Birgisch 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
Brig 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. On 1 January 2013 the former municipalities of Birgisch and
Mund
Mund is a former municipality in the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipalities of Mund and Birgisch merged into the municipality of Naters.[Naters
Naters is a municipality in the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipalities of Birgisch and Mund merged into the municipality of Naters, which also includes the villages of Hegdorn, G ...]
.
[Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz]
accessed 9 February 2013
History
Birgisch is first mentioned in 1232 as ''Burginse''.
[
]
Geography
Before the merger, Birgisch had a total area of .[ Of this area, 37.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 46.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.0% is settled (buildings or roads) and 12.6% is unproductive land.][
The former municipality is located above the right bank of the Rhone river. It consists of the village of Birgisch and numerous ]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 ...
.
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 ''Azure, a bend lowered wavy Argent, in chief sinister a Tower of the same lined, doored and windowed Sable.''
Demographics
Birgisch had a population (as of 2010) of 241.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]
accessed 9 February 2013 , 4.1% of the population are resident foreign nationals.
accessed 19 June 2010[
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 ...
(207 or 95.4%) as their first language, Slovenian is the second most common (4 or 1.8%) and French is the third (2 or 0.9%).[
, the gender distribution of the population was 50.9% male and 49.1% female. The population was made up of 107 Swiss men (48.6% of the population) and 5 (2.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 105 Swiss women (47.7%) and 3 (1.4%) non-Swiss women.][Ständige Wohnbevolkerung nach Geschlecht und Heimat am 31.12.2009.xls]
accessed 24 August 2011 Of the population in the municipality 110 or about 50.7% were born in Birgisch and lived there in 2000. There were 65 or 30.0% who were born in the same canton, while 27 or 12.4% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 13 or 6.0% were born outside of Switzerland.[ The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.1%.][
, there were 88 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 113 married individuals, 14 widows or widowers and 2 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 84 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household.[ There were 23 households that consist of only one person and 6 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 85 households that answered this question, 27.1% were households made up of just one person and there was 1 adult who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 22 married couples without children, 34 married couples with children There were 3 single parents with a child or children. There was 1 household that was made up of unrelated people and 1 household that was made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.][
there were 91 single family homes (or 72.2% of the total) out of a total of 126 inhabited buildings. There were 26 multi-family buildings (20.6%), along with 7 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (5.6%) and 2 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (1.6%).][Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen]
accessed 28 January 2011
, a total of 80 apartments (51.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 58 apartments (37.7%) were seasonally occupied and 16 apartments (10.4%) were empty.[ , the construction rate of new housing units was 9.1 new units per 1000 residents.][ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 2.41%.][
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
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 56.68% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (21.93%), the SP (13.35%) 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 f ...
(2.72%). In the federal election, a total of 114 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 63.0%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'État/Staatsrat election a total of 95 votes were cast, of which 9 or about 9.5% were invalid. The voter participation was 53.7%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 114 votes were cast, of which 12 or about 10.5% were invalid. The voter participation was 64.0%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 59.88%.
Economy
, Birgisch had an unemployment rate of 0.7%. , there were 23 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 12 businesses involved in this sector. 4 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 2 businesses in this sector. 8 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 3 businesses in this sector.[ There were 98 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 36.7% 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 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 17. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 8, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 3 of which 1 was in manufacturing and 2 (66.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 6. In the tertiary sector; 1 was in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 2 or 33.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 33.3% were in education.
, there were 6 workers who commuted into the municipality and 84 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 14.0 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 19.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 74.5% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 203 or 93.5% 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 9 or 4.1% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. 2 (or about 0.92% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 3 individuals (or about 1.38% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Birgisch about 83 or (38.2%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 10 or (4.6%) 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 ...
or a '' Fachhochschule''). Of the 10 who completed tertiary schooling, 60.0% were Swiss men, 30.0% were Swiss women.[
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 13 students in the Birgisch 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 Valais allows young children to attend 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 ce ...
. During that school year, there were no kindergarten classes (KG1 or KG2) and there were no kindergarten students. 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 ...
. In Birgisch there was one class and 13 students in the primary school. The secondary school program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower secondary students from Birgisch attend their school in a neighboring municipality.Obligatorische Schulzeit
accessed 24 August 2011 All the upper secondary students attended school in another municipality.
, there were 10 students from Birgisch who attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Former municipalities of Valais