Berken

Berken
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Bern
District	Oberaargau
Coordinates	47°14′N 7°43′E / 47.233°N 7.717°E / 47.233; 7.717Coordinates: 47°14′N 7°43′E / 47.233°N 7.717°E / 47.233; 7.717
Population	42 (Dec 2012)[1]
- Density	30 /km2 (78 /sq mi)
Area	1.39 km2 (0.54 sq mi)[2]
Elevation	420 m (1,378 ft)
Postal code	3376
SFOS number	0972
Surrounded by	Bannwil, Graben, Heimenhausen, Walliswil bei Niederbipp, Walliswil bei Wangen
Website	www.berken.ch SFSO statistics
Berken
Location of Berken

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

History

Berken is first mentioned in 1272 as Berinkon.^[3]

Geography

Berken has an area, as of 2009, of 1.39 km² (0.54 sq mi). Of this area, 0.74 km² (0.29 sq mi) or 53.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while0.42 km² (0.16 sq mi) or 30.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.16 km² (0.062 sq mi) or 11.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.06 km² (15 acres) or 4.3% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km² (4.9 acres) or 1.4% is unproductive land.^[4]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.6%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 3.6% of the area. 28.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 41.7% is used for growing crops and 10.8% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive area it is all unproductive vegatation.^[4]

The small municipality is located on the left bank of the Aare river. It includes the hamlets of Ober- and Niederberken and Christenhof. It belongs to the parish of Herzogenbuchsee.

Demographics

Berken has a population (as of 31 December 2012) of 42.^[1] Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -12.3%. All of the population (as of 2000) speaks German.

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 68.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the local small left-wing parties (11.1%), the FDP (5.7%) and the SPS (3.7%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.8% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 21.6%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Berken about 65.4% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).

Berken has an unemployment rate of 0%. As of 2005, there were 20 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 6 businesses involved in this sector. 9 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 2 businesses in this sector. 20 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 1 business in this sector.^[5] The historical population is given in the following table:^[3]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Berken.

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

v t e Municipalities in the Oberaargau administrative district, Switzerland Aarwangen Attiswil Auswil Bannwil Berken Bettenhausen Bleienbach Busswil bei Melchnau Eriswil Farnern Gondiswil Graben Heimenhausen Hermiswil Herzogenbuchsee Huttwil Inkwil Langenthal Lotzwil Madiswil Melchnau Niederbipp Niederönz Oberbipp Obersteckholz Ochlenberg Oeschenbach Reisiswil Roggwil Rohrbach Rohrbachgraben Rumisberg Rütschelen Schwarzhäusern Seeberg Thörigen Thunstetten Ursenbach Walliswil bei Niederbipp Walliswil bei Wangen Walterswil Wangen an der Aare Wangenried Wiedlisbach Wolfisberg Wynau Wyssachen Canton of Bern Districts of Canton Bern Municipalities of the canton of Bern