Bellach
Encyclopedia
Bellach is a municipality
in the district of Lebern
in the canton
of Solothurn in Switzerland
.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 5.3% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 16.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 9.3%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.5% of the area Out of the forested land, 12.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 35.1% is used for growing crops and 10.6% is pastures, while 1.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 0.8% is in lakes and 3.4% is in rivers and streams.
The municipality is located in the Lebern district, in the southern foothills of the Jura Mountains
, west of Solothurn
. It consists of the former villages of Ober-Bellach, Nieder-Bellach and Gärisch, which have all grown together. The municipalities of Biberist
, Derendingen
, Luterbach
, Bellach, Langendorf
and Solothurn
are considering a merger at a date in the future into the new municipality of with an, , undetermined name.
Bellacher Weiher
is a pond and nature preserve in the municipality.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Azure a Horse Argent rampant and harnessed.
Most of the population speaks German
(4,191 or 83.4%), with Italian
being second most common (210 or 4.2%) and Turkish
being third (185 or 3.7%). There are 46 people who speak French
and 3 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.8% male and 50.2% female. The population was made up of 1,831 Swiss men (35.7% of the population) and 725 (14.1%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,933 Swiss women (37.7%) and 642 (12.5%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 1,236 or about 24.6% were born in Bellach and lived there in 2000. There were 1,534 or 30.5% who were born in the same canton, while 1,083 or 21.5% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,061 or 21.1% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 24 live births to Swiss citizens and 12 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 40 deaths of Swiss citizens and 3 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 16 while the foreign population increased by 9. There were 7 Swiss men who immigrated back to Switzerland and 4 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 16 non-Swiss men and 7 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was a decrease of 36 and the non-Swiss population decreased by 12 people. This represents a population growth rate of -0.9%.
The age distribution, , in Bellach is; 370 children or 7.4% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 842 teenagers or 16.7% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 264 people or 5.3% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 1,469 people or 29.2% are between 25 and 44, and 1,339 people or 26.6% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 598 people or 11.9% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 145 people or 2.9% who are over 80.
, there were 1,913 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,566 married individuals, 272 widows or widowers and 276 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.58 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.56 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 48.5% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
or a rent-to-own agreement).
, there were 2,092 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 611 households that consist of only one person and 134 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 2,116 households that answered this question, 28.9% were households made up of just one person and there were 16 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 656 married couples without children, 685 married couples with children There were 106 single parents with a child or children. There were 18 households that were made up of unrelated people and 24 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 689 single family homes (or 68.4% of the total) out of a total of 1,007 inhabited buildings. There were 184 multi-family buildings (18.3%), along with 81 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (8.0%) and 53 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (5.3%). Of the single family homes 20 were built before 1919, while 98 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (146) were built between 1971 and 1980.
there were 2,322 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 828. There were 38 single room apartments and 678 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 2,075 apartments (89.4% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 101 apartments (4.3%) were seasonally occupied and 146 apartments (6.3%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.9 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.89%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 31.21% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP
(23.29%), the CVP
(18.51%) and the SP
(17.04%). In the federal election, a total of 1,625 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 50.8%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 1,992. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 27, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 1,263 of which 1,120 or (88.7%) were in manufacturing and 141 (11.2%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 702. In the tertiary sector; 328 or 46.7% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 24 or 3.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 34 or 4.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 9 or 1.3% were in the information industry, 10 or 1.4% were the insurance or financial industry, 100 or 14.2% were technical professionals or scientists, 43 or 6.1% were in education and 60 or 8.5% were in health care.
, there were 1,394 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,955 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 16.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 55.5% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 63 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 1.25% of the population), there were 15 individuals (or about 0.30% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 84 individuals (or about 1.67% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish
, and 448 (or about 8.91% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 7 individuals who were Buddhist
, 18 individuals who were Hindu
and 6 individuals who belonged to another church. 741 (or about 14.74% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 159 individuals (or about 3.16% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 500 who completed tertiary schooling, 68.4% were Swiss men, 18.0% were Swiss women, 10.6% were non-Swiss men and 3.0% were non-Swiss women.
, there were 82 students in Bellach who came from another municipality, while 240 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
in the district of Lebern
Lebern (district)
Lebern District is one of the ten districts of the canton of Solothurn, Switzerland, situated to the west of the canton. Together with the city of Solothurn, it forms the Amtei of Solothurn-Lebern...
in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of Solothurn in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
History
Bellach is first mentioned in 1294 as Bella. In 1307 it was mentioned as Bellacho.Geography
Bellach has an area, , of 5.27 square kilometres (2 sq mi). Of this area, 2.5 km² (0.965255396481338 sq mi) or 47.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.77 km² (0.297298662116252 sq mi) or 14.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.76 km² (0.679539799122862 sq mi) or 33.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.22 km² (0.0849424748903577 sq mi) or 4.2% is either rivers or lakes and 0.01 km² (2.5 acre) or 0.2% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 5.3% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 16.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 9.3%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.5% of the area Out of the forested land, 12.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 35.1% is used for growing crops and 10.6% is pastures, while 1.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 0.8% is in lakes and 3.4% is in rivers and streams.
The municipality is located in the Lebern district, in the southern foothills of the Jura Mountains
Jura mountains
The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each...
, west of Solothurn
Solothurn
The city of Solothurn is the capital of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. The city also comprises the only municipality of the district of the same name.-Pre-roman settlement:...
. It consists of the former villages of Ober-Bellach, Nieder-Bellach and Gärisch, which have all grown together. The municipalities of Biberist
Biberist
Biberist is a municipality in the district of Wasseramt in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.-History:Biberist is first mentioned in 762 as als Biberussa. In 1300 Ober- and Unterbiberist were mentioned as ze beiden Biberschon....
