Laupersdorf
Encyclopedia
Laupersdorf is a municipality
in the district of Thal
in the canton
of Solothurn in Switzerland
.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.1%. Out of the forested land, 44.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 18.6% is used for growing crops and 20.3% is pastures, while 1.3% is used for orchards or vine crops and 7.3% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Thal district, in the Dünnern valley. It consists of the linear village
of Laupersdorf, the hamlet
of Höngen and the Änerholz area with several scattered houses. It is at an altitude of 493 metres (1,617.5 ft) above sea level and lies 3 km (1.86 mi) in the west of Balsthal (capital of the district of Thal). Laupersdorf is built on the southside at the foot of the Brunnersberg mountain chain in the Jura Mountains
.
Most of the population speaks German
(1,543 or 93.5%), with Serbo-Croatian
being second most common (31 or 1.9%) and Albanian
being third (26 or 1.6%). There are 7 people who speak French
and 3 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.9% male and 50.1% female. The population was made up of 747 Swiss men (44.4% of the population) and 93 (5.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 753 Swiss women (44.8%) and 89 (5.3%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 799 or about 48.4% were born in Laupersdorf and lived there in 2000. There were 393 or 23.8% who were born in the same canton, while 255 or 15.4% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 167 or 10.1% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 17 live births to Swiss citizens and 3 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 14 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 3 while the foreign population increased by 3. There were 2 Swiss men and 2 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 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 22 and the non-Swiss population increased by 10 people. This represents a population growth rate of -0.7%.
The age distribution, , in Laupersdorf is; 150 children or 9.1% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 310 teenagers or 18.8% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 101 people or 6.1% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 464 people or 28.1% are between 25 and 44, and 370 people or 22.4% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 184 people or 11.1% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 72 people or 4.4% who are over 80.
, there were 697 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 793 married individuals, 98 widows or widowers and 63 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 68.9% 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 619 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household. There were 161 households that consist of only one person and 74 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 627 households that answered this question, 25.7% were households made up of just one person and there were 6 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 176 married couples without children, 243 married couples with children There were 25 single parents with a child or children. There were 8 households that were made up of unrelated people and 8 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 341 single family homes (or 71.0% of the total) out of a total of 480 inhabited buildings. There were 50 multi-family buildings (10.4%), along with 70 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (14.6%) and 19 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (4.0%). Of the single family homes 33 were built before 1919, while 46 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (65) were built between 1946 and 1960.
there were 655 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 197. There were 7 single room apartments and 316 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 602 apartments (91.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 26 apartments (4.0%) were seasonally occupied and 27 apartments (4.1%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.4 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.84%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
the most popular party was the CVP
which received 42.11% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
(27.21%), the FDP
(16.14%) and the SP
(7.05%). In the federal election, a total of 679 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 55.4%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 259. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 56, of which 51 were in agriculture and 5 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 126 of which 70 or (55.6%) were in manufacturing and 56 (44.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 77. In the tertiary sector; 32 or 41.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 1 was in the movement and storage of goods, 12 or 15.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 2.6% were the insurance or financial industry, 7 or 9.1% were technical professionals or scientists, 13 or 16.9% were in education and 2 or 2.6% were in health care.
, there were 139 workers who commuted into the municipality and 610 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 4.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 11.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 63.7% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 8 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 0.48% of the population), there was 1 individual who belongs to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 17 individuals (or about 1.03% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 75 (or about 4.54% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There FALSE and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 71 (or about 4.30% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 34 individuals (or about 2.06% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 96 who completed tertiary schooling, 79.2% were Swiss men, 14.6% were Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 158 students in the Laupersdorf school system. The education system
in the Canton of Solothurn allows young children to attend two years of non-obligatory Kindergarten
. During that school year, there were 34 children in kindergarten. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school, with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In the municipality there were 124 students in primary school. The secondary school
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower secondary students from Laupersdorf attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 56 students in Laupersdorf who came from another municipality, while 116 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Laupersdorf is home to the Schul- und Gemeindebibliothek Laupersdorf (municipal library of Laupersdorf). The library has 6,916 books or other media, and loaned out 15,057 items in the same year. It was open a total of 130 days with average of 6 hours per week during that year.
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 Thal
Thal (district)
Thal District is one of the ten districts of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland, situated in the centre of the canton. Together with the Gäu District, it forms the Amtei of Thal-Gäu...
