Gurzelen
| Gurzelen | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||
| Population | 817 (Dec 2012)[1] | |||||||||
| - Density | 182 /km2 (470 /sq mi) | |||||||||
| Area | 4.54 km2 (1.75 sq mi)[2] | |||||||||
| Elevation | 591 m (1,939 ft) | |||||||||
| Postal code | 3663 | |||||||||
| SFOS number | 0867 | |||||||||
| Surrounded by | Burgistein, Forst, Längenbühl, Seftigen, Uetendorf, Wattenwil | |||||||||
| Website | www.gurzelen.ch SFSO statistics | |||||||||
  Gurzelen | ||||||||||
| Location of Gurzelen
 | ||||||||||
Gurzelen is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
Gurzelen is first mentioned in 1230/31 as Gurcellun.[3]
Geography
Gurzelen has an area, as of 2009, of 4.54 km2 (1.75 sq mi). Of this area, 3.61 km2 (1.39 sq mi) or 79.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.59 km2 (0.23 sq mi) or 13.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.3 km2 (0.12 sq mi) or 6.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.01 km2 (2.5 acres) or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes.[4]
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 5.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.3%. 11.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 43.2% is used for growing crops and 33.3% is pastures, while 3.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams.[4]
The municipality is located between the Aare river and upper Gürbetal. It includes the villages of Ober- and Niedergurzelen and scattered farm house clusters and individual houses.
Demographics
Gurzelen has a population (as of 31 December 2012) of 817.[1] As of 2007, 1.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 8.8%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (97.9%), with French being second most common ( 1.1%) and Albanian being third ( 0.7%).
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 45.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Green Party (11.6%), the SPS (11.2%) and the local small left-wing parties (11%).
The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24.2% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59.1% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.7%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Gurzelen about 79.4% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).
Gurzelen has an unemployment rate of 0.88%. As of 2005, there were 95 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 31 businesses involved in this sector. 20 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 10 businesses in this sector. 49 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 13 businesses in this sector.[5] The historical population is given in the following table:[3]
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1764 | 235 |
| 1850 | 605 |
| 1900 | 603 |
| 1950 | 758 |
| 2000 | 712 |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Swiss Federal Statistical Office - STAT-TAB, online database – Datenwürfel für Thema 01.2 - Bevölkerungsstand und -bewegung (German) accessed 29 August 2013
- ↑ Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeindedaten nach 4 Hauptbereichen
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gurzelen in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data (German) accessed 25 March 2010
- ↑ Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 14-Jul-2009
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gurzelen. |
- Gurzelen in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
