Fontainemelon
Encyclopedia
Fontainemelon is a municipality
in the district of Val-de-Ruz
in the canton
of Neuchâtel in Switzerland
.
The municipalities of Boudevilliers
, Cernier
, Chézard-Saint-Martin
, Coffrane
, Dombresson
, Engollon
, Fenin-Vilars-Saules
, Fontainemelon, Fontaines
, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane
, Les Hauts-Geneveys
, Montmollin
, Le Pâquier
and Savagnier
are seeking approval from the voters to merge on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of Val-de-Ruz.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 13.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.7%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.2%. Out of the forested land, 35.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 4.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 11.0% is used for growing crops and 11.0% is pastures and 18.0% is used for alpine pastures.
The municipality is located in the Val-de-Ruz district. It consists of the village of Fontainemelon and a portion of the hamlet
of Les Loges, at an elevation of 1230 m (4,035.4 ft).
of the municipal coat of arms
is Tierced in pale, Gules, a Barulet wavy Argent, in chief a Mullet of Five Or, and in base a Watch of the same, Or, three Chevrons Sable, and Vert a Barulet wavy Argent, in chief a Mullet of Five Or, and in base a Plough of the same.
Most of the population speaks French
(1,427 or 88.9%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian
is the second most common (46 or 2.9%) and German
is the third (40 or 2.5%). There are 38 people who speak Italian
and 1 person who speaks Romansh.
, the population was 48.5% male and 51.5% female. The population was made up of 630 Swiss men (38.2% of the population) and 169 (10.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 720 Swiss women (43.7%) and 129 (7.8%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 327 or about 20.4% were born in Fontainemelon and lived there in 2000. There were 601 or 37.4% who were born in the same canton, while 326 or 20.3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 304 or 18.9% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0-19 years old) make up 24.2% of the population, while adults (20-64 years old) make up 60.1% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15.8%.
, there were 643 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 787 married individuals, 85 widows or widowers and 90 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 681 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 218 households that consist of only one person and 39 households with five or more people. , a total of 668 apartments (92.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 40 apartments (5.5%) were seasonally occupied and 17 apartments (2.3%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 8.8 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.64%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
the most popular party was the SP
which received 25.85% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
(25.23%), the LPS Party
(14.07%) and the FDP
(13.8%). In the federal election, a total of 527 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 51.6%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 827. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 5, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 640 of which 579 or (90.5%) were in manufacturing and 61 (9.5%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 182. In the tertiary sector; 68 or 37.4% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 8 or 4.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 5 or 2.7% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 4 or 2.2% were the insurance or financial industry, 6 or 3.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 16 or 8.8% were in education and 37 or 20.3% were in health care.
, there were 648 workers who commuted into the municipality and 609 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.1 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 12.5% of the workforce coming into Fontainemelon are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 15.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 62.2% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 2 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 0.12% of the population), there was 1 individual who belongs to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 73 individuals (or about 4.55% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 83 (or about 5.17% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 3 individuals who were Buddhist
and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 265 (or about 16.51% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 64 individuals (or about 3.99% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 194 who completed tertiary schooling, 56.2% were Swiss men, 27.3% were Swiss women, 11.3% were non-Swiss men and 5.2% were non-Swiss women.
In the canton of Neuchâtel most municipalities provide two years of non-mandatory kindergarten
, followed by five years of mandatory primary education. The next four years of mandatory secondary education is provided at thirteen larger secondary schools, which many students travel out of their home municipality to attend. During the 2010-11 school year, there were 2 kindergarten classes with a total of 38 students in Fontainemelon. In the same year, there were 6 primary classes with a total of 91 students.
, there were 2 students in Fontainemelon who came from another municipality, while 140 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 Val-de-Ruz
Val-de-Ruz (district)
Val-de-Ruz District is a district of the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, consisting of the region of Val de Ruz and the surrounding Jura Mountains. The district capital is the town of Cernier...
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 Neuchâtel 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....
.
The municipalities of Boudevilliers
Boudevilliers
Boudevilliers is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.-Geography:Boudevilliers has an area, , of . Of this area, or 61.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 32.2% is forested...
, Cernier
Cernier
Cernier is the capital of the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelon, Fontaines, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Les Hauts-Geneveys,...
, Chézard-Saint-Martin
Chézard-Saint-Martin
Chézard-Saint-Martin is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelon, Fontaines, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Les...
, Coffrane
Coffrane
Coffrane is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelon, Fontaines, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Les Hauts-Geneveys,...
, Dombresson
Dombresson
Dombresson is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelon, Fontaines, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Les Hauts-Geneveys,...
, Engollon
Engollon
Engollon is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelon, Fontaines, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Les Hauts-Geneveys,...
, Fenin-Vilars-Saules
Fenin-Vilars-Saules
Fenin-Vilars-Saules is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelon, Fontaines, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Les...
, Fontainemelon, Fontaines
Fontaines, Switzerland
Fontaines is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelon, Fontaines, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Les Hauts-Geneveys,...
, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane
Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane
Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelon, Fontaines, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Les...
, Les Hauts-Geneveys
Les Hauts-Geneveys
Les Hauts-Geneveys is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelon, Fontaines, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Les...
, Montmollin
Montmollin
Montmollin is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelon, Fontaines, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Les Hauts-Geneveys,...
, Le Pâquier
Le Pâquier, Neuchâtel
Le Pâquier is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelon, Fontaines, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Les Hauts-Geneveys,...
and Savagnier
Savagnier
Savagnier is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemelon, Fontaines, Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Les Hauts-Geneveys,...
are seeking approval from the voters to merge on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of Val-de-Ruz.
History
Fontainemelon is first mentioned about 1350 as Fontainnemelom. In 1358 it was mentioned as Fontannamillon.Geography
Fontainemelon has an area, , of 2.5 square kilometre. Of this area, 0.99 square kilometre or 40.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.98 square kilometre or 40.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.52 square kilometre or 21.2% is settled (buildings or roads).Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 13.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.7%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.2%. Out of the forested land, 35.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 4.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 11.0% is used for growing crops and 11.0% is pastures and 18.0% is used for alpine pastures.
The municipality is located in the Val-de-Ruz district. It consists of the village of Fontainemelon and a portion of the hamlet
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 Les Loges, at an elevation of 1230 m (4,035.4 ft).
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 Tierced in pale, Gules, a Barulet wavy Argent, in chief a Mullet of Five Or, and in base a Watch of the same, Or, three Chevrons Sable, and Vert a Barulet wavy Argent, in chief a Mullet of Five Or, and in base a Plough of the same.
Demographics
Fontainemelon has a population of . , 19.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of -0.4%. It has changed at a rate of -4.6% due to migration and at a rate of 3.3% due to births and deaths.Most of the population speaks 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...
(1,427 or 88.9%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
is the second most common (46 or 2.9%) and 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....
is the third (40 or 2.5%). There are 38 people who speak 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...
and 1 person who speaks Romansh.
, the population was 48.5% male and 51.5% female. The population was made up of 630 Swiss men (38.2% of the population) and 169 (10.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 720 Swiss women (43.7%) and 129 (7.8%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 327 or about 20.4% were born in Fontainemelon and lived there in 2000. There were 601 or 37.4% who were born in the same canton, while 326 or 20.3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 304 or 18.9% were born outside of Switzerland.
, children and teenagers (0-19 years old) make up 24.2% of the population, while adults (20-64 years old) make up 60.1% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15.8%.
, there were 643 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 787 married individuals, 85 widows or widowers and 90 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 681 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 218 households that consist of only one person and 39 households with five or more people. , a total of 668 apartments (92.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 40 apartments (5.5%) were seasonally occupied and 17 apartments (2.3%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 8.8 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.64%.
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 SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
which received 25.85% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were 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...
(25.23%), the LPS Party
Liberal Party of Switzerland
The Liberal Party of Switzerland was a party with economically liberal policies. It was known as a party of the upper class. On 1 January 2009 it merged with the larger Free Democratic Party to establish FDP.The Liberals....
(14.07%) 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....
(13.8%). In the federal election, a total of 527 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 51.6%.
Economy
, Fontainemelon had an unemployment rate of 3.3%. , there were 7 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 2 businesses involved in this sector. 653 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 9 businesses in this sector. 276 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 46 businesses in this sector. There were 818 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 44.9% 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 827. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 5, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 640 of which 579 or (90.5%) were in manufacturing and 61 (9.5%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 182. In the tertiary sector; 68 or 37.4% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 8 or 4.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 5 or 2.7% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 4 or 2.2% were the insurance or financial industry, 6 or 3.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 16 or 8.8% were in education and 37 or 20.3% were in health care.
, there were 648 workers who commuted into the municipality and 609 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.1 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 12.5% of the workforce coming into Fontainemelon are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 15.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 62.2% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 407 or 25.4% were Roman Catholic, while 741 or 46.2% 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 2 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 0.12% of the population), there was 1 individual who belongs 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 73 individuals (or about 4.55% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 83 (or about 5.17% 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 3 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...
and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 265 (or about 16.51% 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 64 individuals (or about 3.99% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Fontainemelon about 582 or (36.3%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 194 or (12.1%) 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 194 who completed tertiary schooling, 56.2% were Swiss men, 27.3% were Swiss women, 11.3% were non-Swiss men and 5.2% were non-Swiss women.
In the canton of Neuchâtel most municipalities provide two years of non-mandatory kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
, followed by five years of mandatory primary education. The next four years of mandatory secondary education is provided at thirteen larger secondary schools, which many students travel out of their home municipality to attend. During the 2010-11 school year, there were 2 kindergarten classes with a total of 38 students in Fontainemelon. In the same year, there were 6 primary classes with a total of 91 students.
, there were 2 students in Fontainemelon who came from another municipality, while 140 residents attended schools outside the municipality.