Törbel
Encyclopedia
Törbel is a municipality
in the district of Visp in the canton
of Valais
in Switzerland
. The highest point is the peak of the Augstbordhorns at 2972 metres (9,750.7 ft).
The municipality is located in the Visp district, in the Visp valley above Stalden. It consists of the village of Törbel and the hamlets
of Burge, Feld and Brunnen as well as six additional settlements.
of the municipal coat of arms
is A chief Argent, per fess Azure on a Mount Vert a Tower Argent and Or a Fountain Sable, overall capital letter tau.
Most of the population speaks German
(494 or 99.2%) as their first language with the rest speaking Serbo-Croatian
, the population was 50.5% male and 49.5% female. The population was made up of 244 Swiss men (49.9% of the population) and 3 (0.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 240 Swiss women (49.1%) and 2 (0.4%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 414 or about 83.1% were born in Törbel and lived there in 2000. There were 45 or 9.0% who were born in the same canton, while 23 or 4.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 8 or 1.6% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0-19 years old) make up 27.5% of the population, while adults (20-64 years old) make up 54% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 18.5%.
, there were 215 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 238 married individuals, 37 widows or widowers and 8 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 182 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household. There were 48 households that consist of only one person and 26 households with five or more people. , a total of 172 apartments (47.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 163 apartments (45.3%) were seasonally occupied and 25 apartments (6.9%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 4.1 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 3.92%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
. The entire village of Törbel, and the hamlets of Burge and Feld are all part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
.
the most popular party was the CVP
which received 83.59% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
(11.9%), the Green Party
(1.59%) and the SP
(1.53%). In the federal election, a total of 244 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 59.1%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat
election a total of 281 votes were cast, of which 8 or about 2.8% were invalid. The voter participation was 70.6%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election
election a total of 241 votes were cast, of which 5 or about 2.1% 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 83. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 34, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 10, all of which were in manufacturing. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 39. In the tertiary sector; 2 or 5.1% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 2 or 5.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 21 or 53.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 3 or 7.7% were in education.
, there were 9 workers who commuted into the municipality and 149 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 16.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 34.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 44% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there was 1 individual who belongs to another Christian church. There were 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 10 (or about 2.01% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 7 individuals (or about 1.41% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 9 who completed tertiary schooling, 77.8% were Swiss men, 22.2% were Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 38 students in the Törbel 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 10 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Törbel there were a total of 3 classes and 38 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 Törbel attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 35 students from Törbel 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 Visp 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....
. The highest point is the peak of the Augstbordhorns at 2972 metres (9,750.7 ft).
Geography
Törbel has an area, , of 17.6 square kilometre. Of this area, 33.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 37.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and 26.0% is unproductive land.The municipality is located in the Visp district, in the Visp valley above Stalden. It consists of the village of Törbel and the hamlets
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 Burge, Feld and Brunnen as well as six additional settlements.
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 A chief Argent, per fess Azure on a Mount Vert a Tower Argent and Or a Fountain Sable, overall capital letter tau.
Demographics
Törbel has a population of . , 1.8% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010 ) the population has changed at a rate of -10.3%. It has changed at a rate of -4% due to migration and at a rate of -2.2% 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....
(494 or 99.2%) as their first language with the rest speaking Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
, the population was 50.5% male and 49.5% female. The population was made up of 244 Swiss men (49.9% of the population) and 3 (0.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 240 Swiss women (49.1%) and 2 (0.4%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 414 or about 83.1% were born in Törbel and lived there in 2000. There were 45 or 9.0% who were born in the same canton, while 23 or 4.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 8 or 1.6% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0-19 years old) make up 27.5% of the population, while adults (20-64 years old) make up 54% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 18.5%.
, there were 215 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 238 married individuals, 37 widows or widowers and 8 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 182 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household. There were 48 households that consist of only one person and 26 households with five or more people. , a total of 172 apartments (47.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 163 apartments (45.3%) were seasonally occupied and 25 apartments (6.9%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 4.1 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 3.92%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
The Mill in Törbel 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 Törbel, and the hamlets of Burge and Feld are all 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 83.59% 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...
(11.9%), 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:...
(1.59%) and the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(1.53%). In the federal election, a total of 244 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 59.1%.
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 281 votes were cast, of which 8 or about 2.8% were invalid. The voter participation was 70.6%, 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 241 votes were cast, of which 5 or about 2.1% were invalid. The voter participation was 60.3%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 59.88%.
Economy
, Törbel had an unemployment rate of 0.8%. , there were 93 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 42 businesses involved in this sector. 14 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 2 businesses in this sector. 53 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 9 businesses in this sector. There were 216 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 37.5% 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 83. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 34, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 10, all of which were in manufacturing. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 39. In the tertiary sector; 2 or 5.1% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 2 or 5.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 21 or 53.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 3 or 7.7% were in education.
, there were 9 workers who commuted into the municipality and 149 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 16.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 34.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 44% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 473 or 95.0% were Roman Catholic, while 5 or 1.0% 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 was 1 individual who belongs to another Christian church. There were 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 10 (or about 2.01% 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 7 individuals (or about 1.41% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Törbel about 137 or (27.5%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 9 or (1.8%) 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 9 who completed tertiary schooling, 77.8% were Swiss men, 22.2% were Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 38 students in the Törbel 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 10 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Törbel there were a total of 3 classes and 38 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 Törbel attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 35 students from Törbel who attended schools outside the municipality.