Agarn
Encyclopedia
Agarn is a municipality
in the district of Leukin the German-speaking part of the canton
of Valais
in Switzerland
.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.7%. Out of the forested land, 30.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 4.8% is used for growing crops and 7.3% is pastures, while 2.1% is used for orchards or vine crops and 2.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in lakes. Of the unproductive areas, 9.3% is unproductive vegetation, 33.3% is too rocky for vegetation and 1.8% of the land is covered by glaciers.
The municipality is located in the Leuk district, on a alluvial fan
on the southern slope of the Rhone
valley. It consists of the former linear village
of Agarn.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Vert, a Pile embowed Argent, in dexter chief a cross couped, in sinister base a dove volant of the same.
Most of the population speaks German
(684 or 90.2%) as their first language, Albanian
is the second most common (35 or 4.6%) and Italian
is the third (12 or 1.6%). There are 10 people who speak French
.
, the gender distribution of the population was 51.1% male and 48.9% female. The population was made up of 362 Swiss men (47.0% of the population) and 32 (4.2%) non-Swiss men. There were 343 Swiss women (44.5%) and 34 (4.4%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 420 or about 55.4% were born in Agarn and lived there in 2000. There were 210 or 27.7% who were born in the same canton, while 46 or 6.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 68 or 9.0% were born outside of Switzerland.
The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 27.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.9% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 11.5%.
, there were 309 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 383 married individuals, 45 widows or widowers and 21 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.68 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.63 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 81.7% 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 284 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. There were 73 households that consist of only one person and 30 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 289 households that answered this question, 25.3% 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 76 married couples without children, 116 married couples with children There were 12 single parents with a child or children. There was 1 household that was made up of unrelated people and 5 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 118 single family homes (or 62.8% of the total) out of a total of 188 inhabited buildings. There were 45 multi-family buildings (23.9%), along with 7 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (3.7%) and 18 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (9.6%).
, a total of 268 apartments (90.5% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 22 apartments (7.4%) were seasonally occupied and 6 apartments (2.0%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.9 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.57%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
the most popular party was the CVP
which received 64.49% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
(23.06%), the SVP
(10.62%) and the Green Party
(0.79%). In the federal election, a total of 462 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 81.3%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat
election a total of 448 votes were cast, of which 24 or about 5.4% were invalid. The voter participation was 79.2%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election
election a total of 455 votes were cast, of which 20 or about 4.4% were invalid. The voter participation was 80.3%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 182. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 12, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 90 of which 43 or (47.8%) were in manufacturing and 48 (53.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 80. In the tertiary sector; 35 or 43.8% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 2 or 2.5% were in the movement and storage of goods, 13 or 16.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 1 was the insurance or financial industry, 1 was a technical professional or scientist, 5 or 6.3% were in education.
, there were 81 workers who commuted into the municipality and 260 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 20.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 60.2% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 3 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 0.40% of the population), and there were 8 individuals (or about 1.06% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 41 (or about 5.41% of the population) who were Islam
ic. 5 (or about 0.66% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 19 individuals (or about 2.51% of the population) did not answer the question.
The church of Agarn is a Marian church. The pastor is H.H. Anderas Werlen.
). Of the 38 who completed tertiary schooling, 78.9% were Swiss men, 13.2% were Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 54 students in the Agarn school system. The education system
in the Canton of Valais allows young children to attend one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten
. During that school year, there was one kindergarten class (KG1 or KG2) and 9 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Agarn there were a total of 5 classes and 54 students in the primary school. The secondary school
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower and upper secondary students from Agarn attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there was one student in Agarn who came from another municipality, while 58 residents attended schools outside the 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 Leukin the German-speaking part of 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 Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
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
Agarn is first mentioned in 1252 as Aert. In 1267 it was mentioned as Ayert and in the 16th Century it was known as Agaren. Agarn was twice nearly totally burned down, in 1799 and 1899.Geography
Agarn has an area, , of 7.7 square kilometre. Of this area, 1.3 square kilometre or 17.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.55 square kilometre or 33.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.34 square kilometre or 4.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.06 km² (14.8 acre) or 0.8% is either rivers or lakes and 3.4 square kilometre or 44.4% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.7%. Out of the forested land, 30.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 4.8% is used for growing crops and 7.3% is pastures, while 2.1% is used for orchards or vine crops and 2.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in lakes. Of the unproductive areas, 9.3% is unproductive vegetation, 33.3% is too rocky for vegetation and 1.8% of the land is covered by glaciers.
