Niedergösgen
Encyclopedia
Niedergösgen is a municipality
in the district of Gösgen
in the canton
of Solothurn in Switzerland
.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 3.9% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 18.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.9%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.8% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.8%. Out of the forested land, 33.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 14.1% is used for growing crops and 9.9% is pastures, while 2.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Gösgen district, along the Aare river. It consists of the village of Niedergösgen and village section of Mühledorf.
Most of the population speaks German
(3,217 or 85.2%), with Italian
being second most common (175 or 4.6%) and Serbo-Croatian
being third (128 or 3.4%). There are 21 people who speak French
and 1 person who speaks Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 50.0% male and 50.0% female. The population was made up of 1,346 Swiss men (35.3% of the population) and 561 (14.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,434 Swiss women (37.6%) and 476 (12.5%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 1,150 or about 30.5% were born in Niedergösgen and lived there in 2000. There were 698 or 18.5% who were born in the same canton, while 1,032 or 27.3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 791 or 21.0% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 19 live births to Swiss citizens and 13 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 31 deaths of Swiss citizens and 5 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 12 while the foreign population increased by 8. There were 3 Swiss men and 4 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 32 non-Swiss men and 8 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 40 and the non-Swiss population increased by 37 people. This represents a population growth rate of -0.1%.
The age distribution, , in Niedergösgen is; 274 children or 7.3% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 659 teenagers or 17.5% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 220 people or 5.8% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 1,126 people or 29.8% are between 25 and 44, and 908 people or 24.1% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 411 people or 10.9% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 177 people or 4.7% who are over 80.
, there were 1,503 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,868 married individuals, 242 widows or widowers and 162 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.57 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 49.4% 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 1,497 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. There were 430 households that consist of only one person and 131 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,516 households that answered this question, 28.4% were households made up of just one person and there were 14 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 436 married couples without children, 527 married couples with children There were 71 single parents with a child or children. There were 19 households that were made up of unrelated people and 19 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 587 single family homes (or 69.1% of the total) out of a total of 850 inhabited buildings. There were 155 multi-family buildings (18.2%), along with 75 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (8.8%) and 33 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (3.9%). Of the single family homes 64 were built before 1919, while 75 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (149) were built between 1946 and 1960.
there were 1,617 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 564. There were 50 single room apartments and 562 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 1,472 apartments (91.0% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 76 apartments (4.7%) were seasonally occupied and 69 apartments (4.3%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0.8 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 3.67%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
. The entire village of Schönenwer is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
.
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 37.47% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP
(23.65%), the FDP
(14.53%) and the SP
(12.99%). In the federal election, a total of 1,169 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 49.9%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 901. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 32, of which 21 were in agriculture and 11 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 467 of which 280 or (60.0%) were in manufacturing and 117 (25.1%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 402. In the tertiary sector; 103 or 25.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 22 or 5.5% were in the movement and storage of goods, 42 or 10.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 29 or 7.2% were in the information industry, 22 or 5.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 18 or 4.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 31 or 7.7% were in education and 79 or 19.7% were in health care.
, there were 533 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,483 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.8 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 17.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 57% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 105 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 2.78% of the population), there were 54 individuals (or about 1.43% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 58 individuals (or about 1.54% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish
, and 285 (or about 7.55% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 8 individuals who were Buddhist
, 19 individuals who were Hindu
and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 463 (or about 12.26% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 116 individuals (or about 3.07% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 319 who completed tertiary schooling, 70.2% were Swiss men, 19.7% were Swiss women, 7.2% were non-Swiss men and 2.8% were non-Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 351 students in the Niedergösgen 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 62 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 217 students in primary school and 7 students in the special, smaller classes. The secondary school
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. 65 lower secondary students attend school in Niedergösgen.
, there were 12 students in Niedergösgen who came from another municipality, while 171 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 Gösgen
Gösgen (district)
Gösgen District is one of the ten districts of the canton of Solothurn, Switzerland, situated to the northeast of the canton. Together with the Olten District, Gösgen forms the electoral district of Olten-Gösgen...
