Biel-Benken
Encyclopedia
Biel-Benken is a municipality
in the district of Arlesheim
in the canton
of Basel-Country
in Switzerland
.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 17.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.4%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.9%. Out of the forested land, 18.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 40.0% is used for growing crops and 6.1% is pastures, while 7.8% is used for orchards or vine crops.
The municipality is located in the Arlesheim district, in the Leimen valley. It consists of the two villages of Biel and Benken, which are separated by the Birsig
river. The two villages merged in 1972.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Gules, a bend lozengy Argent
Most of the population speaks German
(2,485 or 92.8%), with French
being second most common (55 or 2.1%) and english
being third (35 or 1.3%). There are 2 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. The population was made up of 2,746 Swiss citizens (87.9% of the population), and 377 non-Swiss residents (12.1%) Of the population in the municipality 492 or about 18.4% were born in Biel-Benken and lived there in 2000. There were 561 or 20.9% who were born in the same canton, while 1,178 or 44.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 364 or 13.6% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 22 live births to Swiss citizens and 2 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 17 deaths of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 5 while the foreign population increased by 1. There were 3 Swiss men and 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 12 non-Swiss men and 17 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 10 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 26 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.5%.
The age distribution, , in Biel-Benken is; 230 children or 7.4% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 463 teenagers or 14.8% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 270 people or 8.6% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 301 people or 9.6% are between 30 and 39, 573 people or 18.3% are between 40 and 49, and 706 people or 22.6% are between 50 and 64. The senior population distribution is 467 people or 15.0% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 113 people or 3.6% who are over 80.
, there were 1,027 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,437 married individuals, 101 widows or widowers and 114 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.52 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 67.9% 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 1,054 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. There were 221 households that consist of only one person and 68 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,079 households that answered this question, 20.5% were households made up of just one person and 5 were adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 386 married couples without children, 368 married couples with children There were 58 single parents with a child or children. There were 16 households that were made up unrelated people and 25 households that were made some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 674 single family homes (or 80.1% of the total) out of a total of 841 inhabited buildings. There were 77 multi-family buildings (9.2%), along with 71 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (8.4%) and 19 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.3%). Of the single family homes 22 were built before 1919, while 124 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (202) were built between 1971 and 1980.
there were 1,082 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 335. There were 15 single room apartments and 582 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 1,018 apartments (94.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 48 apartments (4.4%) were seasonally occupied and 16 apartments (1.5%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 4.2 new units per 1000 residents. the average price to rent a two room apartment was about 1089.00 CHF (US$870, £490, €700), a three room apartment was about 1428.00 CHF (US$1140, £640, €910) and a four room apartment cost an average of 1685.00 CHF (US$1350, £760, €1080). The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.32%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 25.53% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP
(21.06%), the SP
(20.98%) and the CVP
(17.17%). In the federal election, a total of 1,203 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 54.8%.
the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 773. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 69, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 345, of which 167 or (48.4%) were in manufacturing and 178 (51.6%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 359. In the tertiary sector; 132 or 36.8% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 15 or 4.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 39 or 10.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 9 or 2.5% were in the information industry, 4 or 1.1% were the insurance or financial industry, 58 or 16.2% were technical professionals or scientists, 12 or 3.3% were in education and 22 or 6.1% were in health care.
, there were 670 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,078 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 23.4% of the workforce coming into Biel-Benken are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 19.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 53% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 6 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 0.22% of the population), there were 7 individuals (or about 0.26% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 56 individuals (or about 2.09% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 7 individuals (or about 0.26% of the population) who were Jewish
, and 24 (or about 0.90% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 4 individuals who were Buddhist
, 10 individuals who were Hindu
and 5 individuals who belonged to another church. 458 (or about 17.10% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 75 individuals (or about 2.80% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 596 who completed tertiary schooling, 60.6% were Swiss men, 28.2% were Swiss women, 6.4% were non-Swiss men and 4.9% were non-Swiss women. , there were 3 students in Biel-Benken who came from another municipality, while 300 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 Arlesheim
Arlesheim (district)
Arlesheim District is one of the five districts of the largely German-speaking canton of Basel-Country, Switzerland. Its capital is the town of Arlesheim. It has a population of .-Geography:...
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 Basel-Country
Basel-Country
Basel-Landschaft , is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. The capital is Liestal...
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
Benken is first mentioned in 1259 as Beinkon. It was also known as Benken maior to distinguish it from Biel which was known as Benken minor, Buelbenken or Benken inferior.Geography
Biel-Benken has an area, , of 4.12 square kilometres (1.6 sq mi). Of this area, 2.22 km² (0.857146792075428 sq mi) or 53.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.82 km² (0.316603770045879 sq mi) or 19.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.04 km² (0.401546244936236 sq mi) or 25.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and 0.01 km² (2.5 acre) or 0.2% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 17.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.4%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.9%. Out of the forested land, 18.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 40.0% is used for growing crops and 6.1% is pastures, while 7.8% is used for orchards or vine crops.
