Wiler (Lötschen) 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
Raron
Raron (french: Rarogne) is a municipality in the district of Raron in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
History
Raron is first mentioned around 1101–1200 as ''Rarogni''. In 1146 it was mentioned as ''Rarun''.
A settlement on the Heidnisch ...
in the
canton of
Valais
Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...
in
Switzerland.
Geography
![Picswiss VS-67-26](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Picswiss_VS-67-26.jpg)
Wiler has an area, , of . Of this area, or 19.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 23.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 2.5% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.0% is either rivers or lakes and or 54.2% 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 1.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.9%. Out of the forested land, 19.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0% is used for growing crops, 5.2% is pastures and 14.1% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 13.6% is unproductive vegetation, 36.5% is too rocky for vegetation and 4.2% of the land is covered by glaciers.
[
]
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 vi ...
of the municipal coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
is ''Argent, four Cynorrhodon Flowers Gules conjoined Or surrounded by a Garland and in base Coupeaux Vert.''
Demographics
Wiler has a population () of . , 5.1% 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 9.3%. It has changed at a rate of 2% due to migration and at a rate of 8.3% due to births and deaths.
accessed 13-October-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
**Ge ...
(479 or 98.2%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...
is the second most common (4 or 0.8%) and Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
is the third (3 or 0.6%).[
, the population was made up of 522 Swiss citizens and 28 non-citizen residents (5.09% of the population).] Of the population in the municipality, 355 or about 72.7% were born in Wiler and lived there in 2000. There were 97 or 19.9% who were born in the same canton, while 24 or 4.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 11 or 2.3% were born outside of Switzerland.[
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 21.5% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 65% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 13.5%.][
, there were 229 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 224 married individuals, 28 widows or widowers and 7 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 175 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.8 persons per household.[ There were 36 households that consist of only one person and 20 households with five or more people. , a total of 173 apartments (30.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 342 apartments (60.5%) were seasonally occupied and 50 apartments (8.8%) 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 16.3 new units per 1000 residents.[
The historical population is given in the following chart:
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bar:1850 from:start till:181 text:"181"
bar:1860 from:start till:221 text:"221"
bar:1870 from:start till:223 text:"223"
bar:1880 from:start till:233 text:"233"
bar:1888 from:start till:225 text:"225"
bar:1900 from:start till:228 text:"228"
bar:1910 from:start till:272 text:"272"
bar:1920 from:start till:291 text:"291"
bar:1930 from:start till:287 text:"287"
bar:1941 from:start till:305 text:"305"
bar:1950 from:start till:338 text:"338"
bar:1960 from:start till:357 text:"357"
bar:1970 from:start till:410 text:"410"
bar:1980 from:start till:420 text:"420"
bar:1990 from:start till:428 text:"428"
bar:2000 from:start till:488 text:"488"
]
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 ...
, the most popular party was the CVP which received 71.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (16.64%), 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 f ...
(5.29%) and the SP (4.16%). In the federal election, a total of 206 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 Univ ...
was 52.0%.
Economy
, Wiler had an unemployment rate of 1.3%. , there were 54 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 19 businesses involved in this sector. 28 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 constructi ...
and there were 8 businesses in this sector. 113 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 28 businesses in this sector.[ There were 255 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 34.9% of the workforce.
In 2008, 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 employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often used to measure a ...
jobs was 141. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 28, of which 19 were in agriculture and 9 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 26 of which 3 or (11.5%) were in manufacturing and 23 (88.5%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 87. In the tertiary sector; 14 or 16.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 18 or 20.7% were in the movement and storage of goods, 30 or 34.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 2.3% were the insurance or financial industry, 2 or 2.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 6 or 6.9% were in education and 2 or 2.3% were in health care.
, there were 46 workers who commuted into the municipality and 141 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 23.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 42.4% used a private car.[
]
Transport
Wiler lies on the road up the Lötschental
The Lötschental is the largest valley on the northern side of the Rhône valley in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It lies in the Bernese Alps, with the Lonza running down the length of the valley from its source within the Langgletsche ...
valley from Steg
The Imperial Royal Privileged Austrian State Railway Company (German: ''k. k. privilegierte österreichische Staatseisenbahn-Gesellschaft''), from 1 January 1883 the Privileged Austro-Hungarian State Railway Company (''privilegierte österreic ...
and Goppenstein Goppenstein (1,216 m) is a Swiss hamlet in the canton of Valais, located in the lower Lötschental and traversed by the Lonza river. It belongs to the municipality of Ferden.
Goppenstein is mainly known for its railway station on the Lötschberg ...
. The road passes through Wiler village and reaches its end at Fafleralp. A PostAuto
PostAuto Switzerland, PostBus Ltd. (known as in Swiss Standard German (), in Swiss French (), in Swiss Italian (), and in Romansh () is a subsidiary company of the Swiss Post, which provides regional and rural bus services throughout Sw ...
bus service runs along the road, connecting the municipality to Goppenstein railway station
Goppenstein is a railway station in the Swiss canton of Valais and municipality of Ferden. The station is located on the Lötschberg line of the BLS AG, just outside the southern portal of the Lötschberg tunnel. It takes its name from the nearb ...
, with some buses continuing to Steg.
Religion
From the , 472 or 96.7% 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 let ...
, while 13 or 2.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. 1 (or about 0.20% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 2 individuals (or about 0.41% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Wiler about 216 or (44.3%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 26 or (5.3%) 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 ...
or a '' Fachhochschule''). Of the 26 who completed tertiary schooling, 88.5% were Swiss men, 11.5% were Swiss women.[
, there were 10 students in Wiler who came from another municipality, while 22 residents attended schools outside the municipality.][
]
References
{{Authority control
Wiler (Lotschen)