Kirchdorf, Switzerland

Kirchdorf
Country Switzerland
Canton Bern
District Bern-Mittelland
Coordinates
Population 814 (Dec 2010)[1]
- Density 133 /km2 (346 /sq mi)
Area  6.13 km2 (2.37 sq mi)[2]
Elevation 611 m (2,005 ft)
Postal code 3116
SFOS number 0872
Surrounded by Burgistein, Gerzensee, Jaberg, Kienersrüti, Lohnstorf, Mühledorf, Mühlethurnen, Noflen, Uttigen, Wichtrach
Website Kirchdorf.ch
SFSO statistics
Kirchdorf

Kirchdorf (German: church village) is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

Contents

History

Kirchdorf is first mentioned in 1228 as Chilthorf.[3]

Geography

Kirchdorf has an area, as of 2009, of 6.13 km2 (2.37 sq mi). Of this area, 4.16 km2 (1.61 sq mi) or 67.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.09 km2 (0.42 sq mi) or 17.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.7 km2 (0.27 sq mi) or 11.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.11 km2 (27 acres) or 1.8% is either rivers or lakes and 0.04 km2 (9.9 acres) or 0.7% is unproductive land.[4]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.6%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 4.9% of the area 17.0% of the total land area is heavily forested. Of the agricultural land, 41.3% is used for growing crops and 22.3% is pastures, while 4.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes.[4]

The municipality includes the village of Kirchdorf together with other hamlets and individual houses. It is located on a terrace between the Aare valley and the Gürbetal (Gürbe valley), it also is bordered by Gerzensee Lake. The parish of Kirchdorf includes Gelterfingen, Jaberg, Kienersrüti, Mühledorf, Noflen and Uttigen.

Demographics

Kirchdorf has a population (as of 31 December 2010) of 814.[1] As of 2007, 2.1% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 9.1%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (96.7%), with French being second most common ( 1.2%) and Rhaeto-romance being third ( 0.4%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 43.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (16.2%), the Green Party (12.9%) and the local small left-wing parties (10%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 27.7% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.4% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 13.9%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Kirchdorf about 84.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).

Kirchdorf has an unemployment rate of 0.78%. As of 2005, there were 96 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 27 businesses involved in this sector. 42 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 13 businesses in this sector. 136 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 25 businesses in this sector.[5] The historical population is given in the following table:[3]

year population
1764 326
1850 679
1880 710
1900 605
1930 589
1950 640

Gallery

External links

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 Kirchdorf 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