Alvaneu

Alvaneu
Country Switzerland Canton Graubünden District Albula 46°41′N 9°39′E / 46.683°N 9.650°E / 46.683; 9.650Coordinates: 46°41′N 9°39′E / 46.683°N 9.650°E / 46.683; 9.650
Population	406 (Dec 2012)[1]
- Density	11 /km2 (30 /sq mi)
Area	35.63 km2 (13.76 sq mi)[2]
Elevation	1,181 m (3,875 ft)
Postal code	7492
SFOS number	3511
Mayor	Thomas Kollegger
Surrounded by	Arosa, Brienz/Brinzauls, Filisur, Lantsch/Lenz, Schmitten, Surava, Tiefencastel
Website	www.alvaneu.ch SFSO statistics
Alvaneu
Location of Alvaneu

Alvaneu (Romansh: Alvagni) is a municipality in the district of Albula in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland.

On 20 March 2007 Peter Martin Wettler, a media expert and resident of Zurich was appointed Prince of Belfort by the village's authorities.^[3]

History

Alvaneu is first mentioned in 1244 as Aluenude. In 1530 it was mentioned as Allweneü.^[4]

Geography

Belfort castle ruins near Alvaneu

Alvaneu has an area, as of 2006, of 35.7 km² (13.8 sq mi). Of this area, 27% is used for agricultural purposes, while 32.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (38.2%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).^[5]

The municipality is located in the Belfort sub-district of the Albula district. It is located on a terrace above the Albula river. It consists of the village of Alvaneu (Alvaneu-Dorf) and Alvaneu-Bad on the valley floor. The municipality also includes the settlement of Aclas d'Alvagni as well as the alpine settlements of Creusch and Ramoz.

Demographics

Alvaneu has a population (as of 31 December 2012) of 406.^[1] As of 2007, 7.6% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -6.2%.^[5]

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 42% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (25.1%), the SPS (22.8%) and the FDP (7.9%).^[5]

In Alvaneu about 69.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).^[5]

Alvaneu has an unemployment rate of 0.27%. As of 2005, there were 43 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 16 businesses involved in this sector. 37 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 4 businesses in this sector. 124 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 23 businesses in this sector.^[5]

The historical population is given in the following table:^[4][6]

Languages

The traditional language of the population until the middle of the 19th century was Romansh. However, in 1880, only 80.1% of the inhabitants spoke Romansch as their native language. This erosion continued (1910: 68.06%, 1941: 56.0%, 1970: 47.03%). 1960 was the last census that counted a Romansch-speaking majority.

Although 31% still speak some Romansch, German is now the only official language for municipality business.

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (76.4%), with Rhaeto-Romance being second most common (16.9%) and Italian being third ( 3.5%).^[5]

References

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alvaneu.

External links

• Gemeinde Alvaneu—official site of the municipality (German)
• Bad Alvaneu—thermal baths (German)
• Alvaneu in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

v t e Municipalities in the district of Albula, Switzerland Alvaneu Alvaschein Bergün/Bravuogn Bivio Brienz/Brinzauls Cunter Filisur Lantsch/Lenz Marmorera Mon Mulegns Mutten Riom-Parsonz Salouf Savognin Schmitten Stierva Sur Surava Tiefencastel Tinizong-Rona Vaz/Obervaz Graubünden Districts of Canton Graubünden Municipalities of the canton of Graubünden