Alpnach is a village

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 Obwalden

Obwalden

Obwalden is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the centre of Switzerland. The population is 33,997 of which 4,043 are foreigners. Its capital is Sarnen. The canton contains the geographical centre of Switzerland.-History:...

 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....

.

Geography

Alpnach has an area, , of 53.8 square kilometres (20.8 sq mi). Of this area, 32.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 54.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 5% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (8.9%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

The municipality is located on the heights above two streams, the Large and Small Schliere. During the mid-19th Century the village became a 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....

. While in the 20th Century, it expanded into a Haufendorf (an irregular, unplanned and quite closely packed village, built around a central square). It consists of the villages of Alpnach Dorf, Alpnachstad and Schoried.

Demographics

Alpnach has a population (as of ) of . , 13.2% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 11.1%. Most of the population speaks German (89.7%), with Albanian being second most common ( 2.3%) and Portuguese being third ( 1.8%). the gender distribution of the population was 50.8% male and 49.2% female. there are 1,828 households in Alpnach.

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 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 34.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were 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...

 (33.6%), the Other (23.2%) and the SPS

Social Democratic Party of Switzerland

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

 (9%).

In Alpnach about 67.2% 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...

).

Alpnach has an unemployment rate of 1.55%. , there were 228 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 91 businesses involved in this sector. 839 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 81 businesses in this sector. 952 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 144 businesses in this sector.

The historical population is given in the following table:

year	population
1799	1,157
1850	1,622
1900	1,779
1950	3,022
2000	4,932

Sights

The main sights of Alpnach include the world's steepest rack railway

Rack railway

A rack-and-pinion railway is a railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with this rack rail...

 to the mountain Pilatus

Pilatus (mountain)

Pilatus is a mountain near Lucerne, Switzerland. Jurisdiction over the mountain is divided between the cantons of Obwalden, Nidwalden, and Lucerne...

, a Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

mansion, and a hand-operated print shop.