Bévilard

Bévilard
Country Switzerland
Canton Bern
District Jura bernois
Population 1,684 (Dec 2010)[1]
- Density 299 /km2 (775 /sq mi)
Area  5.68 km2 (2.19 sq mi)[2]
Elevation 691 m (2,267 ft)
Postal code 2735
SFOS number 0682
Surrounded by Malleray, Champoz, Sorvilier, Péry
Website www.bevilard.ch
SFSO statistics
Bévilard

Bévilard is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura (Jura Bernois).

Contents

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History

Bévilard is first mentioned in 1182 as Bevilar. In German it was known asBewiler though this is not used currently.[3]

Geography

Bévilard has an area, as of 2009, of 5.68 km2 (2.19 sq mi). Of this area, 2.31 km2 (0.89 sq mi) or 40.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.75 km2 (1.06 sq mi) or 48.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.71 km2 (0.27 sq mi) or 12.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.01 km2 (2.5 acres) or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes.[4]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 7.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.5%. 40.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 7.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 8.8% is used for growing crops and 12.7% is pastures and 18.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams.[4]

It is located in the upper Birs River Valley, near Malleray.

Demographics

Bévilard has a population (as of 31 December 2010) of 1,684.[1] As of 2007, 15.2% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -2.6%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks French (85.1%), with German being second most common ( 5.9%) and Italian being third ( 4.7%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SPS which received 28.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (25%), the FDP (24.2%) and the local small left-wing parties (9.8%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 55.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 19.7%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Bévilard about 62.2% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule).

Bévilard has an unemployment rate of 1.76%. As of 2005, there were 26 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 9 businesses involved in this sector. 483 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 18 businesses in this sector. 194 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 43 businesses in this sector.[5] The historical population is given in the following table:[3]

year population
1770/71 152
1818 200
1850 294
1900 652
1950 1,130
1970 1,952

External links

References

  1. ^ a b Swiss Federal Statistical Office - STAT-TAB, online database – Datenwürfel für Thema 01.2 - Bevölkerungsstand und -bewegung (German) accessed 29 September
  2. ^ Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeindedaten nach 4 Hauptbereichen
  3. ^ a b Bévilard in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  4. ^ a b Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data (German) accessed 25 March 2010
  5. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 07-Jul-2009