Blatten
Encyclopedia
Blatten is a municipality
in the district of Westlich Raron in the canton
of Valais
in Switzerland
.
It lies in the Lötschental
valley south of the Bernese Alps
. The municipality is located in the Westlich Raron district, in the upper most Lötschen valley at an elevation of 1540 m (5,052.5 ft). It consists of the village of Blatten and the hamlets
of Eisten, Ried and Weissenried.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Azure, a rocky Mountain Argent issuant from the flank dexter and from the point, per bendwise and in chief sinister a Cross bottony of the same.
Most of the population speaks German
(280 or 99.6%) as their first language with the rest speaking English
, the population was 51.9% male and 48.1% female. The population was made up of 158 Swiss men (50.3% of the population) and 5 (1.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 147 Swiss women (46.8%) and 4 (1.3%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 224 or about 79.7% were born in Blatten and lived there in 2000. There were 36 or 12.8% who were born in the same canton, while 19 or 6.8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1 or 0.4% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0-19 years old) make up 17.8% of the population, while adults (20-64 years old) make up 56.2% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 26%.
, there were 115 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 136 married individuals, 29 widows or widowers and 1 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 114 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 35 households that consist of only one person and 10 households with five or more people. , a total of 113 apartments (42.0% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 133 apartments (49.4%) were seasonally occupied and 23 apartments (8.6%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 12.7 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.98%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
the most popular party was the CVP
which received 74.87% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
(11.66%), the SVP
(10.46%) and the FDP
(1.97%). In the federal election, a total of 182 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 68.9%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat
election a total of 191 votes were cast, of which 13 or about 6.8% were invalid. The voter participation was 80.3%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election
election a total of 179 votes were cast, of which 11 or about 6.1% were invalid. The voter participation was 70.5%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 74. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 14, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 2, all of which were in manufacturing. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 58. In the tertiary sector; 6 or 10.3% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 1 was in the movement and storage of goods, 43 or 74.1% were in a hotel or restaurant and 1 was the insurance or financial industry.
, there were 11 workers who commuted into the municipality and 81 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 7.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 22% used public transportation to get to work, and 48% used a private car.
. 2 (or about 0.71% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 3 individuals (or about 1.07% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 7 who completed tertiary schooling, all were Swiss men. , there were 26 students from Blatten who 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 Westlich Raron 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 Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
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....
.
Geography
Blatten has an area, , of 90.7 square kilometre. Of this area, 9.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and 81.1% is unproductive land.It lies in the Lötschental
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 river Lonza running down the length of the valley from its source within the Langgletscher....
valley south of the Bernese Alps
Bernese Alps
The Bernese Alps are a group of mountain ranges in the western part of the Alps, in Switzerland. Although the name suggests that they are located in the Bernese Oberland region of the canton of Bern, portions of the Bernese Alps are in the adjacent cantons of Valais, Lucerne, Obwalden, Fribourg and...
. The municipality is located in the Westlich Raron district, in the upper most Lötschen valley at an elevation of 1540 m (5,052.5 ft). It consists of the village of Blatten and the hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Eisten, Ried and Weissenried.
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 rocky Mountain Argent issuant from the flank dexter and from the point, per bendwise and in chief sinister a Cross bottony of the same.
Demographics
Blatten has a population of . , 2.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010 ) the population has changed at a rate of 0%. It has changed at a rate of 2.9% due to migration and at a rate of -1.6% due to births and deaths.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....
(280 or 99.6%) as their first language with the rest speaking English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, the population was 51.9% male and 48.1% female. The population was made up of 158 Swiss men (50.3% of the population) and 5 (1.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 147 Swiss women (46.8%) and 4 (1.3%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 224 or about 79.7% were born in Blatten and lived there in 2000. There were 36 or 12.8% who were born in the same canton, while 19 or 6.8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1 or 0.4% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0-19 years old) make up 17.8% of the population, while adults (20-64 years old) make up 56.2% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 26%.
, there were 115 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 136 married individuals, 29 widows or widowers and 1 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 114 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 35 households that consist of only one person and 10 households with five or more people. , a total of 113 apartments (42.0% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 133 apartments (49.4%) were seasonally occupied and 23 apartments (8.6%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 12.7 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.98%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Sights
The entire village of Blatten and the hamlets of Eisten and Weissenried are designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage SitesInventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
The Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage.-Sites of national importance:-Types:...
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 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...
which received 74.87% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(11.66%), 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...
(10.46%) and 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....
(1.97%). In the federal election, a total of 182 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 68.9%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat
Conseil d'Etat (Switzerland)
In Switzerland, Conseil d'Etat is the name of the council constituting the cantonal government of French-speaking cantons. It is not to be confused with the Conseil des États which is a chamber of the Swiss parliament....
election a total of 191 votes were cast, of which 13 or about 6.8% were invalid. The voter participation was 80.3%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election
Swiss Council of States election, 2007
Elections were held to the Council of States of Switzerland in October and November 2007 as part of the 2007 federal election. All 46 members of the Council of States were elected from all cantons of Switzerland. The first round was held on 21 October...
election a total of 179 votes were cast, of which 11 or about 6.1% were invalid. The voter participation was 70.5%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.
Economy
, Blatten had an unemployment rate of 1.1%. , there were 35 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 15 businesses involved in this sector. 2 people were employed in the secondary sector and there was 1 business in this sector. 82 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 16 businesses in this sector. There were 127 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 30.7% 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 74. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 14, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 2, all of which were in manufacturing. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 58. In the tertiary sector; 6 or 10.3% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 1 was in the movement and storage of goods, 43 or 74.1% were in a hotel or restaurant and 1 was the insurance or financial industry.
, there were 11 workers who commuted into the municipality and 81 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 7.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 22% used public transportation to get to work, and 48% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 276 or 98.2% were Roman Catholic, while or 0.0% 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...
. 2 (or about 0.71% 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 3 individuals (or about 1.07% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Blatten about 101 or (35.9%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 7 or (2.5%) 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 7 who completed tertiary schooling, all were Swiss men. , there were 26 students from Blatten who attended schools outside the municipality.