Clavaleyres

Clavaleyres
Country Switzerland
Canton Bern
District Bern-Mittelland
Coordinates
Population 48 (Dec 2010)[1]
- Density 48 /km2 (124 /sq mi)
Area  1.01 km2 (0.39 sq mi)[2]
Elevation 454 m (1,490 ft)
Postal code 1595
SFOS number 0661
Surrounded by Courgevaux (FR), Faoug (VD), Villarepos (FR)
Website Clavaleyres.ch
SFSO statistics
Clavaleyres

Clavaleyres is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

Contents

History

Finds of bronze rings imply a settlement in the area during the La Tène culture. During the Roman Empire the area was an estate which supplied the nearby city of Aventicum. In the Middle Ages, Clavaleyres was under the lordship of the Münchenwiler monastery. In 1527 the town was acquired by Bern. From 1798 to 1807, the town belonged to the canton of Fribourg, before it was finally returned to the canton of Bern.[3] There have been various attempts to merge the municipality with Münchenwiler, another exclave of the canton of Bern in the nearby area. The proposals have failed because of the opposition of the inhabitants.

Geography

Clavaleyres has an area, as of 2009, of 1.01 km2 (0.39 sq mi). Of this area, 0.78 km2 (0.30 sq mi) or 77.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.16 km2 (0.062 sq mi) or 15.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.04 km2 (9.9 acres) or 4.0% is settled (buildings or roads).[4]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.0%. 13.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 54.5% is used for growing crops and 21.8% is pastures.[4]

It forms a German-speaking exclave in the French-speaking area of the canton of Fribourg. The area has lost population in the last century; in 1880 it had a population of 118; today it has only 54 inhabitants.

Demographics

Clavaleyres has a population (as of 31 December 2010) of 48.[1] As of 2007, 2.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -9.1%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (88.7%), with French being second most common ( 9.4%) and Polish being third ( 1.9%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 38.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (23.7%), the FDP (17.2%) and the local small left-wing parties (9.1%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 26.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 64.2% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 9.4%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Clavaleyres about 75.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule).

Clavaleyres has an unemployment rate of 0%. As of 2005, there were 24 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. No one is employed in the secondary sector. 7 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 1 business in this sector.[5] The historical population is given in the following table:[3]

year population
1764 31
1850 99
1880 118
1900 102
1950 72
2000 53

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 Clavaleyres 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 06-Jul-2009