% 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 21 individuals (or about 3.66% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Niedergesteln about 221 or (38.6%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 37 or (6.5%) 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 37 who completed tertiary schooling, 67.6% were Swiss men, 27.0% were Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 48 students in the Niedergesteln 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 was one kindergarten class (KG1 or KG2) and 11 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Niedergesteln there were a total of 4 classes and 48 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. All the lower and upper secondary students from Niedergesteln attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 27 students from Niedergesteln who attended schools outside the municipality.