| La Ferrière | ||||||||||
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| Population | 546 (Dec 2010)[1] | |||||||||
| - Density | 38 /km2 (99 /sq mi) | |||||||||
| Area | 14.16 km2 (5.47 sq mi)[2] | |||||||||
| Elevation | 1,005 m (3,297 ft) | |||||||||
| Postal code | 2333 | |||||||||
| SFOS number | 0435 | |||||||||
| Surrounded by | Renan, Sonvilier, Les Bois, La Chaux-de-Fonds | |||||||||
| Website | www.laferriere.ch SFSO statistics |
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La Ferrière
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Map of La Ferrière
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La Ferrière 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).
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Founded in 1590 as les Hautes Montagnes d'Erguël by settlers from Valangin. In 1749 it was known as La Ferriere or Communauté des Montagnes de Saint-Imier.[3]
La Ferrière, Switzerland has an area, as of 2009[update], of 14.16 km2 (5.47 sq mi). Of this area, 8.82 km2 (3.41 sq mi) or 62.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 4.79 km2 (1.85 sq mi) or 33.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.52 km2 (0.20 sq mi) or 3.7% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.03 km2 (7.4 acres) or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km2 (4.9 acres) or 0.1% is unproductive land.[4]
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.4%. 25.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 8.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 1.6% is used for growing crops and 41.6% is pastures and 19.1% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams.[4]
La Ferrière has a population (as of 31 December 2010) of 546.[1] As of 2007[update], 5.9% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 7.1%. Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks French (81.5%), with German being second most common (16.6%) and Italian being third ( 1.0%).
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 31.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (16.9%), the Green Party (15.8%) and the FDP (10.3%).
The age distribution of the population (as of 2000[update]) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 31.2% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 56.1% and the seniors (over 64 years old) make up 12.7%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In La Ferrière about 70.8% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).
La Ferrière has an unemployment rate of 2.77%. As of 2005[update], there were 101 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 37 businesses involved in this sector. 107 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 9 businesses in this sector. 45 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 14 businesses in this sector.[5] The historical population is given in the following table:[3]
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1813 | 654 |
| 1850 | 796 |
| 1870 | 1,0 |
| 1900 | 723 |
| 1950 | 554 |
| 2000 | 513 |