Bärschwil is a
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
and
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
Thierstein in the
canton of
Solothurn
Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the Capital (political), capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the n ...
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
Bärschwil is first mentioned in 1194 as ''Bermeswile''.
[
From the 19th century until 1957, Bärschwil was a source of ]gypsum
Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywall. ...
. Initially, the gypsum was extracted on the surface but, subsequently, using underground mines accessed via adit
An adit (from Latin ''aditus'', entrance) is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, ventilated, and minerals extracted at the lowest convenient level. Adits ...
s. Until 1910, the mine was situated at Gupf and, when that was exhausted, a new mine was opened at Kirchacker.[
]
Geography
Bärschwil has an area, , of . Of this area, or 41.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 52.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.0% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.3% is unproductive land.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics]
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.5% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.8%. Out of the forested land, 49.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 5.1% is used for growing crops and 31.7% is pastures, while 2.3% is used for orchards or vine crops and 2.2% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.[
The municipality is located in the Thierstein district, in a side valley off the ]Birs
The Birs (French: ''Birse'') is a long river in Switzerland that flows through the Jura region and ends as a tributary to the Rhine between Basel and Birsfelden. It is the most important river of the Swiss Jura.
Course
The Birs has its source i ...
river. It consists of the village of Bärschwil 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 Wiler and Schmelzi.
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 ''Per fess Azure a Fish naiant Argent and of the last a Crozier Gules.''
Demographics
Bärschwil has a population () of . , 3.8% 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 -0.5%. It has changed at a rate of 1.4% due to migration and at a rate of -2.2% due to births and deaths.
accessed 9 April 2011German
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 ...
(831 or 95.3%), with French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
being second most common (9 or 1.0%) and 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 third (9 or 1.0%). There is 1 person who speaks Romansh.[
, the gender distribution of the population was 52.4% male and 47.6% female. The population was made up of 425 Swiss men (48.9% of the population) and 30 (3.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 393 Swiss women (45.2%) and 21 (2.4%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 446 or about 51.1% were born in Bärschwil and lived there in 2000. There were 94 or 10.8% who were born in the same canton, while 252 or 28.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 70 or 8.0% were born outside of Switzerland.][
In , there were 4 live births to Swiss citizens and were 5 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 1 while the foreign population remained the same. There were 3 Swiss men and 2 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there was 1 non-Swiss woman who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population remained the same in 2008 and the non-Swiss population remained the same. 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 0.0%.[
The age distribution, , in Bärschwil is; 50 children or 5.7% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 176 teenagers or 20.2% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 46 people or 5.3% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 236 people or 27.1% are between 25 and 44, and 231 people or 26.5% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 110 people or 12.6% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 23 people or 2.6% who are over 80.
, there were 366 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 422 married individuals, 46 widows or widowers and 38 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 – 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 338 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household.[ There were 88 households that consist of only one person and 36 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 338 households that answered this question, 26.0% were households made up of just one person and there were 6 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 94 married couples without children, 127 married couples with children There were 14 single parents with a child or children. There were 9 households that were made up of unrelated people.][
, there were 205 single family homes (or 69.0% of the total) out of a total of 297 inhabited buildings. There were 36 multi-family buildings (12.1%), along with 53 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (17.8%) and 3 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (1.0%). Of the single family homes 39 were built before 1919, while 25 were built between 1990 and 2000.][Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB – Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 – Gebäude und Wohnungen]
accessed 28 January 2011
, there were 364 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 113. There were 4 single room apartments and 172 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 335 apartments (92.0% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 12 apartments (3.3%) were seasonally occupied and 17 apartments (4.7%) were empty.[ , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.2 new units per 1000 residents.][ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 4.42%.][
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
Politics
In the 2007 federal election
This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...
, the most popular party was the SVP which received 35.45% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (24.77%), the FDP (21.91%) and the SP (9.33%). In the federal election, a total of 365 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 50.9%.
Economy
, Bärschwil had an unemployment rate of 2.6%. , there were 49 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 22 businesses involved in this sector. 52 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 12 businesses 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 11 businesses in this sector.[ There were 433 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 37.4% 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 97. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 32, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 47 of which 19 or (40.4%) were in manufacturing and 28 (59.6%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 18. In the tertiary sector; 2 or 11.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 4 or 22.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 4 or 22.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 6 or 33.3% were in education.
, there were 40 workers who commuted into the municipality and 331 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 8.3 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office – Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 26.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 56.4% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 645 or 74.0% 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 81 or 9.3% 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 2 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.23% of the population), there were 10 individuals (or about 1.15% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 13 individuals (or about 1.49% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 7 (or about 0.80% 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 was 1 person who was 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 ...
and 1 person who was 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 ...
. 95 (or about 10.89% 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 17 individuals (or about 1.95% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Bärschwil about 291 or (33.4%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 48 or (5.5%) 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 48 who completed tertiary schooling, 77.1% were Swiss men, 16.7% were Swiss women.[
During the 2010–2011 school year, there were a total of 45 students in the Bärschwil 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 Solothurn 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 children in kindergarten. The canton's school system 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 the municipality there were 45 students in primary school. 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. All the lower secondary students from Bärschwil attend their school in a neighboring municipality.Canton of Solothurn – School statistics
accessed 13 March 2011
, there were 37 students in Bärschwil who came from another municipality, while 62 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barschwil
Municipalities of the canton of Solothurn