Sur () is a village and former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the Sursés in the district of Albula in the canton of Graubünden in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. On 1 January 2016 the former municipalities of Bivio,

Cunter Cunter (Romansh language, Romansh, in German language, German: Conters im Oberhalbstein) is a village and former municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Sursés in the district of Albula (district), Albula in the Cantons of Switzerland, ...

, Marmorera, Mulegns, Riom-Parsonz, Salouf, Savognin, Sur and Tinizong-Rona merged to form the new municipality of

Surses Sursés () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Albula Region of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2016 the former municipalities of Bivio, Cunter, Marmorera, Mulegns, Riom-Parson ...

.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 27 April 2016 The majority of its population are Romansh-speaking (the Surmiran dialect), with the 2000 census reporting that some 75% claimed it as their first language.

History

The nearby Burg Spliatsch was built around the beginning of the 13th Century by the Marmels family. In 1663 the Capuchin friars built the

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

church of S. Catregna (Katharina) on the ruined foundations of the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

church of St. Bartholomäus. Today this church, together with the villages of Mulegns and Marmorera form a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

. Until 1850 Sur was part of the municipality of Oberhalbstein in the League of God's House. Before the construction of the

Rhaetian Railway The Rhaetian Railway (; ; ), abbreviated RhB, is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland. Headquartered in Chur, the RhB operates all the railway lines of the Cantons of Switzerland, ...

Sur was a cluster of farm houses and a major side industry was providing guides to travellers.

Geography

Sur had an area, , of . Of this area, 42.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 13.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (43.8%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). The former municipality is located in the sub-district of Surses of the Albula district. It consists of the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

of Furnatsch and Tgacrest as well as four alpine herding camps in Flix.

Demographics

Sur had a population (as of 2014) of 68. , 16.7% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -4%. , the gender distribution of the population was 46.9% male and 53.1% female.Graubunden in Numbers
accessed 21 September 2009 The age distribution, , in Sur is; 12 people or 12.9% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old. 5 people or 5.4% are 10 to 14, and people or 0.0% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 7 people or 7.5% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 15 people or 16.1% are 30 to 39, 7 people or 7.5% are 40 to 49, and 14 people or 15.1% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 14 people or 15.1% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 14 people or 15.1% are 70 to 79, there are 3 people or 3.2% who are 80 to 89, and there are 2 people or 2.2% 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 35.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (30.2%), the SPS (25.9%) and the FDP (7.8%). In Sur about 58.3% 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 (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...

''). Sur has an unemployment rate of 1.35%. , there were 12 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 4 businesses involved in this sector. 18 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 2 businesses in this sector. 24 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 7 businesses in this sector. The historical population is given in the following table:

Languages

Most of the population () speaks Rhaeto-Romance (75.3%), with German being second most common (21.5%) and Italian being third ( 3.2%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 01-Oct-2009

References

External links

Official website
* {{Authority control Surses Former municipalities of Graubünden