The municipality is located in the Leuk district, on a alluvial fan
Alluvial fan
An alluvial fan is a fan-shaped deposit formed where a fast flowing stream flattens, slows, and spreads typically at the exit of a canyon onto a flatter plain. A convergence of neighboring alluvial fans into a single apron of deposits against a slope is called a bajada, or compound alluvial...
on the southern slope of the Rhone
Rhône
Rhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
valley. It consists of the former 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 Agarn.
Coat of arms
The blazonBlazon
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 Vert, a Pile embowed Argent, in dexter chief a cross couped, in sinister base a dove volant of the same.
Demographics
Agarn has a population of . , 8.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of -0.9%. It has changed at a rate of -1.7% due to migration and at a rate of 1.9% due to births and deaths.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....
(684 or 90.2%) as their first language, 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...
is the second most common (35 or 4.6%) and 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...
is the third (12 or 1.6%). There are 10 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...
.
, the gender distribution of the population was 51.1% male and 48.9% female. The population was made up of 362 Swiss men (47.0% of the population) and 32 (4.2%) non-Swiss men. There were 343 Swiss women (44.5%) and 34 (4.4%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 420 or about 55.4% were born in Agarn and lived there in 2000. There were 210 or 27.7% who were born in the same canton, while 46 or 6.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 68 or 9.0% were born outside of Switzerland.
The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 27.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.9% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 11.5%.
, there were 309 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 383 married individuals, 45 widows or widowers and 21 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.68 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.63 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 81.7% 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 284 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. There were 73 households that consist of only one person and 30 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 289 households that answered this question, 25.3% 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 76 married couples without children, 116 married couples with children There were 12 single parents with a child or children. There was 1 household that was made up of unrelated people and 5 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 118 single family homes (or 62.8% of the total) out of a total of 188 inhabited buildings. There were 45 multi-family buildings (23.9%), along with 7 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (3.7%) and 18 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (9.6%).
, a total of 268 apartments (90.5% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 22 apartments (7.4%) were seasonally occupied and 6 apartments (2.0%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.9 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.57%.
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 64.49% 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....
(23.06%), 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...
(10.62%) 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:...
(0.79%). In the federal election, a total of 462 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 81.3%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat
Conseil d'Etat (Switzerland)
In Switzerland, Conseil d'Etat is the name of the council constituting the cantonal government of French-speaking cantons. It is not to be confused with the Conseil des États which is a chamber of the Swiss parliament....
election a total of 448 votes were cast, of which 24 or about 5.4% were invalid. The voter participation was 79.2%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election
Swiss Council of States election, 2007
Elections were held to the Council of States of Switzerland in October and November 2007 as part of the 2007 federal election. All 46 members of the Council of States were elected from all cantons of Switzerland. The first round was held on 21 October...
election a total of 455 votes were cast, of which 20 or about 4.4% were invalid. The voter participation was 80.3%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.
Economy
, Agarn had an unemployment rate of 1.6%. , there were 27 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 15 businesses involved in this sector. 96 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 15 businesses in this sector. 93 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 26 businesses in this sector. There were 349 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 36.4% 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 182. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 12, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 90 of which 43 or (47.8%) were in manufacturing and 48 (53.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 80. In the tertiary sector; 35 or 43.8% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 2 or 2.5% were in the movement and storage of goods, 13 or 16.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 1 was the insurance or financial industry, 1 was a technical professional or scientist, 5 or 6.3% were in education.
, there were 81 workers who commuted into the municipality and 260 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 20.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 60.2% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 679 or 89.6% were Roman Catholic, while 7 or 0.9% 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 3 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 0.40% of the population), and there were 8 individuals (or about 1.06% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 41 (or about 5.41% 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. 5 (or about 0.66% 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 19 individuals (or about 2.51% of the population) did not answer the question.
The church of Agarn is a Marian church. The pastor is H.H. Anderas Werlen.
Education
In Agarn about 262 or (34.6%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 38 or (5.0%) 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 38 who completed tertiary schooling, 78.9% were Swiss men, 13.2% were Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 54 students in the Agarn 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 Valais allows young children to attend one year 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 was one kindergarten class (KG1 or KG2) and 9 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Agarn there were a total of 5 classes and 54 students in the 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 (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower and upper secondary students from Agarn attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there was one student in Agarn who came from another municipality, while 58 residents attended schools outside the municipality.