Balsthal
Encyclopedia
Balsthal is a municipality
in the district of Thal
in the canton
of Solothurn in Switzerland
.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 7.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.6%. Out of the forested land, 53.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.4% is used for growing crops and 19.7% is pastures and 2.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Thal district. It was a market town
and administrative center for the Oberen Hauenstein. It consists of the village of Balsthal, the industrial settlement of Klus and the hamlets
of Sankt Wolfgang.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Azure two Snakes Argent in saltire bowed embowed reguardant.
Most of the population speaks German
(4,728 or 84.8%), with Albanian
being second most common (163 or 2.9%) and Italian
being third (153 or 2.7%). There are 40 people who speak French
and 2 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 51.0% male and 49.0% female. The population was made up of 1,993 Swiss men (34.4% of the population) and 962 (16.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 2,032 Swiss women (35.1%) and 802 (13.9%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 2,040 or about 36.6% were born in Balsthal and lived there in 2000. There were 1,179 or 21.2% who were born in the same canton, while 1,006 or 18.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,156 or 20.7% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 29 live births to Swiss citizens and 30 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 39 deaths of Swiss citizens and 6 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 10 while the foreign population increased by 24. There were 15 Swiss men and 9 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 56 non-Swiss men and 25 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was a decrease of 34 and the non-Swiss population increased by 87 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.9%.
The age distribution, , in Balsthal is; 401 children or 7.2% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 976 teenagers or 17.5% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 300 people or 5.4% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 1,681 people or 30.2% are between 25 and 44, and 1,295 people or 23.2% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 651 people or 11.7% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 270 people or 4.8% who are over 80.
, there were 2,237 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,693 married individuals, 381 widows or widowers and 263 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.58 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.56 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 45.8% 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 2,232 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 677 households that consist of only one person and 165 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 2,282 households that answered this question, 29.7% were households made up of just one person and there were 16 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 655 married couples without children, 744 married couples with children There were 120 single parents with a child or children. There were 20 households that were made up of unrelated people and 50 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 962 single family homes (or 67.9% of the total) out of a total of 1,417 inhabited buildings. There were 256 multi-family buildings (18.1%), along with 113 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (8.0%) and 86 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (6.1%). Of the single family homes 85 were built before 1919, while 92 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (288) were built between 1919 and 1945.
there were 2,454 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 731. There were 108 single room apartments and 835 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 2,179 apartments (88.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 126 apartments (5.1%) were seasonally occupied and 149 apartments (6.1%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.9 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.02%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance
. The entire town of Balsthal and the Factories of the Innere Klus are part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
.
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 30.03% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP
(25.91%), the FDP
(22.46%) and the SP
(13.51%). In the federal election, a total of 1,757 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 51.8%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 2,054. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 24, of which 21 were in agriculture and 3 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 1,025 of which 804 or (78.4%) were in manufacturing and 215 (21.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,005. In the tertiary sector; 257 or 25.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 100 or 10.0% were in the movement and storage of goods, 88 or 8.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 8 or 0.8% were in the information industry, 54 or 5.4% were the insurance or financial industry, 89 or 8.9% were technical professionals or scientists, 87 or 8.7% were in education and 160 or 15.9% were in health care.
, there were 1,350 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,666 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 1.3% of the workforce coming into Balsthal are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 12.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 59.2% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 154 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 2.76% of the population), there were 5 individuals (or about 0.09% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 79 individuals (or about 1.42% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 562 (or about 10.08% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 37 individuals who were Buddhist
, 4 individuals who were Hindu
and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 497 (or about 8.92% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 170 individuals (or about 3.05% of the population) did not answer the question.
. The wettest month is August during which time Balsthal receives an average of 113 mm (4.4 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.7 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 13.5, but with only 99 mm (3.9 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is October with an average of 73 mm (2.9 in) of precipitation over 8.6 days.
). Of the 503 who completed tertiary schooling, 70.2% were Swiss men, 16.9% were Swiss women, 8.2% were non-Swiss men and 4.8% were non-Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 486 students in the Balsthal school system. The education system
in the Canton of Solothurn allows young children to attend two years of non-obligatory Kindergarten
. During that school year, there were 102 children in kindergarten. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school, with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In the municipality there were 384 students in primary school. The secondary school
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower secondary students from Balsthal attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 144 students in Balsthal who came from another municipality, while 106 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Balsthal is home to the Bibliothek Balsthal library. The library has 6,033 books or other media, and loaned out 11,342 items in the same year. It was open a total of 169 days with average of 8 hours per week during that year.
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 Thal
Thal (district)
Thal District is one of the ten districts of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland, situated in the centre of the canton. Together with the Gäu District, it forms the Amtei of Thal-Gäu...
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 Solothurn 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
Balsthal is first mentioned in 968 as Palcivallis. In 1255 it was mentioned as Balcetal.Geography
Balsthal has an area, , of 15.71 square kilometres (6.1 sq mi). Of this area, 4.62 km² (1.8 sq mi) or 29.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 8.53 km² (3.3 sq mi) or 54.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.26 km² (0.872590878419129 sq mi) or 14.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.1 km² (24.7 acre) or 0.6% is either rivers or lakes and 0.18 km² (0.0694983885466563 sq mi) or 1.1% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 7.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.6%. Out of the forested land, 53.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.4% is used for growing crops and 19.7% is pastures and 2.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Thal district. It was a market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
and administrative center for the Oberen Hauenstein. It consists of the village of Balsthal, the industrial settlement of Klus and the hamlets
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 Sankt Wolfgang.
