Birmensdorf is a 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 Dietikon

Dietikon (district)

Dietikon District is a district of the Swiss canton of Zürich. The capital of the district of Dietikon is the city of Dietikon, located in the Limmat Valley ....

 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 Zürich in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

.

Geography

Birmensdorf has an area of 11.5 km² (4.4 sq mi). Of this area, 41% is used for agricultural purposes, while 38.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 20.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.5%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). housing and buildings made up 12.8% of the total area, while transportation infrastructure made up the rest (7.3%). Of the total unproductive area, water (streams and lakes) made up 0.4% of the area. 14.1% of the total municipal area was undergoing some type of construction.

The municipality is located in the Reppisch

Reppisch

The Reppisch is a river in Switzerland. It rises in the Türlersee and joins the Limmat as its tributary, near the town of Dietikon. The Reppisch flows in the Säuliamt , canton of Zürich, an area featuring still partially untouched nature....

tal. It includes the hamlet

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 Landikon and numerous scattered farm houses. The village of Birmensdorf includes the former hamlets of Wullikon, Schüren, Güpf, Uf Dorf and Risi.

Demographics

Birmensdorf has a population (as of ) of . , 19.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. the gender distribution of the population was 49.8% male and 50.2% female. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 13.7%. Most of the population speaks German (87.1%), with Italian being second most common ( 2.6%) and French being third ( 1.4%).

In the 2007 election 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 41% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS

Social Democratic Party of Switzerland

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

 (16%), the FDP

Free Democratic Party of Switzerland

The Free Democratic Party was a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It was one of the major parties in Switzerland until its merger with the smaller classical liberal Liberal Party, to form FDP.The Liberals on 1 January 2009....

 (12.7%) 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...

 (9.5%).

The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 67.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 13.3%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Birmensdorf about 80.3% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule

Fachhochschule

A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...

). There are 2508 households in Birmensdorf.

Birmensdorf has an unemployment rate of 2.38%. , there were 78 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 27 businesses involved in this sector. 440 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 66 businesses in this sector. 1270 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 188 businesses in this sector. 43.6% of the working population were employed full-time, and 56.4% were employed part-time.

there were 1738 Catholics

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 and 2227 Protestants

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

 in Birmensdorf. In the religion was broken down into several smaller categories. From the 2000 census, 46.5% were some type of Protestant, with 44.6% belonging to the Swiss Reformed Church

Swiss 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...

 and 1.9% belonging to other Protestant churches. 30.1% of the population were Catholic. Of the rest of the population, 0% were Muslim, 5.2% belonged to another religion (not listed), 3.2% did not give a religion, and 14% were atheist or agnostic.

The historical population is given in the following table:

year	population
1634	460
1749	848
1836	1,082
1850	1,096
1900	1,101
1950	1,480
2000	5,451

Transport

Birmensdorf railway station

Birmensdorf railway station

Birmensdorf is a railway station in the municipality of Birmensdorf, in the Swiss canton of Zurich. The station is located on the Zurich to Zug via Affoltern am Albis railway line and is served by Zurich S-Bahn lines S9 and S15.- References :...

 is a stop of the Zürich S-Bahn

Zürich S-Bahn

The Zurich S-Bahn system is a network of rapid transit rail lines that has been incrementally expanded to cover the ZVV area, which comprises the entire canton of Zurich and portions of neighboring cantons The Zurich S-Bahn system is a network of rapid transit rail lines that has been...

 on the lines S9

S9 (ZVV)

The S9 is a regional railway line of the S-Bahn Zürich on the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund , Zürich transportation network, and is one of the network's lines connecting the cantons of Zürich and Zug.- Route :...

 and S15

S15 (ZVV)

The S15 is a regional railway line of the S-Bahn Zürich on the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund , Zürich transportation network, and is one of the network's lines connecting the cantons of Zürich and St...

. It is an 18 minute ride from Zürich Hauptbahnhof.

The municipality is located on the A3 motorway.

External links

• Birmensdorf Online Official website