Samnaun (Romansh:
Samignun) is a
municipalityCommunes are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,636 as of 2009. 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 Inn in the
SwissSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
cantonThe 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
GraubündenGraubünden or Grisons is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland adjoining Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein...
.
The valley was first used as a
seasonal mountain pastureTranshumance in the Alps, or seasonal migration between valley and high pastures is a traditional practice that has shaped a lot of landscape in the Alps, as without it, most areas below 2000 m would be forests...
for the villages of
TschlinTschlin is a municipality in the district of Inn in the canton of Graubünden in the extreme east of Switzerland.-History:While Bronze and Iron Age items have been found in Tschlin, the first mention of the village is in the 10th Century. In the 10th Century, bishop Hildibald gave the chapterhouse...
and
RamoschRamosch is a municipality in the district of Inn in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.-History:In 1956-58, on the hill Mottata , a significant prehistoric site was discovered...
. By 1220 the first permanent farm houses are mentioned. These farm houses and fields were given as a gift to the
Marienberg AbbeyMarienberg Abbey is a Benedictine abbey founded in 1149 or 1150 by Ulrich von Tarasp and other nobles.It has maintained a long tradition of education. Located in the municipal district of Mals in the Vinschgau in the province of Bolzano-Bozen, Italy, it is Europe’s highest abbey at 1,340 m...
by the counts of
TaraspTarasp Castle is a castle located in Switzerland, near Tarasp, in Lower Engadin, Graubünden.-External links:* * *...
in the 12th Century.
Samnaun has an area, , of .
Samnaun (Romansh:
Samignun) is a
municipalityCommunes are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,636 as of 2009. 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 Inn in the
SwissSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
cantonThe 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
GraubündenGraubünden or Grisons is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland adjoining Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein...
.
History
The valley was first used as a
seasonal mountain pastureTranshumance in the Alps, or seasonal migration between valley and high pastures is a traditional practice that has shaped a lot of landscape in the Alps, as without it, most areas below 2000 m would be forests...
for the villages of
TschlinTschlin is a municipality in the district of Inn in the canton of Graubünden in the extreme east of Switzerland.-History:While Bronze and Iron Age items have been found in Tschlin, the first mention of the village is in the 10th Century. In the 10th Century, bishop Hildibald gave the chapterhouse...
and
RamoschRamosch is a municipality in the district of Inn in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.-History:In 1956-58, on the hill Mottata , a significant prehistoric site was discovered...
. By 1220 the first permanent farm houses are mentioned. These farm houses and fields were given as a gift to the
Marienberg AbbeyMarienberg Abbey is a Benedictine abbey founded in 1149 or 1150 by Ulrich von Tarasp and other nobles.It has maintained a long tradition of education. Located in the municipal district of Mals in the Vinschgau in the province of Bolzano-Bozen, Italy, it is Europe’s highest abbey at 1,340 m...
by the counts of
TaraspTarasp Castle is a castle located in Switzerland, near Tarasp, in Lower Engadin, Graubünden.-External links:* * *...
in the 12th Century.
Geography
Samnaun has an area, , of . Of this area, 46.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 11.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (41.2%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).
The municipality is located in the Ramosch sub-district, of the Inn district. It is located in a left side valley of the
EngadinThe Engadin or Engadine is a long valley in the Swiss Alps located in the canton of Graubünden in southeast Switzerland. It follows the route of the Inn River from its headwaters at Maloja Pass running northeast until the Inn flows into Austria one hundred kilometers downstream...
valley, at an elevation of . It consists of five village sections; Compatsch, Laret, Plan (Plaun), Ravaisch and Samnaun.
In the 19th century, Samnaun could only be reached by road from
SpissSpiss is a tiny municipality in the district of Landeck in Tyrol, Austria and is located 22 km south of the city of Landeck at the border of Switzerland. With only approximately 150 inhabitants it is one of the smallest communities in the district. Formerly a part of Nauders, it became its own...
in Austria. Thus Samnaun was excluded from the Swiss customs territory, and retains a privileged 'duty-free' status, albeit not without controversy, in the twenty-first century. The exception was maintained even after a road was built in 1905 linking Samnaun to
MartinaMartina is a village in the Lower Engadine valley, in Graubünden, Switzerland. Its border crossing leads to Nauders in Austria. The village is part of the municipality of Tschlin.-External links:...
in the Inn valley.
Demographics
Samnaun has a population of 804, of which 19.2% are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 1%.
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.1% male and 50.9% female. The age distribution, , in Samnaun is; 267 children or 8.7% of the population are between 0 to 9 years old. 155 teenagers or 5.1% are 10 to 14, and 281 teenagers or 9.2% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 460 people or 15.0% of the population are between 20 to 29 years old. 541 people or 17.6% are 30 to 39, 462 people or 15.1% are 40 to 49, and 385 people or 12.5% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 209 people or 6.8% of the population are between 60 to 69 years old, 189 people or 6.2% are 70 to 79, there are 103 people or 3.4% who are 80 to 89, and there are 17 people or 0.6% who are 90 to 99.
In the 2007
federal electionElections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, October 21, 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, or 25 November 2007...
the most popular party was the
CVPThe Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a centrist political party in Switzerland and the smallest member of the four-party coalition government...
which received 45.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the
SVPThe Swiss People's Party also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre is a populist, national conservative political party in Switzerland....
(29.2%), the
FDPThe Free Democratic Party of Switzerland, with official name FDP.The Liberals , is a political party in Switzerland that was formed on February 28, 2009, after two parties, the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland , and the Liberal Party of Switzerland united. Its youth organisation is Young...
(15.5%) and the
SPSThe Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is a political party in Switzerland.It was founded on October 21, 1888, and is currently the second largest of the four leading coalition political parties in Switzerland. It is the left-most party with representatives in the Swiss Federal Council...
(7.2%).
The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Samnaun about 53.6% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a
FachhochschuleA Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of university, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland...
).
Samnaun has an unemployment rate of 1.01%. , there were 46 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 26 businesses involved in this sector. 52 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 10 businesses in this sector. 743 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 105 businesses in this sector.
The historical population is given in the following table:
| year |
population |
| 1835 |
387 |
| 1850 |
313 |
| 1900 |
357 |
| 1950 |
424 |
| 2000 |
743 |
Languages
Most of the population speaks German (93.5%), with Portugese being second most common ( 1.7%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 1.6%). Uniquely within Switzerland, the form of
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
spoken by the residents of Samnaun is a version of the Bavarian dialect.
| Languages in Samnaun |
| Languagesuppe |
Census 1980 |
Census 1990 |
Census 2000 |
| Percent |
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
| German German is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
|
569 |
95.31 % |
619 |
97.02 % |
695 |
93.54 % |
| Romanish |
4 |
0.67 % |
10 |
1.57 % |
6 |
0.81 % |
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
|
1 |
0.17 % |
3 |
0.47 % |
6 |
0.81 % |
| Population |
597 |
100 % |
638 |
100 % |
743 |
100 % |
External links