Grandval, Switzerland

Grandval
Village Church of Grandval
Country Switzerland
Canton Bern
District Jura bernois
Population 350 (Dec 2010)[1]
- Density 43 /km2 (110 /sq mi)
Area  8.24 km2 (3.18 sq mi)[2]
Elevation 588 m (1,929 ft)
Postal code 2745
SFOS number 0694
Surrounded by Eschert, Belprahon, Roches, Crémines, Rebeuvelier (JU), Gänsbrunnen (SO)
Website www.grandval.ch
SFSO statistics
Grandval

Grandval 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). Grandval also used to be known under its German name Granfel or Granfelden, but these forms are no longer commonly used.

Contents

History

Grandval is first mentioned around 900 as Grandemvallem.[3]

Geography

Grandval has an area, as of 2009, of 8.24 km2 (3.18 sq mi). Of this area, 3.64 km2 (1.41 sq mi) or 44.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 4.15 km2 (1.60 sq mi) or 50.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.34 km2 (0.13 sq mi) or 4.1% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.02 km2 (4.9 acres) or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes and 0.04 km2 (9.9 acres) or 0.5% is unproductive land.[4]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.3%. 44.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 6.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 9.6% is used for growing crops and 13.2% is pastures and 21.0% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams.[4]

The municipality is located in the Grand Val (valley of Moutier), but some scattered houses are located on a part of Mont Raimeux.

Demographics

Grandval has a population (as of 31 December 2010) of 350.[1] As of 2007, 5.9% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -10.3%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks French (85.6%), with German being second most common (12.0%) and Italian being third ( 0.8%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SPS which received 38.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (32.2%), the local small left-wing parties (7.9%) and the Green Party (7.6%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 28% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 55.2% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.8%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Grandval about 59.2% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).

Grandval has an unemployment rate of 1%. As of 2005, there were 25 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 10 businesses involved in this sector. 15 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 6 businesses in this sector. 20 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 9 businesses in this sector.[5] The historical population is given in the following table:[3]

year population
1755 132
1850 261
1900 287
1950 370
2000 368

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 Grandval 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 08-Jul-2009

External links