Russo is a village and former municipality in the district of Locarno

Locarno (district)

The district of Locarno is a district of Canton Ticino, Switzerland. It has a population of .-Geography:...

 in the canton of Ticino, 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....

.

In 1995 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Comologno

Comologno

Comologno is a village and former municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.In 1995 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Crana and Russo to form a new and larger municipality Onsernone....

 and Crana

Crana

Crana is a village and former municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.In 1995 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Comologno and Russo to form a new and larger municipality Onsernone....

 to form a new and larger municipality Onsernone

Onsernone

Onsernone is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Ticino, near the city of Locarno. The river Isorno runs through this valley.The municipality was created in 1995 by a merger of Comologno, Crana and Russo.-History:...

.

History

Russo is first mentioned in 1231 as de Ruxi'. In 1277 it was mentioned as Rusio.

During the Ancien Régime

Early Modern Switzerland

The early modern history of the Old Swiss Confederacy , lasting from formal independence in 1648 to the French invasion of 1798 came to be referred as Ancien Régime retrospectively, in post-Napoleonic Switzerland.The early modern period was characterized by an increasingly...

, Russo belonged to the Squadra of Russo, part of the old municipality of Onsernone.

The parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 was probably created in 1656, when it separated from Loco. It included Comologno until 1715, Vergeletto until 1757, and Crana until 1787. The parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 of S. Maria Assunta is first mentioned in 1365, and was renovated in 1995-2002.

Until about the mid-20th Century, agriculture, animal husbandry and straw plaiting were the main sources of income in the village. This was supplemented by the traditional seasonal migration

Transhumance in the Alps

Transhumance in the Alps, or seasonal migration between valley and high pastures is a traditional practice that has shaped much of the landscape in the Alps, as without it, most areas below 2000 m would be forests.While tourism and industry contribute today much to Alpine economy, seasonal...

. While the number of inhabitants had decreased consistently over the decades, it began increasing in the 1970s. In 1989, the opening of the Centro sociale onsernonese nursing home provided a few dozen jobs in the village.

Historic population

The historical population is given in the following table:

Year	Population Russo
1795	206
1808	239
1850	302
1900	248
1950	121
1970	84
1990	136