Sorens (, ) 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
Gruyère in the
canton of
Fribourg
, neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne
, twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France)
, website = www.ville-fribourg.ch
, Location of , Location of ()
() o ...
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
Sorens is first mentioned around 974-75 as ''Sotringus''. The municipality was formerly known by its German name ''Soring'', however, that name is no longer used.
[
]
Geography
Sorens has an area, , of . Of this area, or 64.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 26.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 8.9% 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 4.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.8%. Out of the forested land, 24.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 8.1% is used for growing crops and 49.0% is pastures and 7.1% is used for alpine pastures.[
The municipality is located in the Gruyère district, near the ]Bulle
Bulle (; frp, Bulo ) is a municipality in the district of Gruyère in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. In January 2006 Bulle incorporated the formerly independent municipality of La Tour-de-Trême.
History
Ancient times
Bulle is first ...
-Fribourg
, neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne
, twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France)
, website = www.ville-fribourg.ch
, Location of , Location of ()
() o ...
road on the eastern slope of the Gibloux.
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 ''Pally of Six Argent and Gules overall a Roebuck salient proper.''
Demographics
Sorens has a population () of . , 6.6% 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 (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 19.5%. Migration accounted for 18.7%, while births and deaths accounted for 1.1%.
accessed 30-November-2011French
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 ...
(800 or 95.7%) as their first language, 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 ...
is the second most common (24 or 2.9%) and Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
is the third (3 or 0.4%). There are 2 people who 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 who speaks Romansh.[
, the population was 52.5% male and 47.5% female. The population was made up of 470 Swiss men (49.0% of the population) and 34 (3.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 429 Swiss women (44.7%) and 27 (2.8%) non-Swiss women.][Canton of Fribourg Statistics]
accessed 3 November 2011 Of the population in the municipality, 317 or about 37.9% were born in Sorens and lived there in 2000. There were 297 or 35.5% who were born in the same canton, while 86 or 10.3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 68 or 8.1% were born outside of Switzerland.[
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 55.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 19%.][
, there were 360 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 373 married individuals, 60 widows or widowers and 43 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 310 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household.[ There were 84 households that consist of only one person and 32 households with five or more people. , a total of 293 apartments (85.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 41 apartments (12.0%) were seasonally occupied and 7 apartments (2.1%) were empty.][Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen]
accessed 28 January 2011 , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.2 new units per 1000 residents.[ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.02%.][
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
Points of interest
* Gibloux Radio Tower
Politics
In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 29.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (20.5%), the SP (17.4%) and the SVP (15.6%).[Canton of Fribourg National Council Election of 23 October 2011 Statistics]
accessed 3 November 2011
The FDP received about the same percentage of the vote as they did 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 ...
(32.6% in 2007 vs 29.9% in 2011). The CVP retained about the same popularity (24.9% in 2007), the SPS moved from fourth in 2007 (with 15.5%) to third and the SVP moved from third in 2007 (with 17.0%) to fourth. A total of 390 votes were cast in this election, of which 4 or 1.0% were invalid.
Economy
, Sorens had an unemployment rate of 2.8%. , there were 61 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 23 businesses involved in this sector. 40 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 7 businesses in this sector. 170 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 24 businesses in this sector.[ There were 396 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 41.4% 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 205. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 44, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 31 of which 22 or (71.0%) were in manufacturing and 9 (29.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 130. In the tertiary sector; 66 or 50.8% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 4 or 3.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 14 or 10.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 1.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 1 was a technical professional or scientist, 5 or 3.8% were in education and 33 or 25.4% were in health care.
, there were 71 workers who commuted into the municipality and 272 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.8 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 2.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 74% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 720 or 86.1% 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 33 or 3.9% 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 4 individuals (or about 0.48% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was 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 there was 1 individual who was 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 2 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 ...
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 ...
. 35 (or about 4.19% 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 41 individuals (or about 4.90% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Sorens about 230 or (27.5%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 72 or (8.6%) 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 72 who completed tertiary schooling, 56.9% were Swiss men, 27.8% were Swiss women, 6.9% were non-Swiss men and 8.3% were non-Swiss women.[
The Canton of Fribourg school system provides one year 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 ...
, followed by six years of Primary school. This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude. Following the lower Secondary students may attend a three or four year optional upper Secondary school. The upper Secondary school is divided into gymnasium (university preparatory) and vocational programs. After they finish the upper Secondary program, students may choose to attend a Tertiary school or continue their apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...
.Chart of the education system in Canton Fribourg
During the 2010-11 school year, there were a total of 82 students attending 4 classes in Sorens. A total of 166 students from the municipality attended any school, either in the municipality or outside of it. There was one kindergarten class with a total of 20 students in the municipality. The municipality had 3 primary classes and 62 students. During the same year, there were no lower secondary classes in the municipality, but 31 students attended lower secondary school in a neighboring municipality. There were no upper Secondary classes or vocational classes, but there were 14 upper Secondary students and 29 upper Secondary vocational students who attended classes in another municipality. The municipality had no non-university Tertiary classes, but there were 5 non-university Tertiary students and 4 specialized Tertiary students who attended classes in another municipality.[
]
References
{{Authority control
Municipalities of the canton of Fribourg