, Derendingen
Derendingen
Derendingen may refer to the following places:*Derendingen, Switzerland, in the Canton of Solothurn*Derendingen, Germany, a part of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg...
, Luterbach
Luterbach
Luterbach is a municipality in the district of Wasseramt in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.-History:Luterbach is first mentioned in 1052 as lutere Bach, though this identification is disputed. In 1319 it was mentioned as ville Luterbach....
, Bellach, Langendorf
Langendorf
Langendorf can refer to several places:*Langendorf, Saxony-Anhalt, a town in the district Burgenlandkreis in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany*Langendorf, Lower Saxony, a town in the district Lüchow-Dannenberg in Lower Saxony, Germany*Langendorf, Switzerland...
and Solothurn
Solothurn
The city of Solothurn is the capital of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. The city also comprises the only municipality of the district of the same name.-Pre-roman settlement:...
are considering a merger at a date in the future into the new municipality of with an, , undetermined name.
Bellacher Weiher
Bellacher Weiher
Bellacher Weiher is a small lake at Bellach in the Canton of Solothurn, Switzerland. Its surface area is 3.3 ha. The pond was formed in 1548. Lake and surroundings are a nature preserve....
is a pond and nature preserve in the municipality.
Coat of arms
The blazonBlazon
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...
of the municipal coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
is Azure a Horse Argent rampant and harnessed.
Demographics
Bellach has a population of . , 26.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of -0.9%.Most of the population speaks German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
(4,191 or 83.4%), with Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
being second most common (210 or 4.2%) and Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
being third (185 or 3.7%). There are 46 people who speak French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and 3 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.8% male and 50.2% female. The population was made up of 1,831 Swiss men (35.7% of the population) and 725 (14.1%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,933 Swiss women (37.7%) and 642 (12.5%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 1,236 or about 24.6% were born in Bellach and lived there in 2000. There were 1,534 or 30.5% who were born in the same canton, while 1,083 or 21.5% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,061 or 21.1% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 24 live births to Swiss citizens and 12 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 40 deaths of Swiss citizens and 3 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 16 while the foreign population increased by 9. There were 7 Swiss men who immigrated back to Switzerland and 4 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 16 non-Swiss men and 7 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was a decrease of 36 and the non-Swiss population decreased by 12 people. This represents a population growth rate of -0.9%.
The age distribution, , in Bellach is; 370 children or 7.4% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 842 teenagers or 16.7% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 264 people or 5.3% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 1,469 people or 29.2% are between 25 and 44, and 1,339 people or 26.6% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 598 people or 11.9% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 145 people or 2.9% who are over 80.
, there were 1,913 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,566 married individuals, 272 widows or widowers and 276 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.58 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.56 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 48.5% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
or a rent-to-own agreement).
, there were 2,092 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 611 households that consist of only one person and 134 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 2,116 households that answered this question, 28.9% were households made up of just one person and there were 16 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 656 married couples without children, 685 married couples with children There were 106 single parents with a child or children. There were 18 households that were made up of unrelated people and 24 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 689 single family homes (or 68.4% of the total) out of a total of 1,007 inhabited buildings. There were 184 multi-family buildings (18.3%), along with 81 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (8.0%) and 53 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (5.3%). Of the single family homes 20 were built before 1919, while 98 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (146) were built between 1971 and 1980.
there were 2,322 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 828. There were 38 single room apartments and 678 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 2,075 apartments (89.4% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 101 apartments (4.3%) were seasonally occupied and 146 apartments (6.3%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.9 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.89%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Politics
In the 2007 federal electionSwiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...
the most popular party was the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
which received 31.21% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP
FDP.The Liberals
FDP.The Liberals is a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It is the joint-largest party in the Federal Council, third-largest party in the National Council, and second-largest in the Council of States....
(23.29%), the CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...
(18.51%) and the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(17.04%). In the federal election, a total of 1,625 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
was 50.8%.
Economy
, Bellach had an unemployment rate of 4.6%. , there were 44 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 21 businesses involved in this sector. 1,332 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 58 businesses in this sector. 851 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 127 businesses in this sector. There were 2,629 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.1% of the workforce.the total number of full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent , is a unit to measure employed persons or students in a way that makes them comparable although they may work or study a different number of hours per week. FTE is often used to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization...
jobs was 1,992. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 27, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 1,263 of which 1,120 or (88.7%) were in manufacturing and 141 (11.2%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 702. In the tertiary sector; 328 or 46.7% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 24 or 3.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 34 or 4.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 9 or 1.3% were in the information industry, 10 or 1.4% were the insurance or financial industry, 100 or 14.2% were technical professionals or scientists, 43 or 6.1% were in education and 60 or 8.5% were in health care.
, there were 1,394 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,955 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 16.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 55.5% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 1,926 or 38.3% were Roman Catholic, while 1,559 or 31.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed ChurchSwiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 63 members of an Orthodox church
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
(or about 1.25% of the population), there were 15 individuals (or about 0.30% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...
, and there were 84 individuals (or about 1.67% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and 448 (or about 8.91% of the population) who were Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic. There were 7 individuals who were Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, 18 individuals who were Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and 6 individuals who belonged to another church. 741 (or about 14.74% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
or atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, and 159 individuals (or about 3.16% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Bellach about 1,959 or (39.0%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 500 or (9.9%) have completed additional higher education (either University or a FachhochschuleFachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...
). Of the 500 who completed tertiary schooling, 68.4% were Swiss men, 18.0% were Swiss women, 10.6% were non-Swiss men and 3.0% were non-Swiss women.
, there were 82 students in Bellach who came from another municipality, while 240 residents attended schools outside the municipality.