Birsfelden
Encyclopedia
Birsfelden 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 21.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 26.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 13.9%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 4.0% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 15.5%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 0.0% is used for growing crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Arlesheim district, and is one of the suburbs of Basel. It is south of the Rhine river and on the right bank of the Birs
river. It consists of the linear village
of Birsfelden with a harbor and power plant on the Rhine. Until 1874, it was part of the municipality of Muttenz
.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Gules, three Mullets of Six Or, in chief a Barullet wavy Argent.
Most of the population speaks German
(8,591 or 82.4%), with Italian language
being second most common (617 or 5.9%) and French
being third (217 or 2.1%). There are 9 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 48.7% male and 51.3% female. The population was made up of 7,780 Swiss citizens (74.6% of the population), and 2,653 non-Swiss residents (25.4%) Of the population in the municipality 2,397 or about 23.0% were born in Birsfelden and lived there in 2000. There were 1,015 or 9.7% who were born in the same canton, while 4,013 or 38.5% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 2,598 or 24.9% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 71 live births to Swiss citizens and 36 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 100 deaths of Swiss citizens and 10 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 29 while the foreign population increased by 26. There were 2 Swiss men who immigrated back to Switzerland and 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 68 non-Swiss men and 43 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 82 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 94 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.1%.
The age distribution, , in Birsfelden is; 570 children or 5.5% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 1,092 teenagers or 10.5% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 1,278 people or 12.2% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 1,561 people or 15.0% are between 30 and 39, 1,571 people or 15.1% are between 40 and 49, and 1,863 people or 17.9% are between 50 and 64. The senior population distribution is 1,844 people or 17.7% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 654 people or 6.3% who are over 80. , there were 3,822 people who were single and never married in the municipality.
There were 5,165 married individuals, 793 widows or widowers and 649 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.6 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 11.3% 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 5,136 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2. persons per household. There were 2,124 households that consist of only one person and 151 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 5,211 households that answered this question, 40.8% were households made up of just one person and 19 were adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 1,650 married couples without children, 1,046 married couples with children There were 239 single parents with a child or children. There were 58 households that were made up unrelated people and 75 households that were made some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 370 single family homes (or 34.5% of the total) out of a total of 1,072 inhabited buildings. There were 519 multi-family buildings (48.4%), along with 111 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (10.4%) and 72 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (6.7%). Of the single family homes 80 were built before 1919, while 18 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (162) were built between 1919 and 1945.
there were 5,405 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 2,501. There were 262 single room apartments and 466 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 5,057 apartments (93.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 239 apartments (4.4%) were seasonally occupied and 109 apartments (2.0%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2 new units per 1000 residents. the average price to rent a two room apartment was about 793.00 CHF (US$630, £360, €510), a three room apartment was about 944.00 CHF (US$760, £420, €600) and a four room apartment cost an average of 1154.00 CHF (US$920, £520, €740). The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.31%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Church of Bruder Klaus and the Sternenfeld (part of the Roman era
rhine fortifications) are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance
.
the most popular party was the SP
which received 33.88% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
(26.84%), the Green Party
(12.53%) and the CVP
(11.73%). In the federal election, a total of 3,071 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 44.4%.
the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 3,412. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 5, of which were in agriculture and 5 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 1,358, of which 876 or (64.5%) were in manufacturing, 25 or (1.8%) were in mining and 404 (29.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 2,049. In the tertiary sector; 680 or 33.2% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 402 or 19.6% were in the movement and storage of goods, 80 or 3.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 58 or 2.8% were in the information industry, 28 or 1.4% were the insurance or financial industry, 172 or 8.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 89 or 4.3% were in education and 266 or 13.0% were in health care.
, there were 3,846 workers who commuted into the municipality and 4,148 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 21.3% of the workforce coming into Birsfelden are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.3% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 39.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 25.6% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 174 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 1.67% of the population), there were 23 individuals (or about 0.22% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 366 individuals (or about 3.51% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 9 individuals (or about 0.09% of the population) who were Jewish
, and 455 (or about 4.36% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 43 individuals who were Buddhist
, 137 individuals who were Hindu
and 17 individuals who belonged to another church. 1,863 (or about 17.86% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 424 individuals (or about 4.07% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 1,058 who completed tertiary schooling, 57.6% were Swiss men, 23.6% were Swiss women, 11.7% were non-Swiss men and 7.1% were non-Swiss women. , there were 17 students in Birsfelden who came from another municipality, while 323 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
Birsfelden is first mentioned in 1274 as minor Rinvelden. Around 1500 it was first mentioned as Birsfeld.Geography
Birsfelden has an area, , of 2.52 square kilometre (0.972977439653188 sq mi). Of this area, 0 km² (0 sq mi) or 0.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.04 km² (0.0154440863437014 sq mi) or 1.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.04 km² (0.787648403528771 sq mi) or 81.0% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.46 km² (0.177606992952566 sq mi) or 18.3% is either rivers or lakes.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 21.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 26.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 13.9%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 4.0% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 15.5%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 0.0% is used for growing crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Arlesheim district, and is one of the suburbs of Basel. It is south of the Rhine river and on the right bank of the Birs
Birs
The Birs is a 73-km long river in Switzerland that flows through the Jura region and ends as a tributary to the Rhine between Basel and Birsfelden.- Picture gallery :...
river. It consists of the linear village
Linear village
In geography, a linear village, or linear settlement, is a small to medium-sized settlement that is formed around a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Wraysbury, a village in Berkshire, is one of the longest villages in England....
of Birsfelden with a harbor and power plant on the Rhine. Until 1874, it was part of the municipality of Muttenz
Muttenz
Muttenz is a municipality with a population of approximately 17,000 in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. It is located in the district of Arlesheim and next to the city of Basle.-History:...