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
Laupersdorf is first mentioned in 968 as Luiperestorf which comes from an 11th Century copy of the earlier document. In 1179 it was mentioned as de Loppestorf.Geography
Laupersdorf has an area, , of 15.51 square kilometres (6 sq mi). Of this area, 7.36 km² (2.8 sq mi) or 47.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 7.23 km² (2.8 sq mi) or 46.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.9 km² (0.347491942733282 sq mi) or 5.8% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.02 km² (4.9 acre) or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes and 0.01 km² (2.5 acre) or 0.1% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.1%. Out of the forested land, 44.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 18.6% is used for growing crops and 20.3% is pastures, while 1.3% is used for orchards or vine crops and 7.3% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Thal district, in the Dünnern valley. It consists of the linear village
Linear village
In geography, a linear village, or linear settlement, is a small to medium-sized settlement that is formed around a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Wraysbury, a village in Berkshire, is one of the longest villages in England....
of Laupersdorf, 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 Höngen and the Änerholz area with several scattered houses. It is at an altitude of 493 metres (1,617.5 ft) above sea level and lies 3 km (1.86 mi) in the west of Balsthal (capital of the district of Thal). Laupersdorf is built on the southside at the foot of the Brunnersberg mountain chain in 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...
.
Demographics
Laupersdorf has a population of . , 9.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of -1.3%.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....
(1,543 or 93.5%), with 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...
being second most common (31 or 1.9%) and Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
being third (26 or 1.6%). There are 7 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 49.9% male and 50.1% female. The population was made up of 747 Swiss men (44.4% of the population) and 93 (5.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 753 Swiss women (44.8%) and 89 (5.3%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 799 or about 48.4% were born in Laupersdorf and lived there in 2000. There were 393 or 23.8% who were born in the same canton, while 255 or 15.4% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 167 or 10.1% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 17 live births to Swiss citizens and 3 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 14 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 3 while the foreign population increased by 3. There were 2 Swiss men and 2 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 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 22 and the non-Swiss population increased by 10 people. This represents a population growth rate of -0.7%.
The age distribution, , in Laupersdorf is; 150 children or 9.1% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 310 teenagers or 18.8% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 101 people or 6.1% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 464 people or 28.1% are between 25 and 44, and 370 people or 22.4% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 184 people or 11.1% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 72 people or 4.4% who are over 80.
, there were 697 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 793 married individuals, 98 widows or widowers and 63 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 68.9% 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 619 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household. There were 161 households that consist of only one person and 74 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 627 households that answered this question, 25.7% were households made up of just one person and there were 6 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 176 married couples without children, 243 married couples with children There were 25 single parents with a child or children. There were 8 households that were made up of unrelated people and 8 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 341 single family homes (or 71.0% of the total) out of a total of 480 inhabited buildings. There were 50 multi-family buildings (10.4%), along with 70 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (14.6%) and 19 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (4.0%). Of the single family homes 33 were built before 1919, while 46 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (65) were built between 1946 and 1960.
there were 655 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 197. There were 7 single room apartments and 316 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 602 apartments (91.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 26 apartments (4.0%) were seasonally occupied and 27 apartments (4.1%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.4 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.84%.
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 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 42.11% 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...
(27.21%), 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....
(16.14%) and the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(7.05%). In the federal election, a total of 679 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 55.4%.
Economy
, Laupersdorf had an unemployment rate of 3.1%. , there were 90 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 34 businesses involved in this sector. 145 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 20 businesses in this sector. 103 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 31 businesses in this sector. There were 831 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 40.3% 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 259. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 56, of which 51 were in agriculture and 5 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 126 of which 70 or (55.6%) were in manufacturing and 56 (44.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 77. In the tertiary sector; 32 or 41.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 1 was in the movement and storage of goods, 12 or 15.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 2.6% were the insurance or financial industry, 7 or 9.1% were technical professionals or scientists, 13 or 16.9% were in education and 2 or 2.6% were in health care.
, there were 139 workers who commuted into the municipality and 610 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 4.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 11.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 63.7% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 1,188 or 72.0% were Roman Catholic, while 256 or 15.5% 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 8 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 0.48% 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 17 individuals (or about 1.03% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 75 (or about 4.54% 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 FALSE and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 71 (or about 4.30% 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 34 individuals (or about 2.06% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Laupersdorf about 648 or (39.2%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 96 or (5.8%) 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 96 who completed tertiary schooling, 79.2% were Swiss men, 14.6% were Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 158 students in the Laupersdorf school system. The education system
Education in Switzerland
The education system in Switzerland is very diverse, because the constitution of Switzerland delegates the authority for the school system mainly to the cantons...
in the Canton of Solothurn allows young children to attend two years of non-obligatory 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...
. During that school year, there were 34 children in kindergarten. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school, with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In the municipality there were 124 students in primary school. The secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower secondary students from Laupersdorf attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 56 students in Laupersdorf who came from another municipality, while 116 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Laupersdorf is home to the Schul- und Gemeindebibliothek Laupersdorf (municipal library of Laupersdorf). The library has 6,916 books or other media, and loaned out 15,057 items in the same year. It was open a total of 130 days with average of 6 hours per week during that year.