Eriswil

Eriswil
Country Switzerland
Canton Bern
District Oberaargau
Population 1,356 (Dec 2010)[1]
- Density 120 /km2 (311 /sq mi)
Area  11.36 km2 (4.39 sq mi)[2]
Elevation 740 m (2,428 ft)
Postal code 4952
SFOS number 0953
Mayor Regina Baumann
Surrounded by Huttwil, Luthern (LU), Sumiswald, Ufhusen (LU), Wyssachen
Website www.eriswil.ch
SFSO statistics
Eriswil

Eriswil is a municipality in the Oberaargau administrative district in the Swiss canton of Bern.

Contents

History

Eriswil is first mentioned in 1256 as Erolzwile.[3]

Geography

Eriswil has an area, as of 2009, of 11.36 km2 (4.39 sq mi). Of this area, 7.61 km2 (2.94 sq mi) or 67.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.97 km2 (1.15 sq mi) or 26.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.73 km2 (0.28 sq mi) or 6.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.01 km2 (2.5 acres) or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes and 0.01 km2 (2.5 acres) or 0.1% is unproductive land.[4]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.0%. 22.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 17.0% is used for growing crops and 46.7% is pastures, while 2.6% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams.[4]

The municipality is located in part of the Oberaargau. It includes the village of Eriswil, the Gütergemeinden Vorder- and Hinterdorf, and the hamlets of Neuligen and Schwendi. Schwendi joined the municipality in 1888-89 following a survey of the border with Wyssachen.

Demographics

Eriswil has a population (as of 31 December 2010) of 1,356.[1] As of 2007, 4.8% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -5.7%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (97.5%), with Albanian being second most common ( 0.8%) and French being third ( 0.3%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 51.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (15.6%), the local small left-wing parties (11.7%) and the Green Party (7.5%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.3% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 55.7% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 19%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Eriswil about 66.6% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).

Eriswil has an unemployment rate of 0.75%. As of 2005, there were 192 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 68 businesses involved in this sector. 111 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 26 businesses in this sector. 149 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 27 businesses in this sector.[5] The historical population is given in the following table:[3]

year population
1730 1,726
1764 2,092
1850 1,973
1900 2,083
1950 1,847
2000 1,439

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 Eriswil 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 17-Jul-2009

External links