Brione sopra Minusio
Encyclopedia
Brione sopra Minusio 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 Locarno
Locarno (district)
The district of Locarno is a district of Canton Ticino, Switzerland. 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 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

Brione sopra Minusio is first mentioned in 1313 as Briono.

Before 1479 Brione and Minusio formed a Vicinanza
Bürgergemeinde
The Bürgergemeinde is a statutory corporation in public law in Switzerland...

, which also included Mergoscia until 1313. Between 1479 and 1577 it began taking steps to become an independent municipality. However, until 1952, some common property was shared between Brione sopra Minusio and other communities, which led to some conflicts.

The church of S. Maria Lauretana was built in 1558-59, and in the second half of the 19th Century it was rebuilt. Until 1662 it belonged to S. Vittore at Locarno
Locarno
Locarno is the capital of the Locarno district, located on the northern tip of Lake Maggiore in the Swiss canton of Ticino, close to Ascona at the foot of the Alps. It has a population of about 15,000...

. It was granted a chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...

 in 1662 and a parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...

 in 1777.

Traditionally, the cultivation of wine, fruit, cereals and hemp as well as grazing were the main occupations of the inhabitants. They had grazing rights in the Magadino valley. The scarcity of land forced an many of the residents to emigrate. In 1990 more than 75% of the workforce worked in the services sector, mostly in tourism. The municipality is home to many tourism facilities and second homes, and about 35% of the population are not native Italian speakers.

Geography

Brione sopra Minusio has an area, , of 3.84 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi). Of this area, 0.33 km² (0.127413712335537 sq mi) or 8.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.65 km² (1 sq mi) or 69.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.34 km² (0.131274733921462 sq mi) or 8.9% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.02 km² (4.9 acre) or 0.5% is either rivers or lakes and 0.36 km² (0.138996777093313 sq mi) or 9.4% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 6.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.3%. Out of the forested land, 56.3% of the total land area is heavily forested and 5.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 1.3% is used for growing crops and 6.8% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 9.1% is unproductive vegetation.

The municipality is located in the Locarno district, about 4 km (2.5 mi) north-east of Locarno.

Demographics

Brione sopra Minusio has a population of . , 19.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 11.4%.

Most of the population speaks 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...

 (61.0%), 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 (33.1%) and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

 being third (2.5%). Of the Swiss national languages , 160 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....

, 7 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...

, 295 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 (22 people) speak another language.

, the gender distribution of the population was 48.1% male and 51.9% female. The population was made up of 216 Swiss men (38.4% of the population), and 55 (9.8%) non-Swiss men. There were 235 Swiss women (41.7%), and 57 (10.1%) non-Swiss women.

In there were 2 live births to Swiss citizens and 2 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there was 1 death of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 1 while the foreign population increased by 1. There were 2 Swiss men and 1 Swiss woman who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 3 non-Swiss men and 1 non-Swiss woman who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources) was an increase of 2 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 12 people. This represents a population growth rate of 2.6%.

The age distribution, , in Brione sopra Minusio is; 34 children or 6.0% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 44 teenagers or 7.8% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 42 people or 7.5% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 37 people or 6.6% are between 30 and 39, 97 people or 17.2% are between 40 and 49, and 91 people or 16.2% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 97 people or 17.2% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 75 people or 13.3% are between 70 and 79, there are 46 people or 8.2% who are over 80.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.51 which is less people per room than 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 51.3% 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 241 private households in the municipality, and an average of 1.9 persons per household. there were 392 single family homes (or 80.8% of the total) out of a total of 485 inhabited buildings. There were 52 two family buildings (10.7%) and 25 multi-family buildings (5.2%). There were also 16 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%. there were 612 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 3 room apartment of which there were 176. There were 52 single room apartments and 110 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 240 apartments (39.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 365 apartments (59.6%) were seasonally occupied and 7 apartments (1.1%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 12.8 new units per 1000 residents.

The historical population is given in the following table:
year population
1596 277
1795 463
1850 639
1900 497
1950 341
1990 413
2000 484

Politics

In the 2007 federal election
Swiss 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 28.41% 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...

 (27.69%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (16.72%) and 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...

 (11.23%). In the federal election, a total of 197 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 49.1%.

In the Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 413 registered voters in Brione sopra Minusio, of which 213 or 51.6% voted. 11 blank ballots were cast, leaving 202 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PPD
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...

+GenGiova which received 60 or 29.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; 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....

 (with 41 or 20.3%), the PS
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (with 36 or 17.8%) and the SSI (with 26 or 12.9%).

In the Consiglio di Stato election, 4 blank ballots were cast, leaving 209 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PPD which received 53 or 25.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PLRT (with 42 or 20.1%), the PS (with 40 or 19.1%) and the SSI (with 35 or 16.7%).

Economy

, Brione sopra Minusio had an unemployment rate of 3.36%. , there were 11 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 3 businesses involved in this sector. 4 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 2 businesses in this sector. 55 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 17 businesses in this sector. There were 211 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.7% of the workforce.

, there were 44 workers who commuted into the municipality and 147 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.3 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 18.2% of the workforce coming into Brione sopra Minusio are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 5.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 63.5% used a private car.

, there was one hotel in Brione sopra Minusio.

Religion

From the , 319 or 65.9% were Roman Catholic, while 92 or 19.0% belonged 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...

. There are 56 individuals (or about 11.57% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 17 individuals (or about 3.51% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Brione sopra Minusio about 75.2% 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...

).

In Brione sopra Minusio there were a total of 66 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 Brione sopra Minusio there were 5 children in kindergarten. The primary school program lasts for five years and includes both a standard school and a special school. In the municipality, 22 students attended the standard primary schools and 1 student attended 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 were 12 students in the two year middle school and none in their pre-apprenticeship, while 11 students were 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 were 8 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 5 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 were 2 students in the professional program.

, there were 9 students in Brione sopra Minusio who came from another municipality, while 47 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
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