Uzwil
Encyclopedia
Uzwil 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 Wahlkreis (constituency) of Wil
Wil (Wahlkreis)
Wil is a district of the canton of St.Gallen, Switzerland. It is named after the regional centre Wil, which is the largest city of the district.However, the district capital is Jonschwil.-Demographics:District Wil has a population of...

 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 St. Gallen 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

Uzwil was first mentioned in 819 as Uzzinwilare. The village of Henau was first mentioned 754 as Villa Aninauva at the Monastery of St. Gallen
Abbey of St. Gall
The Abbey of Saint Gall is a religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in present-day Switzerland. The Carolingian-era Abbey has existed since 719 and became an independent principality during the 13th century, and was for many centuries one of the chief Benedictine abbeys in Europe. It was...

 in the "Henau document" (Henauer Urkunde).

Geography

Uzwil has an area, , of 14.5 km² (5.6 sq mi). Of this area, 53.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 17.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 26.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.7%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).

The municipality consists of the villages Niederuzwil, Uzwil, Henau, Algetshausen, Niederstetten, Oberstetten and Stolzenberg. It is located in the northern Toggenburg between Wil
Wil
Wil is the capital of the Wahlkreis of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.Wil is the third largest city in the Canton of St. Gallen, after the city of St...

 and Gossau
Gossau, St. Gallen
Gossau is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of St. Gallen in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-Geography:Gossau has an area, , of . Of this area, 63% is used for agricultural purposes, while 16.3% is forested...

.

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 Azure a lower semi Mill Wheel and above it Ears of Wheat Or.

Demographics

Uzwil has a population (as of ) of . , about 25.1% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, , 198 are from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, 400 are from Italy
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...

, 1,587 are from ex-Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...

, 74 are from 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...

, 202 are from Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, and 270 are from another country. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 7.7%. Most of the population speaks German (86.2%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 4.3%) and Albanian being third ( 3.0%). Of the Swiss national languages , 10,321 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....

, 45 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...

, 310 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...

, and 21 people speak Romansh.

The age distribution, , in Uzwil is; 1,558 children or 13.0% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 1,688 teenagers or 14.1% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 1,483 people or 12.4% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 1,870 people or 15.6% are between 30 and 39, 1,754 people or 14.6% are between 40 and 49, and 1,440 people or 12.0% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 1,002 people or 8.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 719 people or 6.0% are between 70 and 79, there are 392 people or 3.3% who are between 80 and 89,and there are 69 people or 0.6% who are between 90 and 99, and 2 people who are 100 or more.

there were 1,334 persons (or 11.1% of the population) who were living alone in a private dwelling. There were 2,635 (or 22.0%) persons who were part of a couple (married or otherwise committed) without children, and 6,936 (or 57.9%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 575 (or 4.8%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 64 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 24 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 96 who lived in a household made up of unrelated persons, and 313 who are either institutionalized or live in another type of collective housing.

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 36.2% 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...

 (19.4%), 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....

 (16.7%) and the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (13.4%).

In Uzwil about 67.5% 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...

). Out of the total population in Uzwil, , the highest education level completed by 2,754 people (23.0% of the population) was Primary, while 4,328 (36.1%) have completed their secondary education, 1,207 (10.1%) have attended a Tertiary school, and 548 (4.6%) are not in school. The remainder did not answer this question.

Heritage sites of national significance

The Hauser & Wirth Collection Henau at Felseggstrasse 51 and the Villa Waldbühl on Waldbühl 996 are listed as Swiss heritage sites 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...

.

Economy

, Uzwil had an unemployment rate of 2.58%. , there were 141 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 50 businesses involved in this sector. 4,126 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 101 businesses in this sector. 2,179 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 307 businesses in this sector.

the average unemployment rate was 5.0%. There were 451 businesses in the municipality of which 104 were involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 303 were involved in the third.

there were 2,837 residents who worked in the municipality, while 3,232 residents worked outside Uzwil and 3,763 people commuted into the municipality for work.

Transportation

Uzwil is at the railway line Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

-St. Gallen
St. Gallen
St. Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on the service sector for its economic...

 and at the A1
A1 (Switzerland)
The A1 is a motorway in Switzerland. It follows Switzerland's main east-west axis, from St. Margrethen in northeastern Switzerland's canton of St. Gallen through to Geneva in southwestern Switzerland...

-Autobahn Geneva-St. Margrethen
St. Margrethen
St. Margrethen is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-Geography:...

.

Religion

From the , 5,446 or 45.5% are Roman Catholic, while 3,521 or 29.4% 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 is 1 individual who belongs 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, there are 552 individuals (or about 4.61% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 357 individuals (or about 2.98% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 887 (or about 7.41% of the population) who are Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic. There are 82 individuals (or about 0.68% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 776 (or about 6.48% of the population) belong 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 355 individuals (or about 2.96% of the population) did not answer the question.

External links

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