The municipality is located in the Arlesheim district, in the Leimen valley. It consists of the two villages of Biel and Benken, which are separated by the Birsig
Birsig
The Birsig is a rather small river in eastern France and northern Switzerland. Its source is in the village Biederthal, in the French Haut-Rhin department, near the Swiss border. The Birsig is about 21 kilometers long and its watershed area is about 82 square kilometers. It flows variably through...
river. The two villages merged in 1972.
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 Gules, a bend lozengy Argent
Demographics
Biel-Benken has a population of . , 11.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 25.5%.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....
(2,485 or 92.8%), with 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...
being second most common (55 or 2.1%) and english
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
being third (35 or 1.3%). There are 2 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. The population was made up of 2,746 Swiss citizens (87.9% of the population), and 377 non-Swiss residents (12.1%) Of the population in the municipality 492 or about 18.4% were born in Biel-Benken and lived there in 2000. There were 561 or 20.9% who were born in the same canton, while 1,178 or 44.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 364 or 13.6% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 22 live births to Swiss citizens and 2 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 17 deaths of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 5 while the foreign population increased by 1. There were 3 Swiss men and 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 12 non-Swiss men and 17 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 10 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 26 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.5%.
The age distribution, , in Biel-Benken is; 230 children or 7.4% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 463 teenagers or 14.8% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 270 people or 8.6% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 301 people or 9.6% are between 30 and 39, 573 people or 18.3% are between 40 and 49, and 706 people or 22.6% are between 50 and 64. The senior population distribution is 467 people or 15.0% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 113 people or 3.6% who are over 80.
, there were 1,027 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,437 married individuals, 101 widows or widowers and 114 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.52 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 67.9% 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 1,054 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. There were 221 households that consist of only one person and 68 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,079 households that answered this question, 20.5% were households made up of just one person and 5 were adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 386 married couples without children, 368 married couples with children There were 58 single parents with a child or children. There were 16 households that were made up unrelated people and 25 households that were made some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 674 single family homes (or 80.1% of the total) out of a total of 841 inhabited buildings. There were 77 multi-family buildings (9.2%), along with 71 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (8.4%) and 19 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.3%). Of the single family homes 22 were built before 1919, while 124 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (202) were built between 1971 and 1980.
there were 1,082 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 335. There were 15 single room apartments and 582 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 1,018 apartments (94.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 48 apartments (4.4%) were seasonally occupied and 16 apartments (1.5%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 4.2 new units per 1000 residents. the average price to rent a two room apartment was about 1089.00 CHF (US$870, £490, €700), a three room apartment was about 1428.00 CHF (US$1140, £640, €910) and a four room apartment cost an average of 1685.00 CHF (US$1350, £760, €1080). The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.32%.
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 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 25.53% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were 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....
(21.06%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(20.98%) and 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...
(17.17%). In the federal election, a total of 1,203 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 54.8%.
Economy
, Biel-Benken had an unemployment rate of 1.37%. , there were 110 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 21 businesses involved in this sector. 343 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 36 businesses in this sector. 425 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 95 businesses in this sector. There were 1,381 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 jobs was 773. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 69, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 345, of which 167 or (48.4%) were in manufacturing and 178 (51.6%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 359. In the tertiary sector; 132 or 36.8% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 15 or 4.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 39 or 10.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 9 or 2.5% were in the information industry, 4 or 1.1% were the insurance or financial industry, 58 or 16.2% were technical professionals or scientists, 12 or 3.3% were in education and 22 or 6.1% were in health care.
, there were 670 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,078 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 23.4% of the workforce coming into Biel-Benken are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 19.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 53% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 656 or 24.5% were Roman Catholic, while 1,371 or 51.2% 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...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 6 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 0.22% of the population), there were 7 individuals (or about 0.26% 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 56 individuals (or about 2.09% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 7 individuals (or about 0.26% of the population) who were Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and 24 (or about 0.90% 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 4 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...
, 10 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 5 individuals who belonged to another church. 458 (or about 17.10% 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 75 individuals (or about 2.80% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Biel-Benken about 1,135 or (42.4%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 596 or (22.2%) 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 596 who completed tertiary schooling, 60.6% were Swiss men, 28.2% were Swiss women, 6.4% were non-Swiss men and 4.9% were non-Swiss women. , there were 3 students in Biel-Benken who came from another municipality, while 300 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Notable residents
- Alex Frei, a famous Swiss soccer player, was born and grew up in Biel-Benken.