Arbedo-Castione
Encyclopedia
Arbedo-Castione is a municipality
in the district of Bellinzona
in the canton
of Ticino
in Switzerland
.
Hoard of Castione (from about 1800 BC.) contains material from north of the Alps. This large find indicates that the area was an important trading and transportation center during the Bronze Age. A Late Bronze Age settlement (from about 1300 BC.) is indicated by evidence of digging and traces of a number of cremation sites. The bulk of the finds come from the five groups of tombs at Castione, Castione-Bergamo, Cerinasca d'Arbedo, Molinazzo d'Arbedo and S. Paolo d'Arbedo, which are dated to the Hallstatt
and Latène
eras. The tombs were discovered at the end of the 19th Century during the construction of the Gotthard Railway, but probably were only partially excavated. Most of the finds are in Swiss National Museum
.
Starting in the 6th Century, both buried cremation urns and full body graves became common, though later only bodies were buried. The cremation ashes were buried in stone cist
s or pits, while bodies were buried in stone lined tombs under deck plates were made of gneiss
. The dead were buried with their possessions (brooches, belts and jewelry). In the Latène era, isolated swords and helmets were added to the men's graves. The women's graves began to contain a number of amber objects, such as earrings and necklaces. Within the grave there were also containers, usually made of clay (pots, bowls, cups, cans), or occasionally bronze (Situlae
or beak jugs). While these are a few imports from Etruria
(8 beak jug, 1 bucket), most of the items were produced in the area. The large bronze hoard of Arbedo dates from the period around 450 BC. Over 4,000 items were discovered in Arbedo along with smelting
furnaces and workshop waste. In addition to local products, there are numerous important Etruscan and northern Alpine objects.
While a specific foundation date is still unknown, numerous grave groups close to a settlement on the valley floor date from the 6th Century. Together with the graves near Como and Castelletto Ticino-Golasecca, Arbedo-Castione formed the third center of the Golasecca culture
. The settlement occupied a key position on major trade routes, as imports from Etruria and from north of the Alps indicate. The hoard of Arbedo shows that there were also workshops for the population. The graves at Arbedo also document the gallic
invasion of the Po river valley around 390 BC. A few Roman era
objects have been discovered at Castione and S. Paolo d'Arbedo.
Several 7th Century graves have been discovered, one is at the Church of S. Paolo and six are in Castione. One of the graves contained a gold coin with the name of the Lombard
King Agilulf
. The graves surround the original church of S. Paolo and indicate that Lombards family had a presence in the valley and may have had a family chapel there. The building is close to the castrum of Bellinzona
, where the Lombards had settled in 590. Additionally, it was right next to the old main road leading from Castelseprio
at Varese
on the Monte Ceneri to Lukmanier Pass
. Throughout the Middle Ages
Arbedo was an important transit point on the routes over several central Alpine passes. The natural barriers of the Ticino and Moesa
provided excellent defenses for the village and made it a gateway to Bellinzona. However, its position led to frequent battles around and in Arbedo. The Battle of Arbedo
in 1422 ended Swiss territorial expansion for some time. The 1449 Battle of Castione
ended when the Condottiere Giovanni della Noce burned the village down and forced the armies of Uri
and its allies to flee into the Val Mesolcina
.
Arbedo and Castione are first mentioned in 1195 as Erbedum. In 1237 it was mentioned as Castillionum. In a book of records for the city of Como
from 1335 the village of Pitadino which might correspond to Castione.
Two churches are mentioned at the bridge over the Moesa, though they no longer exist. The church of S. Christopher was built in 1284 and the church of S. Elena was from 1441. It is likely that they were destroyed when the river flooded. At the center of Arbedo was the church of Santa Maria, which became a parish church
in 1583.
A pillar-supported wooden bridge was built over the Moesa during the Middle Ages. The bridge maintenance was paid for by the village of the County of Bellinzona, which included Arbedo. The bridge was in a strategic position and in 1495 it was destroyed to slow the Swiss Confederation
army. The army then turned and marched in the direction of Lombardy. Also important for trader traffic the stone bridge over the stream Traversagna, which was built in 1485. In the southern foreland, various canals were built which supplied water and power to mills and sawmills that were used throughout the region.
