Rafz is a 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 Bülach

Bülach (district)

Bülach District is one of 12 districts of the Canton of Zürich in Switzerland, with some 117,000 inhabitants the third largest in the canton. Its administrative capital is Bülach, the largest municipality is Kloten, the location of Zurich Airport...

 in the northwest of 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 Zürich 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

Rafz has an area of 10.7 km² (4.1 sq mi). Of this area, 52% is used for agricultural purposes, while 33.1% is forested. The rest of the land, (14.9%) is settled.

Rafz has border crossings into Germany at Schluchenberg with Baltersweil in Baden-Wurttemberg

Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...

, Germany to the north of town; Rafz town with Lottstetten

Lottstetten

Lottstetten is a municipality in the district of Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.Road border crossings into Switzerland are located near Lottstetten town to Rafz town in Zurich canton, Lottstetten to Solgen also in Rafz municipality, and Nack to Ischläg in Rüdlingen municipality,...

 town also in Baden-Wurttemberg, and at Solgen with Lottstetten.

Demographics

Rafz has a population (as of ) of . , 14.7% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 18.3%. Most of the population speaks German (91.1%), with Italian being second most common ( 2.5%) and Albanian being third ( 2.5%).

In the 2007 election 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 44% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS

Social Democratic Party of Switzerland

The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (18.3%), the CSP

Christian Social Party (Switzerland)

The Christian Social Party is a political party in Switzerland. The CSP is more social democratic than the CVP. With the moderate Christian left as its background, the CSP commits itself to social democratic and environmentalist political solutions...

 (10.2%) and the Green Party

Green Party of Switzerland

The Green Party of Switzerland is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland, and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council.-History:...

 (8.9%).

The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 28.5% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59.9% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 11.7%. In Rafz about 79.5% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule

Fachhochschule

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...

).

Rafz has an unemployment rate of 1.95%. , there were 150 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 38 businesses involved in this sector. 459 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 40 businesses in this sector. 536 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 91 businesses in this sector.

Transport

Raft is a terminal of the Zürich S-Bahn

Zürich S-Bahn

The Zurich S-Bahn system is a network of rapid transit rail lines that has been incrementally expanded to cover the ZVV area, which comprises the entire canton of Zurich and portions of neighboring cantons The Zurich S-Bahn system is a network of rapid transit rail lines that has been...

 on the line S5

S5 (ZVV)

The S5 is a regional railway line of the S-Bahn Zürich on the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund , Zürich transportation network, and is one of the network's lines connecting the cantons of Zürich, St...

. Its train station is a 38 minute ride from Zürich Hauptbahnhof.

External links

• Gemeinde Rafz Official Web site (in German).