Ratschings is a comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

(municipality) in South Tyrol

South Tyrol

South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...

 in the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 90 km north of the city of Trento

Trento

Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...

 and about 45 km north of the city of Bolzano (Bozen), on the border with Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

.

Geography

As of 30 November 2010, it had a population of 4,363 and an area of 203.6 km².

The municipality of Ratschings contains the frazioni

Frazione

A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...

(subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Außerratschings, Innerratschings, Gasteig (Casateia), Mareit (Mareta), Ridnaun (Ridanna), Telfes (Telves), and Jaufental (Valgiovo).

Ratschings borders the following municipalities: Brenner, Freienfeld

Freienfeld

Freienfeld is a comune in the province of South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 100 km northeast of the city of Trento and about 45 km north of the city of Bolzano ....

, Moos in Passeier

Moos in Passeier

Moos in Passeier is a comune in the Passeier Valley, in South Tyrol in the Northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol...

, St. Leonhard in Passeier

St. Leonhard in Passeier

St Leonhard in Passeier is a comune in the Passeier Valley in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about 80 km north of Trento and about 35 km north of Bolzano .-Geography:...

, Sarntal

Sarntal

Sarntal is a valley and a comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 70 km northeast of the city of Trento and about 15 km north of the city of Bolzano....

, Sterzing

Sterzing

Sterzing is a comune in South Tyrol in the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy. It is the main village of the southern Wipptal, and the Eisack River flows through the medieval town.-Origin:...

, Neustift im Stubaital

Neustift im Stubaital

Neustift im Stubaital is a municipality in the district Innsbruck-Land. It has an area of and is the 3rd largest municipality of Tyrol in area. Its population is 4,522. It is a major tourist centre, with more than 1 million overnight stays per year.-Geography:Neustift is located 25 kilometres ...

 (Austria) and Sölden

Sölden

Sölden is a municipality in the Ötztal valley of Tyrol, Austria.-Geography:At c. 467 km² , it is the largest municipality in the country. The population of 3,449 is outnumbered by tourists, of which 15,000 can be accommodated...

 (Austria).

Coat-of-arms

The emblem show a rampant argent

Argent

In heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it...

 wolf

Wolves in heraldry

The wolf was widely used in many forms in heraldry during the medieval period. Though commonly reviled as a livestock predator and man-eater, the wolf was also considered a noble and courageous animal, and frequently appeared on the Arms and crests of numerous noble families...

 on azure

Azure

In heraldry, azure is the tincture with the colour blue, and belongs to the class of tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of horizontal lines or else marked with either az. or b. as an abbreviation....

. The arms is similar to that of Wolf von Mareit, but with the opposite colors. The emblem was adopted in 1969.

Linguistic distribution

According to the 2001 census, 98.44% of the population speak German, 1.53% Italian and 0.03% Ladin

Ladin

Ladin is a language consisting of a group of dialects spoken in the Dolomite Mountains in Northern Italy in the border regions of the provinces Trentino, South Tyrol and Belluno...

as first language.

External links

Homepage of the municipality