Bellevue 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 ...
of the
Canton of Geneva
The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva (french: link=no, République et canton de Genève; frp, Rèpublica et canton de Geneva; german: Republik und Kanton Genf; it, Repubblica e Cantone di Ginevra; rm, Republica e ...
,
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
The village of Colovrex is first mentioned in 1257 as ''Colovray''.
[ In 1855, the municipality of Bellevue separated from the municipality of Collex-Bossy][Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz]
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 18 February 2011 Bellevue was mostly inhabited by urban, Protestant citizens of Geneva, while the farming municipality of Collex-Bossy was mostly Catholic.[
]
Geography
Bellevue has an area, , of . Of this area, or 40.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 15.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 43.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and or 1.4% is unproductive land.
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.1% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 18.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 16.8%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 4.4% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.3%. Out of the forested land, 12.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.9% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 23.0% is used for growing crops and 15.4% is pastures, while 2.1% is used for orchards or vine crops.[
It is situated along the northern shores of ]Lake Geneva
, image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg
, caption = Satellite image
, image_bathymetry =
, caption_bathymetry =
, location = Switzerland, France
, coords =
, lake_type = Glacial lak ...
and has grown substantially within the past two decades due to the housing shortage in Geneva proper. Mainly families have moved to Bellevue. A local state school and short distances to several international schools and the airport have made it the location of choice for a high share of expatriates.
It consists of the village of Bellevue and the hamlets
A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...
of Vengeron, Les Tuileries, Valavran and Colovrex.
The municipality of Bellevue consists of the sub-sections or villages of Le Gobé, Bellevue - Grands-Bois, Les Grands-Champs, Bellevue - Rives-du-Lac and L'Ermitage.
Demographics
Bellevue has a population () of . , 39.8% 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 (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 75.9%. It has changed at a rate of 60.3% due to migration and at a rate of 16.2% due to births and deaths.
accessed 22-April-2011
Most of the population () speaks French (1,210 or 67.2%), with English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
being second most common (263 or 14.6%) and 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 ...
being third (93 or 5.2%). There is 1 person who speaks Romansh.[
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.1% male and 50.9% female. The population was made up of 923 Swiss men (28.8% of the population) and 651 (20.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,010 Swiss women (31.5%) and 620 (19.4%) non-Swiss women.][Canton of Geneva Statistical Office]
''Population résidante du canton de Genève, selon l'origine et le sexe, par commune, en mars 2011'' accessed 18 April 2011 Of the population in the municipality 223 or about 12.4% were born in Bellevue and lived there in 2000. There were 406 or 22.5% who were born in the same canton, while 257 or 14.3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 661 or 36.7% were born outside of Switzerland.[
In there were 33 live births to Swiss citizens and 10 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 8 deaths of Swiss citizens and 3 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 25 while the foreign population increased by 7. There were 10 Swiss men and 3 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 28 non-Swiss men and 24 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 117 and the non-Swiss population increased by 68 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 6.2%.[ The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 28.8% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 63.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 7.7%.][
, there were 786 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 892 married individuals, 42 widows or widowers and 81 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 561 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.8 persons per household.[ There were 129 households that consist of only one person and 61 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 597 households that answered this question, 21.6% were households made up of just one person and there were 4 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 133 married couples without children, 254 married couples with children There were 39 single parents with a child or children. There were 2 households that were made up of unrelated people and 36 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.][
there were 381 single family homes (or 79.4% of the total) out of a total of 480 inhabited buildings. There were 42 multi-family buildings (8.8%), along with 31 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (6.5%) and 26 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (5.4%). Of the single family homes 34 were built before 1919, while 34 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (141) were built between 1981 and 1990.][Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen]
accessed 28 January 2011
there were 610 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 183. There were 53 single room apartments and 318 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 536 apartments (87.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 65 apartments (10.7%) were seasonally occupied and 9 apartments (1.5%) were empty.[ , the construction rate of new housing units was 0 new units per 1000 residents.][ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.18%.][
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
Colors=
id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9)
id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8)
ImageSize = width:960 height:210
PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100
AlignBars = justify
DateFormat = x.y
Period = from:0 till:1900
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical
AlignBars = justify
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:400 start:0
ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:80 start:0
PlotData=
color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center
bar:1860 from:start till:324 text:"324"
bar:1870 from:start till:362 text:"362"
bar:1880 from:start till:338 text:"338"
bar:1888 from:start till:341 text:"341"
bar:1900 from:start till:362 text:"362"
bar:1910 from:start till:398 text:"398"
bar:1920 from:start till:459 text:"459"
bar:1930 from:start till:561 text:"561"
bar:1941 from:start till:628 text:"628"
bar:1950 from:start till:684 text:"684"
bar:1960 from:start till:700 text:"700"
bar:1970 from:start till:627 text:"627"
bar:1980 from:start till:992 text:"992"
bar:1990 from:start till:1565 text:"1,565"
bar:2000 from:start till:1801 text:"1,801"
Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 23.08% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the LPS Party (17.01%), the SP (16.63%) and the Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
(14.78%). In the federal election, a total of 595 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 46.6%.
