![Astano-Sant-Antonio-Abate-aussen-Umgebung](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Astano-Sant-Antonio-Abate-aussen-Umgebung.jpg)
Astano is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in the district of
Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
in the
canton of
Ticino
Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
.
History
Astano is first mentioned in 1272 as ''Astanum''.
[ The old village center has some architecturally notable buildings, such as the Ca' da Roma. In the ]Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
the monastery of S. Pietro in Ciel d'Oro owned land in Astano. In the 13th Century, there was a Humiliati
The Humiliati (Italian ''Umiliati'') were an Italian religious order of men formed probably in the 12th century. It was suppressed by a papal bull in 1571 though an associated order of women continued into the 20th century.
Origin
The origin of ...
monastery in the village. When it was abandoned in the mid-15th century, the property passed to the Humiliati monastery of S. Caterina in Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
. In 1612 it became a separate parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
. The parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
of S. Pietro was built in 1654 on the ruins of an old chapel.
The village produced a number of architects who emigrated to other countries for work, including Domenico Trezzini
Domenico Trezzini (Russian Андрей Якимович Трезин, ''Andrey Yakimovich Trezin''; c. 1670 – 1734) was a Swiss architect who elaborated the Petrine Baroque style of Russian architecture.
Domenico was born in Astano, L ...
and members of the De Marchi and Donati families. Traditional agriculture included the use of the Alpe di Monte (alpine pasture) on Monte Rogoria
Monte Rogoria (also known as ''Monte Rogorio'' or ''Motto Croce'') is a mountain of the Lugano Prealps, located on the border between Switzerland and Italy, north of Astano, at the foot of the Monte Lema. The summit and the majority of the mount ...
. The gold-bearing strata of the Monte Sceree was mined, starting in the early 19th Century and running until after World War II, when the mine stopped producing. Today is a spa town with good tourist infrastructure and many commuters to the Lugano valley.[
]
Geography
Astano has an area, , of . Of this area, or 13.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 84.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 9.0% is settled (buildings or roads) and or 0.5% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 6.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.1%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.3%. Out of the forested land, 81.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.3% is used for growing crops and 6.6% is used for alpine pastures.
The municipality is located in the Lugano district, in the middle Malcantone Valley.
Coat of arms
The blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...
of the municipal coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
is ''Gules a goat rampant between two bezants in bend.''
Demographics
Astano has a population () of . , 10.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008]
accessed 19 June 2010 Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 15.2%.
Most of the population () speaks Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
(67.2%), with German being second most common (24.1%) and French being third (3.1%).[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]
accessed 15-December-2010 Of the Swiss national languages (), 70 speak German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, 9 people speak French, 195 people speak Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
, and 1 person speaks Romansh. The remainder (15 people) speak another language.[Popolazione residente, secondo la lingua principale e la religione, nel 2000]
accessed 23 November 2010
, the gender distribution of the population was 51.1% male and 48.9% female. The population was made up of 135 Swiss men (43.4% of the population), and 24 (7.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 137 Swiss women (44.1%), and 15 (4.8%) non-Swiss women.[
In there were 3 live births to Swiss citizens and were 4 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 1 while the foreign population remained the same. At the same time, there was 1 non-Swiss man and 1 non-Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland to another country. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 2 and the non-Swiss population change was a decrease of 1 people. This represents a ]population growth rate
Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...
of 0.3%.[
The age distribution, , in Astano is; 25 children or 8.0% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 21 teenagers or 6.8% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 26 people or 8.4% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 32 people or 10.3% are between 30 and 39, 46 people or 14.8% are between 40 and 49, and 57 people or 18.3% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 32 people or 10.3% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 42 people or 13.5% are between 70 and 79, there are 30 people or 9.6% who are over 80.][01.02.03 Popolazione residente permanente]
accessed 23 November 2010
, there were 137 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.1 persons per household.[ there were 177 single family homes (or 81.6% of the total) out of a total of 217 inhabited buildings. There were 17 two family buildings (7.8%) and 14 multi-family buildings (6.5%). There were also 9 buildings in the municipality that were multipurpose buildings (used for both housing and commercial or another purpose).
The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.99%. there were 292 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 3 room apartment of which there were 85. There were 10 single room apartments and 85 apartments with five or more rooms.][ 09.02.02 Abitazioni](_blank)
accessed 23 November 2010 Of these apartments, a total of 137 apartments (46.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 150 apartments (51.4%) were seasonally occupied and 5 apartments (1.7%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0 new units per 1000 residents.[
The historical population is given in the following table:]
Sights
The entire village of Astano is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage.
Sites of national importance
Types
The types are based on t ...
.
Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 24.31% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (20.86%), the Ticino League
The Ticino League ( it, Lega dei Ticinesi) is a regionalist, national-conservative political party in Switzerland active in the canton of Ticino.
The party was founded in 1991 by entrepreneur Giuliano Bignasca and journalist Flavio Maspoli. Af ...
(16.57%) and the FDP (15.88%). In the federal election, a total of 97 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...
was 37.6%.
In the '' Gran Consiglio'' election, there were a total of 257 registered voters in Astano, of which 130 or 50.6% voted. The most popular party was the LEGA which received 26 or 20.0% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PS (with 25 or 19.2%), the SSI (with 20 or 15.4%) and the PLRT (with 16 or 12.3%).[ Elezioni cantonali: Gran Consiglio, Consiglio di Stato]
accessed 23 November 2010
In the ''Consiglio di Stato'' election, The most popular party was the PS which received 31 or 23.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the LEGA (with 30 or 23.1%), the SSI (with 20 or 15.4%) and the PPD (with 15 or 11.5%).[
]
Economy
, Astano had an unemployment rate of 4.67%. , there were 2 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 1 business involved in this sector. 2 people were employed in the secondary sector
In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construction. ...
and there was 1 business in this sector. 25 people were employed in the tertiary sector
The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...
, with 9 businesses in this sector.[ There were 114 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 31.6% of the workforce.
, there were 4 workers who commuted into the municipality and 75 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 18.8 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.][Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 4.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 62.3% used a private car.[
, there was one hotel in Astano.
]
Religion
From the , 182 or 62.8% were Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, while 53 or 18.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...
. There are 49 individuals (or about 16.90% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 6 individuals (or about 2.07% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Astano 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
A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...
'').[
In Astano there were a total of 35 students (). The Ticino ]education system
The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...
provides up to three years of non-mandatory kindergarten
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
and in Astano there were 5 children in kindergarten. The primary school program lasts for five years. In the municipality, 14 students attended the standard primary schools. In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two-year middle school followed by a two-year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four-year program to prepare for higher education. There were 8 students in the two-year middle school, while 4 students were in the four-year advanced program.
The upper secondary school includes several options, but at the end of the upper secondary program, a student will be prepared to enter a trade or to continue on to a university or college. In Ticino, vocational students may either attend school while working on their internship or apprenticeship (which takes three or four years) or may attend school followed by an internship or apprenticeship (which takes one year as a full-time student or one and a half to two years as a part-time student). There were 2 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 2 who attend part-time. Allievi e studenti, secondo il genere di scuola, anno scolastico 2009/2010
accessed 23 November 2010
, there were 40 students from Astano who attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
References
External links
Official website
*
{{Authority control
Municipalities of Ticino