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 two Snakes Argent in saltire bowed embowed reguardant.
Demographics
Balsthal has a population of . , 28.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 1.7%.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....
(4,728 or 84.8%), with 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...
being second most common (163 or 2.9%) 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...
being third (153 or 2.7%). There are 40 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...
and 2 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 51.0% male and 49.0% female. The population was made up of 1,993 Swiss men (34.4% of the population) and 962 (16.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 2,032 Swiss women (35.1%) and 802 (13.9%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 2,040 or about 36.6% were born in Balsthal and lived there in 2000. There were 1,179 or 21.2% who were born in the same canton, while 1,006 or 18.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,156 or 20.7% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 29 live births to Swiss citizens and 30 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 39 deaths of Swiss citizens and 6 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 10 while the foreign population increased by 24. There were 15 Swiss men and 9 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 56 non-Swiss men and 25 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was a decrease of 34 and the non-Swiss population increased by 87 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.9%.
The age distribution, , in Balsthal is; 401 children or 7.2% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 976 teenagers or 17.5% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 300 people or 5.4% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 1,681 people or 30.2% are between 25 and 44, and 1,295 people or 23.2% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 651 people or 11.7% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 270 people or 4.8% who are over 80.
, there were 2,237 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,693 married individuals, 381 widows or widowers and 263 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.58 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.56 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 45.8% 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 2,232 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 677 households that consist of only one person and 165 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 2,282 households that answered this question, 29.7% were households made up of just one person and there were 16 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 655 married couples without children, 744 married couples with children There were 120 single parents with a child or children. There were 20 households that were made up of unrelated people and 50 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 962 single family homes (or 67.9% of the total) out of a total of 1,417 inhabited buildings. There were 256 multi-family buildings (18.1%), along with 113 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (8.0%) and 86 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (6.1%). Of the single family homes 85 were built before 1919, while 92 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (288) were built between 1919 and 1945.
there were 2,454 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 731. There were 108 single room apartments and 835 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 2,179 apartments (88.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 126 apartments (5.1%) were seasonally occupied and 149 apartments (6.1%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.9 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.02%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
The ruins of Neu-Falkenstein CastleNeu-Falkenstein Castle
Neu-Falkenstein Castle is a castle in the municipality of Balsthal of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.-References:...
is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance
Swiss 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...
. The entire town of Balsthal and the Factories of the Innere Klus are part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
The Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage.-Sites of national importance:-Types:...
.
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 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...
which received 30.03% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were 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...
(25.91%), 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....
(22.46%) and the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(13.51%). In the federal election, a total of 1,757 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 51.8%.
Economy
, Balsthal had an unemployment rate of 4.7%. , there were 35 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 14 businesses involved in this sector. 1,087 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 70 businesses in this sector. 1,288 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 209 businesses in this sector. There were 2,850 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.2% 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 2,054. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 24, of which 21 were in agriculture and 3 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 1,025 of which 804 or (78.4%) were in manufacturing and 215 (21.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,005. In the tertiary sector; 257 or 25.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 100 or 10.0% were in the movement and storage of goods, 88 or 8.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 8 or 0.8% were in the information industry, 54 or 5.4% were the insurance or financial industry, 89 or 8.9% were technical professionals or scientists, 87 or 8.7% were in education and 160 or 15.9% were in health care.
, there were 1,350 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,666 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 1.3% of the workforce coming into Balsthal are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 12.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 59.2% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 2,950 or 52.9% were Roman Catholic, while 1,115 or 20.0% 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 154 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 2.76% of the population), there were 5 individuals (or about 0.09% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...
, and there were 79 individuals (or about 1.42% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 562 (or about 10.08% 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. There were 37 individuals who were Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, 4 individuals who were Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 497 (or about 8.92% 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 170 individuals (or about 3.05% of the population) did not answer the question.
Weather
Balsthal has an average of 136.8 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 1058 mm (41.7 in) of precipitationPrecipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
. The wettest month is August during which time Balsthal receives an average of 113 mm (4.4 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.7 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 13.5, but with only 99 mm (3.9 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is October with an average of 73 mm (2.9 in) of precipitation over 8.6 days.
Education
In Balsthal about 1,996 or (35.8%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 503 or (9.0%) 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 503 who completed tertiary schooling, 70.2% were Swiss men, 16.9% were Swiss women, 8.2% were non-Swiss men and 4.8% were non-Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 486 students in the Balsthal 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 Solothurn allows young children to attend two years 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 were 102 children in kindergarten. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school, with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In the municipality there were 384 students in 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, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower secondary students from Balsthal attend their school in a neighboring municipality.
, there were 144 students in Balsthal who came from another municipality, while 106 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Balsthal is home to the Bibliothek Balsthal library. The library has 6,033 books or other media, and loaned out 11,342 items in the same year. It was open a total of 169 days with average of 8 hours per week during that year.