Vicosoprano 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 district of Maloja in the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

canton of Graubünden and is the largest village in the

Val Bregaglia The Val Bregaglia ( lmo, Val Bregaja; german: Bergell, ; rm, ) is an alpine valley of Switzerland and Italy at the base of which runs the river Mera ( lmo, Maira in Switzerland). Most of the valley falls within the Swiss district of Maloja i ...

. It's now part of the municipality of

Bregaglia Bregaglia (Italian and rm, ) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the canton of Grisons in Switzerland. It was formed by the 2010 merger of the municipalities of Bondo, Castasegna, Soglio, Stampa and Vicosoprano, all located in the Val ...

History

Vicosoprano is first mentioned in 1096 as ''Vicus Supranus''.

Geography

Vicosoprano has an area, , of . Of this area, 8.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 25.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (64.7%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers, or mountains). The municipality is located in the Bergell sub-district of the Maloja district. It is the largest municipality of the Bergell sub-district. It consists of the village of Vicosoprano (elev. ) 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 Roticcio and

Pongello Pongello is a small 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 typicall ...

. In 1971 the settlement of Casaccia joined Vicosoprano. On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of Bondo,

Castasegna Castasegna () is a former municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Grisons, on the Italian border. It is currently part of the municipality of Bregaglia. The town is situated in the Bergell valley, above the river Mera. ...

, Soglio,

Stampa Stampa is a former municipality in the Maloja district of the Swiss canton, Graubünden. It is now part of the municipality of Bregaglia. History Stampa is first mentioned after 1354 as ''Stamppa'' and was named so in honor of the Stampa famil ...

, and Vicosoprano merged into a new municipality,

.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 23 September 2009

Demographics

Vicosoprano has a population () of 445, of which 9.7% are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years, the population has decreased at a rate of -10.2%.
accessed 19-Oct-2009 , the gender distribution of the population was 48.4% male and 51.6% female.Graubunden in Numbers
accessed 21 September 2009 The age distribution, , in Vicosoprano is; 67 children or 15.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old. 34 teenagers or 7.9% are 10 to 14, and 14 teenagers or 3.3% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 39 people or 9.1% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 55 people or 12.8% are 30 to 39, 82 people or 19.1% are 40 to 49, and 42 people or 9.8% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 33 people or 7.7% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 38 people or 8.9% are 70 to 79, there are 18 people or 4.2% who are 80 to 89, and there are 7 people or 1.6% who are 90 to 99.Graubunden Population Statistics
accessed 21 September 2009 In the 2007 federal election, the most popular party was the SVP which received 64.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (18.9%), the FDP (14.3%), and the CVP (2.1%). The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Vicosoprano about 66.7% 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 ...

''). Vicosoprano has an unemployment rate of 0.96%. , there were 24 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 11 businesses involved in this sector. 130 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 constructi ...

and there are 15 businesses in this sector. 89 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 19 businesses in this sector. The historical population is given in the following table: : Population increase during construction of the dam at Albigna.

Languages

Most of the population () speaks Italian (80.7%), with German being second most common (12.8%) and Romansh being third ( 4.2%). The majority of the population speaks the local dialect of Lombard.

Weather

Vicosoprano has an average of 111.4 days of rain per year and on average receives of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

. The wettest month is May during which time Vicosoprano receives an average of of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 13.3 days. The driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 13.3 days., the weather station elevation is 1075 meters above sea level.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Bregaglia Populated places disestablished in 2010