Schwanden is a former 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 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 Glarus 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....

. Effective from 1 January 2011, Schwanden is part of the municipality of Glarus Süd

Glarus Süd

Glarus Süd is one of three municipalities of the canton of Glarus, Switzerland .Effective from 1 January 2011, Glarus Süd incorporates the former municipalities of Betschwanden, Braunwald, Elm, Engi, Haslen, Linthal, Luchsingen, Matt, Mitlödi, Rüti, Schwanden, Schwändi and Sool.With an area of ,...

.

Geography

Schwanden has an area, , of 30.6 km² (11.8 sq mi). Of this area, 32.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 38.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (26.2%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

Schwanden is located along the roads to Elm

Elm, Switzerland

-Culture:In 1981, the Wakker Prize was awarded to Elm for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage....

, Linthal

Linthal

Linthal is a former municipality in the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Effective from 1 January 2011, Linthal is part of the municipality of Glarus Süd.-Geography:...

 and Schwändi

Schwändi

Schwändi is a former municipality in the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Effective from 1 January 2011, Schwändi is part of the municipality of Glarus Süd.-Geography:...

. It is in the center of the Glarner Hinterland at the confluence

Confluence

Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...

 of the Linth

Linth

The Linth is a Swiss river starting above Linthal the mountains of Glarus near the Klausen Pass and flowing from there north through the Glarus valley passing Schwanden, where it is joined by its main tributary Sernft, Ennenda, the town of Glarus, Netstal, and Näfels, from where it is channeled to...

 and Sernf rivers. It consists of the village of Schwanden and to the south is the formerly independent (until 1876) 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 Thon. South of Schwanden is the oldest Jagdbanngebiet (literally hunting-banned area) in Switzerland, the Freiberg Kärpf which has been protected since 1548.

The reservoir Garichtisee

Garichtisee

Garichtisee is a reservoir on Mettmenalp above Schwanden in the Canton of Glarus, Switzerland. The lake's surface area is 0.16 km²....

 on Mettmenalp can be reached by cable car.

Demographics

Schwanden has a population (as of ) of . , 24.2% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -6.9%. Most of the population speaks German (82.7%), with Italian being second most common ( 5.1%) and Albanian being third ( 2.9%).

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 SPS

Social Democratic Party of Switzerland

The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 which received 59% of the vote. Most of the rest of the votes went to 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...

 with 31.6% of the vote.

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Schwanden about 60.6% 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...

).

Schwanden has an unemployment rate of 2.18%. , there were 39 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 15 businesses involved in this sector. 1,067 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 45 businesses in this sector. 525 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 92 businesses in this sector.

The historical population is given in the following table:

year	population
1574	450
1763	1,148
1850	2,296
1900	2,396
1960	3,020
1990	2,645