Today, Arbedo is a residential suburb of Bellinzona and the center of small and medium-sized industrial and service enterprises (quarries, gravel and sand extraction, storage). The Valle di Arbedo still has extensive forest resources though some of the trees were destroyed in a 1928 by a landslide on Mount Arbino.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.8% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 2.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.8%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.3% of the area. Out of the forested land, 74.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 2.6% is used for growing crops and 2.9% is used for alpine pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 0.2% is in lakes and 1.6% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 3.1% is unproductive vegetation.
The municipality is located in the Bellinzona district on the left bank of the Moesa river near the confluence
with the Tessin river, south of Piz de Molinera
. It consists of the villages of Arbedo and Castione.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Azure a Lion passant Argent holding a Palm Branch Vert between three Mullets Or on a Bridge of the last in its Arch three barrulets engrailed.
(88.8%), with German
being second most common ( 3.7%) and Serbo-Croatian
being third ( 2.4%).
Of the Swiss national languages , 139 speak German
, 43 people speak French
and 3,313 people speak Italian
. The remainder (234 people) speak another language.
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.7% male and 50.3% female. The population was made up of 1,411 Swiss men (33.6% of the population), and 678 (16.1%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,583 Swiss women (37.7%), and 528 (12.6%) non-Swiss women.
In there were 22 live births to Swiss citizens and 9 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 22 deaths of Swiss citizens and 3 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens remained the same while the foreign population increased by 6. There was 1 Swiss man, 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland to another country, 31 non-Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland to another country and 15 non-Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland to another country. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources) was an increase of 62 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 53 people. This represents a population growth rate of 2.9%.
The age distribution, , in Arbedo-Castione is; 387 children or 9.2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 411 teenagers or 9.8% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 492 people or 11.7% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 549 people or 13.1% are between 30 and 39, 742 people or 17.7% are between 40 and 49, and 612 people or 14.6% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 500 people or 11.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 338 people or 8.0% are between 70 and 79, there are 169 people or 4.0% who are between 80 and 89.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.64 which is about equal to 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 47.4% 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 1,452 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. there were 695 single family homes (or 74.3% of the total) out of a total of 935 inhabited buildings. There were 120 two family buildings (12.8%) and 87 multi-family buildings (9.3%). There were also 33 buildings in the municipality that were multipurpose buildings (used for both housing and commercial or another purpose).
The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.91%. Of the apartments, a total of 1,431 apartments (88.4% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 107 apartments (6.6%) were seasonally occupied and 80 apartments (4.9%) were empty. there were 1,618 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 4 room apartment of which there were 626. There were 62 single room apartments and 384 apartments with five or more rooms. , the construction rate of new housing units was 9.7 new units per 1000 residents.
The historical population is given in the following table:
.
the most popular party was the FDP
which received 30.47% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
(22.37%), the CVP
(19.66%) and the Ticino League
(14.3%). In the federal election, a total of 1,080 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 46.6%.
In the Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 2,312 registered voters in Arbedo-Castione, of which 1,584 or 68.5% voted. 23 blank ballots and 3 null ballots were cast, leaving 1,558 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT
which received 368 or 23.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the SSI (with 365 or 23.4%), the PS
(with 270 or 17.3%) and the LEGA
(with 226 or 14.5%).
In the Consiglio di Stato election, there were 13 blank ballots and 6 null ballots, which left 1,566 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 333 or 21.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PS (with 329 or 21.0%), the LEGA (with 314 or 20.1%) and the SSI (with 311 or 19.9%).
There were 1,767 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 38.5% of the workforce. , there were 439 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,350 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 6.6% of the workforce coming into Arbedo-Castione are coming from outside Switzerland.
Of the working population, 11.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 64.2% used a private car.
, there was one hotel in Arbedo-Castione.
. There are 461 individuals (or about 12.36% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 151 individuals (or about 4.05% of the population) did not answer the question.
).
In Arbedo-Castione there are a total of 682 students . The Ticino education system
provides up to three years of non-mandatory kindergarten
and in Arbedo-Castione there are 126 children in kindergarten.
The primary school program lasts for five years and includes both a standard school and a special school. In the municipality, 163 students attend the standard primary schools and 15 students attend the special school. 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 are 162 students in the two year middle school and 1 in their pre-apprenticeship, while 73 students are 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 are 35 vocational students who are attending school full-time and 92 who attend part-time.
The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields. There are 15 students in the professional program.
