Gerzensee

Gerzensee
Country Switzerland
Canton Bern
District Bern-Mittelland
Coordinates
Population 1,108 (Dec 2010)[1]
- Density 142 /km2 (368 /sq mi)
Area  7.79 km2 (3.01 sq mi)[2]
Elevation 646 m (2,119 ft)
Postal code 3115
SFOS number 0866
Surrounded by Belp, Belpberg, Gelterfingen, Kirchdorf, Mühledorf, Münsingen, Wichtrach
Website www.gerzensee.ch
SFSO statistics
Gerzensee

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

The town is named after its lake: Gerzensee.

Contents

History

Gerzensee is first mentioned in 1228 as Gercentse.[3]

Geography

Gerzensee has an area, as of 2009, of 7.79 km2 (3.01 sq mi). Of this area, 5.28 km2 (2.04 sq mi) or 67.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.58 km2 (0.61 sq mi) or 20.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.7 km2 (0.27 sq mi) or 9.0% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.28 km2 (0.11 sq mi) or 3.6% is either rivers or lakes.[4]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 6.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.1%. 18.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 39.3% is used for growing crops and 25.7% is pastures, while 2.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 1.8% is in lakes and 1.8% is in rivers and streams.[4]

The municipality includes the south-east portion of Belpberg hill, down to the Aare river. The village of Gerzensee is located on a terrace above the undeveloped lake of the same name. There are small, scattered settlements including; Sädel, Vorder- and Hinterchlapf on the crest of the hill.

Demographics

Gerzensee has a population (as of 31 December 2010) of 1,108.[1] As of 2007, 3.3% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 7.8%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (97.0%), with French being second most common ( 1.5%) and Portuguese being third ( 0.4%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 46.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (14.2%), the Green Party (12.1%) and the FDP (10.6%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 23.5% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15.5%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Gerzensee about 78.6% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).

Gerzensee has an unemployment rate of 0.55%. As of 2005, there were 103 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 37 businesses involved in this sector. 67 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 10 businesses in this sector. 166 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 25 businesses in this sector.[5] The historical population is given in the following table:[3]

Historical populations
Year Pop. ±%
1764 434 —
1900 790 +82.0%
1950 802 +1.5%
1970 767 −4.4%
2000 911 +18.8%

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 Gerzensee 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 14-Jul-2009

External links