Belpberg is a former

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 Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

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 ...

. The municipality of Belpberg merged on 1 January 2012 into the municipality of

Belp Belp is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is close to Bern's Belp Airport. The municipality of Belpberg merged on 1 January 2012 into the municipality of Belp.

.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 21 December 2011 The villages historic dependency on agriculture,

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or ...

and cattle breeding have continued to the present day. There is otherwise little employment within the commune, and most of the working inhabitants

commute Commute, commutation or commutative may refer to: * Commuting, the process of travelling between a place of residence and a place of work Mathematics * Commutative property, a property of a mathematical operation whose result is insensitive to th ...

to nearby towns, particularly

History

Roman 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 letter ...

and

Celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

ic coinage points to an early settlement in the area. The first documented use of the name ''Belpberge'' is found in 1342, with the versions ''Belperg'' (1380) and ''Beltperg'' (1390) appearing later. The etymology of the word stem Belp is unclear.

Geography

Belpberg has an area, , of . Of this area, or 65.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 28.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.4% is settled (buildings or roads).Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.0%. 26.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 36.1% is used for growing crops and 27.9% is pastures, while 1.6% is used for orchards or vine crops. It is located on a hill that shares the town's name, between the

Aare river The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it descend ...

and the

Gürbetal Gürbetal (Gürbe Valley) in Switzerland lies between the towns of Bern and Thun, west of the Aare. It contains the municipality of Seftigen and those that surround it. The valley is named after the river Gürbe, which flows through it. The largest ...

. It includes a number of

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 ...

(including Linden, Oberhäusern, Hofstetten, z.T. Heitern) and scattered farmhouses. It belongs to the

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 ...

Demographics

Belpberg had a population (as of ) of . , 2.1% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -2.3%. Most of the population () speaks German (99.5%), with Italian being second most common (0.3%) and Portuguese being third (0.3%). In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 59.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the

SPS SPS may refer to: Law and government * Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the WTO * NATO Science for Peace and Security * Single Payment Scheme, an EU agricultural subsidy * The Standard Procurement System, fo ...

(10.5%), the local small left-wing parties (7.7%) and the FDP (7%). The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19.3% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 62.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 18.2%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Belpberg about 83.1% 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 ...

''). Belpberg has an unemployment rate of 1.21%. , there were 107 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 33 businesses involved in this sector. 6 people are 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 are 3 businesses in this sector. 14 people are 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 5 businesses in this sector.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 14-Jul-2009 The historical population is given in the following table:

References

{{Authority control Former municipalities of the canton of Bern