, there were 299 students in Arbedo-Castione who came from another municipality, while 165 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 Bellinzona
Bellinzona (district)
The district of Bellinzona is a district of Canton Ticino, Switzerland. It has a population of .-Geography:The district has an area, , of . Of this area, or 13.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 68.7% 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
The Early Bronze AgeBronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
Hoard of Castione (from about 1800 BC.) contains material from north of the Alps. This large find indicates that the area was an important trading and transportation center during the Bronze Age. A Late Bronze Age settlement (from about 1300 BC.) is indicated by evidence of digging and traces of a number of cremation sites. The bulk of the finds come from the five groups of tombs at Castione, Castione-Bergamo, Cerinasca d'Arbedo, Molinazzo d'Arbedo and S. Paolo d'Arbedo, which are dated to the Hallstatt
Hallstatt culture
The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Central European culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC , developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC and followed in much of Central Europe by the La Tène culture.By the 6th century BC, the Hallstatt culture extended for some...
and Latène
La Tène culture
The La Tène culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where a rich cache of artifacts was discovered by Hansli Kopp in 1857....
eras. The tombs were discovered at the end of the 19th Century during the construction of the Gotthard Railway, but probably were only partially excavated. Most of the finds are in Swiss National Museum
Swiss National Museum
The Swiss National Museum — part of the Musée Suisse Group, itself affiliated with the Federal Office of Culture — is one of the most important art museums of cultural history in Europe and the world...
.
Starting in the 6th Century, both buried cremation urns and full body graves became common, though later only bodies were buried. The cremation ashes were buried in stone cist
Cist
A cist from ) is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle East....
s or pits, while bodies were buried in stone lined tombs under deck plates were made of gneiss
Gneiss
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
. The dead were buried with their possessions (brooches, belts and jewelry). In the Latène era, isolated swords and helmets were added to the men's graves. The women's graves began to contain a number of amber objects, such as earrings and necklaces. Within the grave there were also containers, usually made of clay (pots, bowls, cups, cans), or occasionally bronze (Situlae
Situla (vessel)
Situla, from the Latin for bucket or pail, is a term for a variety of elaborate bucket-shaped vessels from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages, usually with a handle at the top...
or beak jugs). While these are a few imports from Etruria
Etruria
Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...
(8 beak jug, 1 bucket), most of the items were produced in the area. The large bronze hoard of Arbedo dates from the period around 450 BC. Over 4,000 items were discovered in Arbedo along with smelting
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
furnaces and workshop waste. In addition to local products, there are numerous important Etruscan and northern Alpine objects.
While a specific foundation date is still unknown, numerous grave groups close to a settlement on the valley floor date from the 6th Century. Together with the graves near Como and Castelletto Ticino-Golasecca, Arbedo-Castione formed the third center of the Golasecca culture
Golasecca culture
The Golasecca culture was a Celtic culture in northern Italy , whose type-site has been excavated at Golasecca in the province of Varese, Lombardy.-Archeological sources:...
. The settlement occupied a key position on major trade routes, as imports from Etruria and from north of the Alps indicate. The hoard of Arbedo shows that there were also workshops for the population. The graves at Arbedo also document the gallic
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
invasion of the Po river valley around 390 BC. A few Roman era
Switzerland in the Roman era
The history of Switzerland in the Roman era encompasses the roughly six centuries during which the territory of modern Switzerland was a part of the Roman Republic and Empire...
objects have been discovered at Castione and S. Paolo d'Arbedo.
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
King Agilulf
Agilulf
Agilulf called the Thuringian, was a duke of Turin and king of the Lombards from 591 until his death.-Biography:A relative of his predecessor Authari, he was selected king on the advice of the Christian queen and widow of Authari, Theodelinda, whom he then married...
. The graves surround the original church of S. Paolo and indicate that Lombards family had a presence in the valley and may have had a family chapel there. The building is close to the castrum of Bellinzona
Bellinzona
Bellinzona is the administrative capital of the canton Ticino in Switzerland. The city is famous for its three castles that have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2000....
, where the Lombards had settled in 590. Additionally, it was right next to the old main road leading from Castelseprio
Castelseprio
Castelseprio was the site of a Roman fort in antiquity, and a significant Lombard town in the early Middle Ages, before being destroyed and abandoned in 1287. It is today preserved as an archaeological park in the modern comune of Castelseprio, near the modern village of the same name...
at Varese
Varese
Varese is a town and comune in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 55 km north of Milan.It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or urban part of the city is called Varesotto.- Geography :...
on the Monte Ceneri to Lukmanier Pass
Lukmanier Pass
Lukmanier Pass is a pass in the Swiss Alps.The road from Disentis/Mustér in the canton of Graubünden leads through the Val Medel across the pass to the Blenio valley and Biasca in the canton of Ticino.The Pass is kept opened during the winter.-See also:* List of highest paved roads in Europe*...
