Hofstetten-Flüh (

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , gsw, Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spelling ...

: ''Hufstette-Flüe'') 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 Dorneck 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 ...

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

Hofstetten-Flüh is first mentioned in 1194 as ''Huhostetten''.

Geography

Hofstetten-Flüh has an area, , of . Of this area, or 40.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 44.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 14.8% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
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 10.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.8%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 14.1% is used for growing crops and 18.9% is pastures, while 7.4% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is located in the Dorneck district, in the hills south of the Leimen valley. It is part of an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of the Canton of Solothurn. It consists of the village of Hofstetten-Flüh and is made up of the villages of Hofstetten and Flüh.

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 ''Argent two Pales Gules and in a Chief of the same a Mullet of the first.''

Demographics

Hofstetten-Flüh has a population () of . , 13.2% 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 10.7%.
accessed 23-March-2011 Most of the population () speaks

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 ...

(2,501 or 92.1%), 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 (57 or 2.1%) and

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 third (38 or 1.4%). , the gender distribution of the population was 49.7% male and 50.3% female. The population was made up of 1,272 Swiss men (41.9% of the population) and 235 (7.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,335 Swiss women (44.0%) and 193 (6.4%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 666 or about 24.5% were born in Hofstetten-Flüh and lived there in 2000. There were 159 or 5.9% who were born in the same canton, while 1,358 or 50.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 468 or 17.2% were born outside of Switzerland. In there were 22 live births to Swiss citizens and 3 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 12 deaths of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 10 while the foreign population increased by 2. There were 5 Swiss men and 4 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 4 non-Swiss women 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 6 and the non-Swiss population increased by 8 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 0.5%. The age distribution, , in Hofstetten-Flüh is; 212 children or 7.8% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 480 teenagers or 17.7% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 117 people or 4.3% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 817 people or 30.1% are between 25 and 44, and 798 people or 29.4% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 245 people or 9.0% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 48 people or 1.8% who are over 80. , there were 1,039 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,444 married individuals, 104 widows or widowers and 130 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 1,082 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. There were 242 households that consist of only one person and 75 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,092 households that answered this question, 22.2% were households made up of just one person and there were 7 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 374 married couples without children, 386 married couples with children There were 60 single parents with a child or children. There were 13 households that were made up of unrelated people and 10 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing. there were 696 single family homes (or 81.0% of the total) out of a total of 859 inhabited buildings. There were 81 multi-family buildings (9.4%), along with 61 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (7.1%) and 21 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.4%). Of the single family homes 55 were built before 1919, while 131 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (211) 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 1,141 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 328. There were 10 single room apartments and 574 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 1,060 apartments (92.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 53 apartments (4.6%) were seasonally occupied and 28 apartments (2.5%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 5.3 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 2.3%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1080 height:210 PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:3200 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:800 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:200 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1739 from:start till:495 text:"495" bar:1804 from:start till:503 text:"503" bar:1850 from:start till:858 text:"858" bar:1860 from:start till:883 text:"883" bar:1870 from:start till:925 text:"925" bar:1880 from:start till:940 text:"940" bar:1888 from:start till:809 text:"809" bar:1900 from:start till:899 text:"899" bar:1910 from:start till:964 text:"964" bar:1920 from:start till:961 text:"961" bar:1930 from:start till:978 text:"978" bar:1941 from:start till:985 text:"985" bar:1950 from:start till:1103 text:"1,103" bar:1960 from:start till:1153 text:"1,153" bar:1970 from:start till:1363 text:"1,363" bar:1980 from:start till:1682 text:"1,682" bar:1990 from:start till:2374 text:"2,374" bar:2000 from:start till:2717 text:"2,717" bar:2010 from:start till:3035 text:"3,035"

Politics

In the 2011 federal election, the most popular party was the SVP which received 22.6% of the vote. The next four most popular parties were the CVP (19.0%), the FDP (16.8%), the SP (16.3%) 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 ...

(9.6%). In the federal election, a total of 1,109 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 51.6%.

Economy

, Hofstetten-Flüh had an unemployment rate of 2.3%. , there were 40 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 14 businesses involved in this sector. 250 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 36 businesses in this sector. 262 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 66 businesses in this sector. There were 1,424 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 41.7% 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 435. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 25, of which 20 were in agriculture and 5 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 228 of which 134 or (58.8%) were in manufacturing and 94 (41.2%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 182. In the tertiary sector; 29 or 15.9% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 5 or 2.7% were in the movement and storage of goods, 34 or 18.7% were in a hotel or restaurant, 5 or 2.7% were in the information industry, 8 or 4.4% were the insurance or financial industry, 26 or 14.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 15 or 8.2% were in education and 30 or 16.5% were in health care. , there were 523 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,145 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 31.9% of the workforce coming into Hofstetten-Flüh are coming from outside Switzerland.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 21.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 61.1% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 1,139 or 41.9% 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 752 or 27.7% 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 18 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.66% of the population), there were 2 individuals (or about 0.07% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 60 individuals (or about 2.21% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 2 individuals (or about 0.07% 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 47 (or about 1.73% 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 7 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 ...

, 21 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 1 individual who belonged to another church. 598 (or about 22.01% 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 ...

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 70 individuals (or about 2.58% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Hofstetten-Flüh about 1,103 or (40.6%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 501 or (18.4%) 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 501 who completed tertiary schooling, 60.3% were Swiss men, 24.2% were Swiss women, 9.6% were non-Swiss men and 6.0% were non-Swiss women. During the 2010–2011 school year there were a total of 224 students in the Hofstetten-Flüh 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 56 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 168 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 Hofstetten-Flüh attend their school in a neighboring municipality.Canton of Solothurn - School statistics
accessed 13 March 2011 , there were 5 students in Hofstetten-Flüh who came from another municipality, while 270 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hofstetten-Fluh Municipalities of the canton of Solothurn