Inkwil

Inkwil
Country Switzerland
Canton Bern
District Oberaargau
Coordinates
Population 632 (Dec 2010)[1]
- Density 186 /km2 (481 /sq mi)
Area  3.36 km2 (1.30 sq mi)[2]
Elevation 464 m (1,522 ft)
Postal code 3375
SFOS number 0980
Surrounded by Bolken (SO), Niederönz, Röthenbach bei Herzogenbuchsee, Subingen (SO), Wangenried
Website www.inkwil.ch
SFSO statistics
Inkwil

Inkwil is a municipality in the Oberaargau administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

Contents

History

Inkwil is first mentioned in 1262 as Inchwile.[3]

Geography

Inkwil has an area, as of 2009, of 3.36 km2 (1.30 sq mi). Of this area, 1.65 km2 (0.64 sq mi) or 49.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.21 km2 (0.47 sq mi) or 36.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.44 km2 (0.17 sq mi) or 13.1% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.05 km2 (12 acres) or 1.5% is either rivers or lakes and 0.03 km2 (7.4 acres) or 0.9% is unproductive land.[4]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 7.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.7%. 35.1% of the total land area is heavily forested. Of the agricultural land, 37.5% is used for growing crops and 8.9% is pastures, while 2.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes.[4]

It is divided into three sections; Dorf, Vorstatt and Station.

Demographics

Inkwil has a population (as of 31 December 2010) of 632.[1] As of 2007, 4.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -2.4%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (98.0%), with Portuguese being second most common ( 0.5%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 0.5%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 36.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (29.8%), the FDP (13.7%) and the CSP (5.4%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 26.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.4% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Inkwil about 82.2% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).

Inkwil has an unemployment rate of 1.64%. As of 2005, there were 20 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 8 businesses involved in this sector. 69 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 6 businesses in this sector. 20 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 10 businesses in this sector.[5] The historical population is given in the following table:[3]

year population
1764 154
1850 420
1900 442
1950 507
2000 654

Heritage sites of national significance

It is home to the Inkwilersee Insel prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps UNESCO World Heritage Site.[6]

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 Inkwil 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 21-Jul-2009
  6. ^ UNESCO World Heritage Site - Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps

External links

Inkwil in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.