Lausen
Encyclopedia
Lausen is a 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 Liestal
Liestal (district)
Liestal District is one of the five districts of the largely German-speaking canton of Basel-Country, Switzerland. The city of Liestal serves as capital of both the district of Liestal and the canton of Basel-Country. It has a population of ....

 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 Basel-Country
Basel-Country
Basel-Landschaft , is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. The capital is Liestal...

 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

Lausen is first mentioned in 1275 as in villa et banno Langenso. In 1305 it became the property of the Bishop of Basel, passing in 1400 to the city of Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...

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Geography

Lausen has an area, , of 5.56 square kilometres (2.1 sq mi). Of this area, 1.31 km² (0.505793827756221 sq mi) or 23.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.81 km² (1.1 sq mi) or 50.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.39 km² (0.536682000443624 sq mi) or 25.0% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.03 km² (7.4 acre) or 0.5% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km² (4.9 acre) or 0.4% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 3.8% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 12.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.4%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.3% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.6%. Out of the forested land, 48.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 9.5% is used for growing crops and 12.4% is pastures, while 1.6% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

The municipality is located in the Liestal district, in the mid-Ergolz
Ergolz
left|thumb|Source of the Ergolz in [[Oltingen]]The Ergolz is the main river in the canton of Basel-Landschaft. It rises on Mount Geisflue in the Faltenjura mountains in the upper region of Basel-Landschaft, on the border with Aargau and Solothurn, and joins the Rhine at Augst...

 valley, south-east of Liestal
Liestal
Liestal is the capital of the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland, south of Basel.It is an industrial town with a cobbled-street Old Town.-History:...

.

Coat of arms

The blazon
Blazon
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 Gules, two pick-axes Or in saltire, in Chief Sable three Bezants one and two.

Demographics

Lausen has a population of . , 23.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 5.7%.

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....

 (3,953 or 85.1%), with Italian language
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 (272 or 5.9%) 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 (89 or 1.9%). There are 43 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 4 people who speak Romansh.

, the gender distribution of the population was 49.4% male and 50.6% female. The population was made up of 3,674 Swiss citizens (75.6% of the population), and 1,184 non-Swiss residents (24.4%) Of the population in the municipality 1,040 or about 22.4% were born in Lausen and lived there in 2000. There were 1,357 or 29.2% who were born in the same canton, while 1,156 or 24.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 981 or 21.1% were born outside of Switzerland.

In there were 22 live births to Swiss citizens and 6 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 38 deaths of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 16 while the foreign population increased by 5. There were 11 Swiss men and 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 13 non-Swiss men and 10 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 an increase of 30 and the non-Swiss population decreased by 1 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.6%.

The age distribution, , in Lausen is; 311 children or 6.4% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 694 teenagers or 14.3% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 693 people or 14.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 656 people or 13.5% are between 30 and 39, 844 people or 17.4% are between 40 and 49, and 988 people or 20.3% are between 50 and 64. The senior population distribution is 507 people or 10.4% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 165 people or 3.4% who are over 80.

, there were 1,944 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,311 married individuals, 186 widows or widowers and 204 individuals who are divorced.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.6 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 47.5% 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 1,822 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. There were 468 households that consist of only one person and 157 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,847 households that answered this question, 25.3% were households made up of just one person and 15 were adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 574 married couples without children, 652 married couples with children There were 94 single parents with a child or children. There were 19 households that were made up unrelated people and 25 households that were made some sort of institution or another collective housing.

there were 767 single family homes (or 71.7% of the total) out of a total of 1,069 inhabited buildings. There were 175 multi-family buildings (16.4%), along with 71 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (6.6%) and 56 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (5.2%). Of the single family homes 34 were built before 1919, while 112 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (175) were built between 1971 and 1980.

there were 1,986 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 728. There were 42 single room apartments and 591 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 1,793 apartments (90.3% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 113 apartments (5.7%) were seasonally occupied and 80 apartments (4.0%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.6 new units per 1000 residents. the average price to rent a two room apartment was about 892.00 CHF (US$710, £400, €570), a three room apartment was about 1144.00 CHF (US$920, £510, €730) and a four room apartment cost an average of 1278.00 CHF (US$1020, £580, €820). The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.59%.

The historical population is given in the following chart:

Heritage sites of national significance

Bettenach, a Roman era
Switzerland in the Roman era
The history of Switzerland in the Roman era encompasses the roughly six centuries during which the territory of modern Switzerland was a part of the Roman Republic and Empire...

 through High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....

 settlement, is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance
Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...

. The entire Lausen area is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
Inventory 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 election
Swiss 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 33.9% 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....

 (25.23%), 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....

 (16.23%) and the Green Party
Green Party of Switzerland
The Green Party of Switzerland is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland, and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council.-History:...

 (12.52%). In the federal election, a total of 1,453 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 48.4%.

Economy

, Lausen had an unemployment rate of 2.67%. , there were 30 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 476 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 42 businesses in this sector. 737 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 117 businesses in this sector. There were 2,513 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 44.8% of the workforce.

the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 1,187. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 13, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 539, of which 409 or (75.9%) were in manufacturing and 124 (23.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 635. In the tertiary sector; 237 or 37.3% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 58 or 9.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 10 or 1.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 4 or 0.6% were in the information industry, 3 or 0.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 68 or 10.7% were technical professionals or scientists, 53 or 8.3% were in education and 71 or 11.2% were in health care.

, there were 1,056 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,985 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.9 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 8.8% of the workforce coming into Lausen are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.2% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 25.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 44.7% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 1,241 or 26.7% were Roman Catholic, while 2,224 or 47.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
Swiss 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 1.36% of the population), there were 4 individuals (or about 0.09% 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 131 individuals (or about 2.82% 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 341 (or about 7.34% 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 5 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...

, 7 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 3 individuals who belonged to another church. 512 (or about 11.02% 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 113 individuals (or about 2.43% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Lausen about 1,803 or (38.8%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 495 or (10.7%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule
Fachhochschule
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 495 who completed tertiary schooling, 62.4% were Swiss men, 22.4% were Swiss women, 10.3% were non-Swiss men and 4.8% were non-Swiss women.

, there was 1 student in Lausen who came from another municipality, while 341 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

Notable residents

The most famous citizen of the municipality was the nineteenth-century mathematician Johann Jakob Balmer
Johann Jakob Balmer
Johann Jakob Balmer was a Swiss mathematician and mathematical physicist.-Biography :Balmer was born in Lausen, Switzerland, the son of a Chief Justice also named Johann Jakob Balmer. His mother was Elizabeth Rolle Balmer, and he was the oldest son...

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External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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