.
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, three Mullets of Six Or, in chief a Barullet wavy Argent.
Demographics
Birsfelden has a population of . , 23.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of -4.4%.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....
(8,591 or 82.4%), with Italian language
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 second most common (617 or 5.9%) and 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 third (217 or 2.1%). There are 9 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 48.7% male and 51.3% female. The population was made up of 7,780 Swiss citizens (74.6% of the population), and 2,653 non-Swiss residents (25.4%) Of the population in the municipality 2,397 or about 23.0% were born in Birsfelden and lived there in 2000. There were 1,015 or 9.7% who were born in the same canton, while 4,013 or 38.5% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 2,598 or 24.9% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 71 live births to Swiss citizens and 36 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 100 deaths of Swiss citizens and 10 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 29 while the foreign population increased by 26. There were 2 Swiss men who immigrated back to Switzerland and 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 68 non-Swiss men and 43 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 82 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 94 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.1%.
The age distribution, , in Birsfelden is; 570 children or 5.5% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 1,092 teenagers or 10.5% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 1,278 people or 12.2% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 1,561 people or 15.0% are between 30 and 39, 1,571 people or 15.1% are between 40 and 49, and 1,863 people or 17.9% are between 50 and 64. The senior population distribution is 1,844 people or 17.7% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 654 people or 6.3% who are over 80. , there were 3,822 people who were single and never married in the municipality.
There were 5,165 married individuals, 793 widows or widowers and 649 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.6 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 11.3% 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 5,136 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2. persons per household. There were 2,124 households that consist of only one person and 151 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 5,211 households that answered this question, 40.8% were households made up of just one person and 19 were adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 1,650 married couples without children, 1,046 married couples with children There were 239 single parents with a child or children. There were 58 households that were made up unrelated people and 75 households that were made some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 370 single family homes (or 34.5% of the total) out of a total of 1,072 inhabited buildings. There were 519 multi-family buildings (48.4%), along with 111 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (10.4%) and 72 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (6.7%). Of the single family homes 80 were built before 1919, while 18 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (162) were built between 1919 and 1945.
there were 5,405 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 2,501. There were 262 single room apartments and 466 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 5,057 apartments (93.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 239 apartments (4.4%) were seasonally occupied and 109 apartments (2.0%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2 new units per 1000 residents. the average price to rent a two room apartment was about 793.00 CHF (US$630, £360, €510), a three room apartment was about 944.00 CHF (US$760, £420, €600) and a four room apartment cost an average of 1154.00 CHF (US$920, £520, €740). The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.31%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
The power plant of Birsfelden, the CatholicRoman 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...
Church of Bruder Klaus and the Sternenfeld (part of the 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...
rhine fortifications) are listed as 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...
.
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 SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
which received 33.88% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
(26.84%), the Green Party
Green Party of Switzerland
The Green Party of Switzerland is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland, and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council.-History:...
(12.53%) 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...
(11.73%). In the federal election, a total of 3,071 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 44.4%.
Economy
, Birsfelden had an unemployment rate of 2.87%. , there were 4 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 2 businesses involved in this sector. 962 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 65 businesses in this sector. 2,587 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 269 businesses in this sector. There were 5,179 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 44.9% of the workforce.the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 3,412. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 5, of which were in agriculture and 5 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 1,358, of which 876 or (64.5%) were in manufacturing, 25 or (1.8%) were in mining and 404 (29.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 2,049. In the tertiary sector; 680 or 33.2% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 402 or 19.6% were in the movement and storage of goods, 80 or 3.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 58 or 2.8% were in the information industry, 28 or 1.4% were the insurance or financial industry, 172 or 8.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 89 or 4.3% were in education and 266 or 13.0% were in health care.
, there were 3,846 workers who commuted into the municipality and 4,148 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 21.3% of the workforce coming into Birsfelden are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.3% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 39.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 25.6% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 3,631 or 34.8% were Roman Catholic, while 3,287 or 31.5% 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 174 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 1.67% of the population), there were 23 individuals (or about 0.22% 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 366 individuals (or about 3.51% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 9 individuals (or about 0.09% of the population) who were Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and 455 (or about 4.36% 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 43 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...
, 137 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 17 individuals who belonged to another church. 1,863 (or about 17.86% 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 424 individuals (or about 4.07% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Birsfelden about 4,379 or (42.0%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 1,058 or (10.1%) 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 1,058 who completed tertiary schooling, 57.6% were Swiss men, 23.6% were Swiss women, 11.7% were non-Swiss men and 7.1% were non-Swiss women. , there were 17 students in Birsfelden who came from another municipality, while 323 residents attended schools outside the municipality.