Monteggio
Encyclopedia
Monteggio 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 Lugano
Lugano (district)
The district of Lugano is a district of Canton Ticino, Switzerland. It has a population of .-Geography:The Lugano District has an area, , of . Of this area, or 15.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 66.5% is forested...

 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 Ticino
Ticino
Canton Ticino or Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. Named after the Ticino river, it is the only canton in which Italian is the sole official language...

 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

Monteggio is first mentioned in 1466 as da Montegio. Until 1819 the current village core was called Albio. The name comes from the fortified seat of the Capitanei of Sessa
Sessa
Sessa is a municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.-History:Sessa is first mentioned in 1335 as Sexa....

, the ruins of which are on the site of the Chapel of S. Adalberto (first mentioned in 1428) located in Castello. During the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 the history of Monteggio was closely connected to the Sessa family. The communities in the Valley of Tresa (Monteggio, Ponte Tresa and Croglio) were given special privileges, because they had special military and defensive obligations. The tax exemptions granted in the 14 Century by the Duke of Milan were reconfirmed in 1513 by the Swiss Confederation
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....

.

Religiously, Monteggio belongs to the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 of Sessa.

In the past, many many industries operated in Monteggio, including; brickworks, mills, hammer mills, fishing and a sawmill. By the middle of the 19th Century, was peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...

 was cut near the village and there was a foundry. In the past few decades, various commercial and industrial enterprises have settled in the municipality.

Geography

Monteggio has an area, , of 3.36 square kilometres (1.3 sq mi). Of this area, 1.36 km² (0.525098935685848 sq mi) or 40.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.64 km² (0.633207540091757 sq mi) or 48.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.65 km² (0.250966403085148 sq mi) or 19.3% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.09 km² (22.2 acre) or 2.7% is either rivers or lakes and 0.07 km² (17.3 acre) or 2.1% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 13.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.4%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.1% of the area Out of the forested land, 43.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 5.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 22.9% is used for growing crops, while 4.2% is used for orchards or vine crops and 13.4% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, all of it is unproductive vegetation.

The municipality is located in the Lugano district, in the lower Malcantone valley on the Italian border
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It is broken up into 26 sections or settlements including Brusata, Castello, Fornasette, Lisora, Molinazzo and Ponte Cremenaga.

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 Per saltire gules and sable and in a chief or an eagle displayed sable.

Demographics

Monteggio has a population of . , 16.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 11%.

Most of the population speaks 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...

 (79.6%), with 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....

 being second most common (14.5%) and 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...

 being third (2.4%). Of the Swiss national languages , 114 speak German, 19 people speak French, 624 people speak Italian. The remainder (27 people) speak another language.

, the gender distribution of the population was 48.8% male and 51.2% female. The population was made up of 357 Swiss men (40.2% of the population), and 77 (8.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 377 Swiss women (42.4%), and 78 (8.8%) non-Swiss women.

In there were 7 live births to Swiss citizens and 1 birth to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 5 deaths of Swiss citizens and 2 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 2 while the foreign population decreased by 1. There was 1 Swiss man and 1 Swiss woman who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 3 non-Swiss men and 5 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 1 and the non-Swiss population remained the same. This represents a population growth rate of 0.1%.

The age distribution, , in Monteggio is; 82 children or 9.2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 77 teenagers or 8.7% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 65 people or 7.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 132 people or 14.8% are between 30 and 39, 143 people or 16.1% are between 40 and 49, and 113 people or 12.7% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 152 people or 17.1% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 86 people or 9.7% are between 70 and 79, there are 39 people or 4.4% who are over 80.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.54 which is less people per room than the cantonal average of 0.6 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 52.6% 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 352 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.2 persons per household. there were 319 single family homes (or 78.8% of the total) out of a total of 405 inhabited buildings. There were 47 two family buildings (11.6%) and 27 multi-family buildings (6.7%). There were also 12 buildings in the municipality that were multipurpose buildings (used for both housing and commercial or another purpose).

The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0%. there were 536 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 4 room apartment of which there were 172. There were 21 single room apartments and 147 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 352 apartments (65.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 179 apartments (33.4%) were seasonally occupied and 5 apartments (0.9%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.1 new units per 1000 residents.

The historical population is given in the following chart:

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 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....

 which received 31.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were 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...

 (19.35%), the Ticino League
Ticino League
The Ticino League is an isolationist, national conservative political party in Switzerland active in the canton of Ticino.In 1991, after some public campaigning in the Sunday journal Mattino della Domenica against political power and use of public money, the editor Giuliano Bignasca and the...

 (17.87%) and the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (13.26%). In the federal election, a total of 229 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 35.9%.

In the Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 655 registered voters in Monteggio, of which 303 or 46.3% voted. 7 blank ballots and 1 null ballot were cast, leaving 295 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT
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....

 which received 88 or 29.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the SSI (with 54 or 18.3%), the PPD
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...

+GenGiova (with 43 or 14.6%) and the LEGA
Ticino League
The Ticino League is an isolationist, national conservative political party in Switzerland active in the canton of Ticino.In 1991, after some public campaigning in the Sunday journal Mattino della Domenica against political power and use of public money, the editor Giuliano Bignasca and the...

 (with 41 or 13.9%).

In the Consiglio di Stato election, 5 blank ballots were cast, leaving 298 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 84 or 28.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the LEGA (with 66 or 22.1%), the SSI (with 45 or 15.1%) and the PPD (with 43 or 14.4%).

Economy

, Monteggio had an unemployment rate of 3.33%. , there were 17 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 5 businesses involved in this sector. 378 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 13 businesses in this sector. 83 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 25 businesses in this sector. There were 374 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 40.4% of the workforce.

, there were 670 workers who commuted into the municipality and 257 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 2.6 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 47.0% of the workforce coming into Monteggio are coming from outside Switzerland, while none of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 8% used public transportation to get to work, and 63.4% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 561 or 71.6% were Roman Catholic, while 72 or 9.2% 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...

. There are 98 individuals (or about 12.50% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 53 individuals (or about 6.76% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Monteggio about 67.3% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or 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...

).

In Monteggio there were a total of 122 students . The Ticino 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...

 provides up to three 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...

and in Monteggio there were 25 children in kindergarten. The primary school program lasts for five years. In the municipality, 37 students attended the standard primary schools. In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two year middle school followed by a two year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four year program to prepare for higher education. There were 24 students in the two year middle school, while 18 students were in the four year advanced program.

The upper secondary school includes several options, but at the end of the upper secondary program, a student will be prepared to enter a trade or to continue on to a university or college. In Ticino, vocational students may either attend school while working on their internship or apprenticeship (which takes three or four years) or may attend school followed by an internship or apprenticeship (which takes one year as a full-time student or one and a half to two years as a part-time student). There were 10 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 8 who attend part-time.

, there were 54 students from Monteggio who attended schools outside the municipality.

External links

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