Eriz

Eriz
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Bern
District	Thun
Coordinates	46°47′N 7°46′E / 46.783°N 7.767°E / 46.783; 7.767Coordinates: 46°47′N 7°46′E / 46.783°N 7.767°E / 46.783; 7.767
Population	490 (Dec 2012)[1]
- Density	22 /km2 (58 /sq mi)
Area	21.77 km2 (8.41 sq mi)[2]
Elevation	1,005 m (3,297 ft)
Postal code	3619
SFOS number	0924
Surrounded by	Beatenberg, Habkern, Horrenbach-Buchen, Oberlangenegg, Röthenbach im Emmental, Schangnau, Teuffenthal
Website	www.eriz.ch SFSO statistics
Eriz
Location of Eriz

Eriz is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

History

Eriz is first mentioned in 1320 as Erarze.^[3]

Geography

Eriz has an area, as of 2009, of 21.77 km² (8.41 sq mi). Of this area, 9.86 km² (3.81 sq mi) or 45.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.78 km² (3.78 sq mi) or 44.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.6 km² (0.23 sq mi) or 2.8% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.13 km² (32 acres) or 0.6% is either rivers or lakes and 1.41 km² (0.54 sq mi) or 6.5% is unproductive land.^[4]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.5% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.2%. 39.3% of the total land area is heavily forested and 4.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 14.8% is pastures and 30.3% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 4.4% is unproductive vegetation and 2.1% is too rocky for vegetation.^[4]

The municipality is scattered around the foothills and valleys of the Alps. It is located north of the Zulg river, on the south flank of the Honegg and west flank of the Hohgant. It is divided into Ausser- and Inner-Eriz. Ausser-Eriz (Outer Eriz) includes Äppenschwendi, Bühl, Kapfern and Losenegg. Inner-Eriz includes Halten, Niedermatt, Linden (also known as Dörfli), Bieten and Scheidzaun. It is part of the parish of Schwarzenegg.

Demographics

Eriz has a population (as of 31 December 2012) of 490.^[1] As of 2007, 2.9% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -5.1%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (98.0%), with English being second most common (1.0%) and Albanian being third (0.4%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 83.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (4.3%), the local small left-wing parties (3.8%) and the CVP (2.8%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 27.1% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 57% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15.9%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Eriz about 55.8% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).

Eriz has an unemployment rate of 0.97%. As of 2005, there were 151 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 49 businesses involved in this sector. 12 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 6 businesses in this sector. 46 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 13 businesses in this sector.^[5] The historical population is given in the following table:^[3]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eriz.

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

v t e Municipalities in the Thun administrative district, Switzerland Amsoldingen Blumenstein Buchholterberg Burgistein Eriz Fahrni Forst-Längenbühl Gurzelen Heiligenschwendi Heimberg Hilterfingen Homberg Horrenbach-Buchen Oberhofen am Thunersee Oberlangenegg Pohlern Reutigen Schwendibach Seftigen Sigriswil Steffisburg Stocken-Höfen Teuffenthal Thierachern Thun Uebeschi Uetendorf Unterlangenegg Uttigen Wachseldorn Wattenwil Zwieselberg Canton of Bern Districts of Canton Bern Municipalities of the canton of Bern