In the 2009 Grand Conseil
The term Grand Conseil () or Great Council refers two different institutions during the Ancien Régime in France. It also is the name of parliaments in several Swiss cantons.
Ancien Régime France Part of the King's Council
Starting in the 13th ...
election, there were a total of 1,388 registered voters of which 542 (39.0%) voted. The most popular party in the municipality for this election was the Libéral with 24.7% of the ballots. In the canton-wide election they received the highest proportion of votes. The second most popular party was the Les Verts (with 13.7%), they were also second in the canton-wide election, while the third most popular party was the Les Socialistes (with 11.9%), they were fourth in the canton-wide election.[Canton of Geneva Statistical Office]
Election Results from multiple spreadsheets accessed 18 April 2011
For the 2009 Conseil d'État election, there were a total of 1,387 registered voters of which 636 (45.9%) voted.[
In 2011, all the municipalities held local elections, and in Bellevue there were 19 spots open on the municipal council. There were a total of 1,791 registered voters of which 760 (42.4%) voted. Out of the 760 votes, there were 7 blank votes, 15 null or unreadable votes and 79 votes with a name that was not on the list.][
]
Economy
Bellevue is home to the recently (2006) opened headquarters of luxury brand conglomerate Richemont
Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., commonly known as Richemont, is a Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company founded in 1988 by South African businessman Johann Rupert. Through its various subsidiaries, Richemont produces and sells je ...
and Webster University Geneva
Webster University Geneva is the Swiss campus of Webster University based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Founded in 1979, it is officially registered in Switzerland under Fondation Webster (English - Webster Foundation), the IDE number is CHE-107.95 ...
(since 1983).
, Bellevue had an unemployment rate of 8.6%. , there were 8 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 5 businesses involved in this sector. 128 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 were 18 businesses in this sector. 1,062 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 74 businesses in this sector.[ There were 908 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 45.2% of the workforce.
the total number of ]full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit that indicates the workload of an employee, employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often used to me ...
jobs was 1,063. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 7, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 123 of which 5 or (4.1%) were in manufacturing and 119 (96.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 933. In the tertiary sector; 92 or 9.9% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 12 or 1.3% were in the movement and storage of goods, 304 or 32.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 7 or 0.8% were in the information industry, 7 or 0.8% were the insurance or financial industry, 357 or 38.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 65 or 7.0% were in education and 19 or 2.0% were in health care.
, there were 527 workers who commuted into the municipality and 748 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 13.3% of the workforce coming into Bellevue are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.0% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 15.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 68.1% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 552 or 30.6% 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 348 or 19.3% 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 ...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 30 members of an Orthodox church (or about 1.67% of the population), and there were 40 individuals (or about 2.22% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 16 individuals (or about 0.89% of the population) who were Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, and 50 (or about 2.78% of the population) who were Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic. There were 3 individuals who were Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
, 5 individuals who were Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 411 (or about 22.82% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
or atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, and 344 individuals (or about 19.10% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Bellevue about 414 or (23.0%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 480 or (26.7%) have completed additional higher education (either university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
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 ...
''). Of the 480 who completed tertiary schooling, 32.5% were Swiss men, 25.2% were Swiss women, 23.1% were non-Swiss men and 19.2% were non-Swiss women.[
During the 2009-2010 school year there were a total of 711 students in the Bellevue school system. The ]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 ...
in the Canton of Geneva allows young children to attend two years of non-obligatory 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 ...
. During that school year, there were 71 children who were in a pre-kindergarten class. The canton's school system provides two years of non-mandatory kindergarten and requires students to attend six years of primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
, with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In Bellevue there were 105 students in kindergarten or primary school and 9 students were in the special, smaller classes. The secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. There were 105 lower secondary students who attended school in Bellevue. There were 130 upper secondary students from the municipality along with 12 students who were in a professional, non-university track program. An additional 86 students attended a private school.Canton of Geneva Statistical Office
Elèves résidant dans le canton de Genève, selon le niveau d'enseignement, par commune de domicile accessed 18 April 2011
, there were 205 students in Bellevue who came from another municipality, while 303 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
References
External links
Official Website
{{Authority control
Populated places on Lake Geneva
Municipalities of the canton of Geneva