Seengen
Encyclopedia
Seengen 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 Lenzburg
Lenzburg (district)
Lenzburg District is a district of the Canton of Aargau in Switzerland, lying at the center of the canton. The district capital is the town of Lenzburg. 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 Aargau
Aargau
Aargau is one of the more northerly cantons of Switzerland. It comprises the lower course of the river Aare, which is why the canton is called Aar-gau .-History:...

 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

Seengen has an area, , of 9.69 square kilometres (3.7 sq mi). Of this area, 4.97 km² (1.9 sq mi) or 51.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 3.13 km² (1.2 sq mi) or 32.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.33 km² (0.513515870928072 sq mi) or 13.7% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.01 km² (2.5 acre) or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes and 0.18 km² (0.0694983885466563 sq mi) or 1.9% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 9.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.6%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 35.6% is used for growing crops and 11.4% is pastures, while 4.3% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 1.7% is unproductive vegetation.

It lies in the north of Lake Hallwil
Lake Hallwil
Lake Hallwil is a lake in the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland, located at . It lies mostly in the districts of Lenzburg and Kulm on the southern edge of the canton. The southern tip of the lake reaches into the canton of Luzern....

.

Coat of arms

The blazon
Blazon
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 Argent an Eagle displayed Sable beaked, langued and membered Gules.

Demographics

Seengen has a population of , 8.4% of the population are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 31.4%. Most of the population speaks German (93.9%), with French being second most common ( 1.0%) and Albanian being third ( 1.0%).

The age distribution, , in Seengen is; 382 children or 11.7% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 435 teenagers or 13.3% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 357 people or 10.9% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 415 people or 12.7% are between 30 and 39, 610 people or 18.6% are between 40 and 49, and 466 people or 14.2% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 333 people or 10.2% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 161 people or 4.9% are between 70 and 79, there are 107 people or 3.3% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 12 people or 0.4% who are 90 and older.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.56 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.57 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 60.1% 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 59 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 420 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 439 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. , there were 952 private households (homes and apartments) in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. there were 573 single family homes (or 42.7% of the total) out of a total of 1,343 homes and apartments. There were a total of 90 empty apartments for a 6.7% vacancy rate. , the construction rate of new housing units was 26 new units per 1000 residents.

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 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 38.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were 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....

 (21.7%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (14.5%) and 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:...

 (8.1%).

The historical population is given in the following table:
year population
1975 1,608
1980 1,631
1990 2,066
2000 2,638
2009 3,362

Heritage sites of national significance

It is home to one or more prehistoric pile-dwelling
Stilt house
Stilt houses or pile dwellings or palafitte are houses raised on piles over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding, but also serve to keep out vermin...

 (or stilt house) settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps is a series of prehistoric pile-dwelling settlements in and around the Alps built from around 5000 to 500 B.C. on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands...

 UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 World Heritage Site.

There are four sites that are listed as a 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...

. These sites include two castles, Brestenberg Castle and Hallwyl Castle
Hallwyl Castle
Hallwyl Castle is one of the most important moated castles in Switzerland. It is located on two islands in the River Aabach, near the northern end of Lake Hallwil in the municipality of Seengen in the canton of Aargau...

 as well as the castle mill and on the shores of Lake Hallwil, the late-Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 village at Risi.

Economy

, Seengen had an unemployment rate of 1.2%. , there were 105 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 28 businesses involved in this sector. 202 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 27 businesses in this sector. 571 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 88 businesses in this sector.

there were 1,304 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 899 or about 68.9% of the residents worked outside Seengen while 421 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 826 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality. Of the working population, 10.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 52.1% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 500 or 19.8% were Roman Catholic, while 1,578 or 62.5% 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...

. Of the rest of the population, there were 4 individuals (or about 0.16% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic
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...

 faith.

Education

In Seengen 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...

). Of the school age population , there are 286 students attending primary school, there are 218 students attending secondary school, there are 191 students attending tertiary or university level schooling in the municipality. Seengen is home to the Schul und Gemeinde Bibliothek Seengen (school and municipal library of Seengen). The library has 8,758 books or other media, and loaned out 34,413 items in the same year. It was open a total of 250 days with average of 11 hours per week during that year.
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