| Frutigen | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||
| Population | 6,718 (Dec 2010)[1] | |||||||||
| - Density | 94 /km2 (242 /sq mi) | |||||||||
| Area | 71.75 km2 (27.70 sq mi)[2] | |||||||||
| Elevation | 800 m (2,625 ft) | |||||||||
| Postal code | 3714 | |||||||||
| SFOS number | 0563 | |||||||||
| Surrounded by | Adelboden, Diemtigen, Kandergrund, Kandersteg, Reichenbach im Kandertal | |||||||||
| Twin towns | Teteven (Bulgaria) | |||||||||
| Website | www.frutigen.ch SFSO statistics |
|||||||||
|
Frutigen
|
||||||||||
|
Map of Frutigen
|
||||||||||
Frutigen is a municipality in the Bernese Oberland in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district.
Contents |
The area around Frutigen may have been settled since possibly the Bronze age or Roman times. It is first mentioned in 1234 as Frutingen.[3]
Frutigen has an area, as of 2009[update], of 71.75 km2 (27.70 sq mi). Of this area, 38.4 km2 (14.8 sq mi) or 53.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 19.06 km2 (7.36 sq mi) or 26.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.3 km2 (1.3 sq mi) or 4.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.86 km2 (0.33 sq mi) or 1.2% is either rivers or lakes and 10.16 km2 (3.92 sq mi) or 14.2% is unproductive land.[4]
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.6%. 21.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 16.9% is pastures and 36.5% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 8.8% is unproductive vegetation and 5.3% is too rocky for vegetation.[4]
The municipality includes parts of the Kander and Engstligen valleys between the Niesenkette and Gehrihorn. It includes the villages of Frutigen, Kanderbrück, Hasli, Innerschwandi, Ladholz, Oberfeld-Prasten, Reinisch and Winklen mit Weilern as well as individual farms on the valley floor and stretching up the mountain sides to 1,600 m (5,200 ft) above sea level.
Frutigen has a population (as of 31 December 2010) of 6,718.[1] As of 2007[update], 6.1% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 1.9%. Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (96.1%), with Albanian being second most common ( 0.9%) and French being third ( 0.5%).
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 41% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CSP (17.2%), the local small left-wing parties (15%) and the FDP (10%).
The age distribution of the population (as of 2000[update]) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 28.3% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 56.3% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15.4%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Frutigen about 66.9% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).[5]
The historical population is given in the following table:[3]
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1764 | 1,935 |
| 1850 | 3,480 |
| 1900 | 3,996 |
| 1950 | 5,643 |
| 2000 | 6,661 |
Frutigen has an unemployment rate of 1.59%. As of 2005[update], there were 678 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 242 businesses involved in this sector. 1137 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 91 businesses in this sector. 1441 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 193 businesses in this sector.[5]
Today the main focus of its economy is the hydraulics industry, slate mining and tourism.
Frutigen is at the northern point of the Lötschberg Base Tunnel, whose geothermal energy powers the Tropenhaus Frutigen, a tropical greenhouse producing exotic fruit, sturgeon meat and caviar.
Blue cake is a local pastry specialty.
|
|
|||||||