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
Niedergösgen is first mentioned in 1294 as Bözzach. In 1308 it was mentioned as Göskon inferior.Geography
Niedergösgen has an area, , of 4.33 square kilometres (1.7 sq mi). Of this area, 1.13 km² (0.436295439209565 sq mi) or 26.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.58 km² (0.610041410576205 sq mi) or 36.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.32 km² (0.509654849342146 sq mi) or 30.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.3 km² (0.115830647577761 sq mi) or 6.9% is either rivers or lakes.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 3.9% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 18.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.9%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.8% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.8%. Out of the forested land, 33.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 14.1% is used for growing crops and 9.9% is pastures, while 2.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Gösgen district, along the Aare river. It consists of the village of Niedergösgen and village section of Mühledorf.
Demographics
Niedergösgen has a population of . , 26.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of -0.3%.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....
(3,217 or 85.2%), with 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 second most common (175 or 4.6%) and Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
being third (128 or 3.4%). There are 21 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 1 person who speaks Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 50.0% male and 50.0% female. The population was made up of 1,346 Swiss men (35.3% of the population) and 561 (14.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,434 Swiss women (37.6%) and 476 (12.5%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 1,150 or about 30.5% were born in Niedergösgen and lived there in 2000. There were 698 or 18.5% who were born in the same canton, while 1,032 or 27.3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 791 or 21.0% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 19 live births to Swiss citizens and 13 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 31 deaths of Swiss citizens and 5 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 12 while the foreign population increased by 8. There were 3 Swiss men and 4 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 32 non-Swiss men and 8 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 40 and the non-Swiss population increased by 37 people. This represents a population growth rate of -0.1%.
The age distribution, , in Niedergösgen is; 274 children or 7.3% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 659 teenagers or 17.5% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 220 people or 5.8% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 1,126 people or 29.8% are between 25 and 44, and 908 people or 24.1% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 411 people or 10.9% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 177 people or 4.7% who are over 80.
, there were 1,503 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,868 married individuals, 242 widows or widowers and 162 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.57 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 49.4% 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 1,497 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. There were 430 households that consist of only one person and 131 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,516 households that answered this question, 28.4% were households made up of just one person and there were 14 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 436 married couples without children, 527 married couples with children There were 71 single parents with a child or children. There were 19 households that were made up of unrelated people and 19 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 587 single family homes (or 69.1% of the total) out of a total of 850 inhabited buildings. There were 155 multi-family buildings (18.2%), along with 75 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (8.8%) and 33 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (3.9%). Of the single family homes 64 were built before 1919, while 75 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (149) were built between 1946 and 1960.
there were 1,617 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 564. There were 50 single room apartments and 562 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 1,472 apartments (91.0% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 76 apartments (4.7%) were seasonally occupied and 69 apartments (4.3%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0.8 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 3.67%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
The Church and Tower is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significanceSwiss 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 village of Schönenwer is 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 37.47% 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...
(23.65%), 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....
(14.53%) and the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(12.99%). In the federal election, a total of 1,169 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 49.9%.
Economy
, Niedergösgen had an unemployment rate of 4%. , there were 43 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 14 businesses involved in this sector. 493 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 47 businesses in this sector. 498 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 76 businesses in this sector. There were 1,961 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 40.7% 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 901. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 32, of which 21 were in agriculture and 11 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 467 of which 280 or (60.0%) were in manufacturing and 117 (25.1%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 402. In the tertiary sector; 103 or 25.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 22 or 5.5% were in the movement and storage of goods, 42 or 10.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 29 or 7.2% were in the information industry, 22 or 5.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 18 or 4.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 31 or 7.7% were in education and 79 or 19.7% were in health care.
, there were 533 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,483 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.8 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 17.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 57% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 1,763 or 46.7% were Roman Catholic, while 901 or 23.9% 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 105 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 2.78% of the population), there were 54 individuals (or about 1.43% 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 58 individuals (or about 1.54% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and 285 (or about 7.55% 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 8 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...
, 19 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 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 463 (or about 12.26% 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 116 individuals (or about 3.07% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Niedergösgen about 1,421 or (37.6%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 319 or (8.5%) 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 319 who completed tertiary schooling, 70.2% were Swiss men, 19.7% were Swiss women, 7.2% were non-Swiss men and 2.8% were non-Swiss women.
During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 351 students in the Niedergösgen 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 62 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 217 students in primary school and 7 students in the special, smaller classes. 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. 65 lower secondary students attend school in Niedergösgen.
, there were 12 students in Niedergösgen who came from another municipality, while 171 residents attended schools outside the municipality.