. Throughout 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...
Arbedo was an important transit point on the routes over several central Alpine passes. The natural barriers of the Ticino and Moesa
Moesa
The Moesa is a 47 km river, a tributary of the Ticino, which flows through the Swiss cantons of Graubünden and Ticino.It rises in Val Vignun near the San Bernardino Pass and descends, along with the A13 motorway, through the Val Mesolcina towards Roveredo, where it receives the rivers Calancasca...
provided excellent defenses for the village and made it a gateway to Bellinzona. However, its position led to frequent battles around and in Arbedo. The Battle of Arbedo
Battle of Arbedo
The Battle of Arbedo was fought on June 30, 1422 between the Duchy of Milan and the Swiss Confederation.In 1419, Uri and Unterwalden bought the Bellinzona stronghold from the Sacco barons, but were unable to defend it adequately...
in 1422 ended Swiss territorial expansion for some time. The 1449 Battle of Castione
Battle of Castione
The Battle of Castione was fought between the Golden Ambrosian Republic and the canton of Uri on 6 July 1449.The site of the battle is near that of the earlier battle of Arbedo, both in the territory of the current-day municipality of Arbedo-Castione in the Swiss canton of Ticino.The cause of both...
ended when the Condottiere Giovanni della Noce burned the village down and forced the armies of Uri
Canton of Uri
Uri is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss River between Lake Lucerne and the St. Gotthard Pass. German is the primary language spoken in Uri...
and its allies to flee into the Val Mesolcina
Val Mesolcina
The Misox is an alpine valley of the Grisons, Switzerland, stretching from the San Bernardino Pass to Grono where it joins the Calanca Valley...
.
Arbedo and Castione are first mentioned in 1195 as Erbedum. In 1237 it was mentioned as Castillionum. In a book of records for the city of Como
Como
Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....
from 1335 the village of Pitadino which might correspond to Castione.
Two churches are mentioned at the bridge over the Moesa, though they no longer exist. The church of S. Christopher was built in 1284 and the church of S. Elena was from 1441. It is likely that they were destroyed when the river flooded. At the center of Arbedo was the church of Santa Maria, which became a parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in 1583.
A pillar-supported wooden bridge was built over the Moesa during the Middle Ages. The bridge maintenance was paid for by the village of the County of Bellinzona, which included Arbedo. The bridge was in a strategic position and in 1495 it was destroyed to slow the Swiss Confederation
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....
army. The army then turned and marched in the direction of Lombardy. Also important for trader traffic the stone bridge over the stream Traversagna, which was built in 1485. In the southern foreland, various canals were built which supplied water and power to mills and sawmills that were used throughout the region.
Today, Arbedo is a residential suburb of Bellinzona and the center of small and medium-sized industrial and service enterprises (quarries, gravel and sand extraction, storage). The Valle di Arbedo still has extensive forest resources though some of the trees were destroyed in a 1928 by a landslide on Mount Arbino.
Geography
Arbedo-Castione has an area, , of 21.28 square kilometres (8.2 sq mi). Of this area, 1.27 km² (0.490349741412519 sq mi) or 6.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 16.51 km² (6.4 sq mi) or 77.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.88 km² (0.725872058153966 sq mi) or 8.8% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.39 km² (0.150579841851089 sq mi) or 1.8% is either rivers or lakes and 0.86 km² (0.33204785638958 sq mi) or 4.0% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.8% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 2.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.8%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.3% of the area. Out of the forested land, 74.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 2.6% is used for growing crops and 2.9% is used for alpine pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 0.2% is in lakes and 1.6% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 3.1% is unproductive vegetation.
The municipality is located in the Bellinzona district on the left bank of the Moesa river near 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...
with the Tessin river, south of Piz de Molinera
Piz de Molinera
Piz de Molinera is a mountain in the Lepontine Alps, located on the border between the cantons of Ticino and Graubünden. It overlooks the junction of the Ticino and the Moesa, north of Arbedo .-External links:*...
. It consists of the villages of Arbedo and Castione.
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 Azure a Lion passant Argent holding a Palm Branch Vert between three Mullets Or on a Bridge of the last in its Arch three barrulets engrailed.
