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
Sursee
Sursee is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. Sursee is located at the northern end of Lake Sempach, not far from where the ''Sure'' (or ''Suhre'') river exits the lake ("See"), hence the name "Sursee". ...
Lucerne
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...
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 ...
. On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of
Pfeffikon
Pfeffikon is a former municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Pfeffikon merged into the municipality of Rickenbach.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz accessed 9 February 2013
Geography
Rickenbach has an area of . Of this area, 62.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 26.3% is forested. The rest of the land, (11%) is settled. , 26.28% of the total land area was forested. Of the agricultural land, 58.33% is used for farming or pastures, while 4.38% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the settled areas, 4.91% is covered with buildings, 2.03% is industrial, 0.43% is classed as special developments, 0.11% is parks or greenbelts and 3.53% is transportation infrastructure.
Demographics
Rickenbach has a population (as of ) of . , 13.3% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 8.7%. Most of the population () speaks German (92.3%), with Albanian being second most common (3.5%) and Portuguese being third (1.4%).
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the CVP which received 40.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (28.7%), the FDP (24.1%) and 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 ...
(3.2%).
The age distribution in Rickenbach is; 642 people or 28.9% of the population is 0–19 years old. 568 people or 25.6% are 20–39 years old, and 722 people or 32.6% are 40–64 years old. The senior population distribution is 213 people or 9.6% are 65–79 years old, 59 or 2.7% are 80–89 years old and 14 people or 0.6% of the population are 90+ years old.LUSTAT Lucerne Cantonal Statistics accessed 12 August 2009
In Rickenbach about 69.9% 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 ...
'').
there are 682 households, of which 144 households (or about 21.1%) contain only a single individual. 116 or about 17.0% are large households, with at least five members. there were 384 inhabited buildings in the municipality, of which 301 were built only as housing, and 83 were
mixed use
Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...
buildings. There were 222 single family homes, 35 double family homes, and 44 multi-family homes in the municipality. Most homes were either two (172) or three (85) story structures. There were only 20 single story buildings and 24 four or more story buildings.
Rickenbach has an unemployment rate of 1.77%. , there were 113 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 41 businesses involved in this sector. 295 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 41 businesses in this sector. 246 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 50 businesses in this sector.Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 24-Aug-2009 52.1% of the population of the municipality were employed in some capacity. At the same time, females made up 40.6% of the workforce.
the religious membership of Rickenbach was; 1,529 (75.8%) were Roman Catholic, and 198 (9.8%) were Protestant, with an additional 20 (0.99%) that were of some other Christian faith. There are 4 individuals (0.2% of the population) who are Jewish. There are 135 individuals (6.69% of the population) who are Muslim. Of the rest; there were 4 (0.2%) individuals who belong to another religion (not listed), 55 (2.73%) who do not belong to any organized religion, 72 (3.57%) who did not answer the question.