Demographics
Arbedo-Castione has a population of . , 29.5% of the population are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 3.6%. Most of the population speaks ItalianItalian 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...
(88.8%), 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 ( 3.7%) and Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian language
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
being third ( 2.4%).
Of the Swiss national languages , 139 speak 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....
, 43 people 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...
and 3,313 people speak 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...
. The remainder (234 people) speak another language.
, the gender distribution of the population was 49.7% male and 50.3% female. The population was made up of 1,411 Swiss men (33.6% of the population), and 678 (16.1%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,583 Swiss women (37.7%), and 528 (12.6%) non-Swiss women.
In there were 22 live births to Swiss citizens and 9 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 22 deaths of Swiss citizens and 3 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens remained the same while the foreign population increased by 6. There was 1 Swiss man, 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland to another country, 31 non-Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland to another country and 15 non-Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland to another country. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources) was an increase of 62 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 53 people. This represents a population growth rate of 2.9%.
The age distribution, , in Arbedo-Castione is; 387 children or 9.2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 411 teenagers or 9.8% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 492 people or 11.7% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 549 people or 13.1% are between 30 and 39, 742 people or 17.7% are between 40 and 49, and 612 people or 14.6% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 500 people or 11.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 338 people or 8.0% are between 70 and 79, there are 169 people or 4.0% who are between 80 and 89.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.64 which is about equal to 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 47.4% 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 1,452 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. there were 695 single family homes (or 74.3% of the total) out of a total of 935 inhabited buildings. There were 120 two family buildings (12.8%) and 87 multi-family buildings (9.3%). There were also 33 buildings in the municipality that were multipurpose buildings (used for both housing and commercial or another purpose).
The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.91%. Of the apartments, a total of 1,431 apartments (88.4% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 107 apartments (6.6%) were seasonally occupied and 80 apartments (4.9%) were empty. there were 1,618 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 4 room apartment of which there were 626. There were 62 single room apartments and 384 apartments with five or more rooms. , the construction rate of new housing units was 9.7 new units per 1000 residents.
The historical population is given in the following table:
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1801 | 420 |
| 1836 | 565 |
| 1850 | 801 |
| 1900 | 1,042 |
| 1950 | 1,335 |
| 2000 | 3,729 |
Heritage sites of national significance
The Church of S. Paolo detta Chiesa Rossa is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significanceSwiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...
.
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 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 30.47% 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....
(22.37%), 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...
(19.66%) and 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...
(14.3%). In the federal election, a total of 1,080 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 46.6%.
In the Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 2,312 registered voters in Arbedo-Castione, of which 1,584 or 68.5% voted. 23 blank ballots and 3 null ballots were cast, leaving 1,558 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 368 or 23.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the SSI (with 365 or 23.4%), the PS
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(with 270 or 17.3%) 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 226 or 14.5%).
In the Consiglio di Stato election, there were 13 blank ballots and 6 null ballots, which left 1,566 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 333 or 21.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PS (with 329 or 21.0%), the LEGA (with 314 or 20.1%) and the SSI (with 311 or 19.9%).
Economy
, Arbedo-Castione had an unemployment rate of 4.81%. , there were 23 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 10 businesses involved in this sector. 393 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 42 businesses in this sector. 788 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 93 businesses in this sector.There were 1,767 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 38.5% of the workforce. , there were 439 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,350 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 6.6% of the workforce coming into Arbedo-Castione are coming from outside Switzerland.
Of the working population, 11.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 64.2% used a private car.
, there was one hotel in Arbedo-Castione.
Religion
From the , 2,961 or 79.4% were Roman Catholic, while 156 or 4.2% 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...
. There are 461 individuals (or about 12.36% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 151 individuals (or about 4.05% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Arbedo-Castione about 58.1% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or 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...
).
In Arbedo-Castione there are a total of 682 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 Arbedo-Castione there are 126 children in kindergarten.
The primary school program lasts for five years and includes both a standard school and a special school. In the municipality, 163 students attend the standard primary schools and 15 students attend the special school. 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 are 162 students in the two year middle school and 1 in their pre-apprenticeship, while 73 students are 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 are 35 vocational students who are attending school full-time and 92 who attend part-time.
The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields. There are 15 students in the professional program.
, there were 299 students in Arbedo-Castione who came from another municipality, while 165 residents attended schools outside the municipality.