Walterswil, Solothurn
Encyclopedia
Walterswil is a municipality
in the district of Olten
in the canton
of Solothurn in Switzerland
.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.7%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.3% of the area Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 31.7% is used for growing crops and 19.2% is pastures, while 2.5% is used for orchards or vine crops.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Per fess Gules and Argent a Bend counterchanged and in the second a Juniper Branch proper.
Most of the population speaks German
(621 or 98.3%), with French
being second most common (2 or 0.3%) and English
being third (2 or 0.3%).
, the gender distribution of the population was 51.9% male and 48.1% female. The population was made up of 338 Swiss men (48.1% of the population) and 27 (3.8%) non-Swiss men. There were 320 Swiss women (45.5%) and 18 (2.6%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 192 or about 30.4% were born in Walterswil and lived there in 2000. There were 67 or 10.6% who were born in the same canton, while 336 or 53.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 30 or 4.7% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 3 live births to Swiss citizens and were 4 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 1 while the foreign population remained the same. There was 1 Swiss man who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 2 non-Swiss men and 2 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 12 and the non-Swiss population remained the same. This represents a population growth rate of -1.7%.
The age distribution, , in Walterswil is; 54 children or 8.5% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 106 teenagers or 16.8% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 29 people or 4.6% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 192 people or 30.4% are between 25 and 44, and 151 people or 23.9% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 79 people or 12.5% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 21 people or 3.3% who are over 80.
, there were 268 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 317 married individuals, 26 widows or widowers and 21 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.53 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 70.9% 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 265 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 80 households that consist of only one person and 21 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 267 households that answered this question, 30.0% were households made up of just one person and there were 5 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 79 married couples without children, 84 married couples with children There were 15 single parents with a child or children. There were 2 households that were made up of unrelated people and 2 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 149 single family homes (or 68.7% of the total) out of a total of 217 inhabited buildings. There were 24 multi-family buildings (11.1%), along with 40 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (18.4%) and 4 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (1.8%). Of the single family homes 18 were built before 1919, while 18 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (35) were built between 1981 and 1990.
there were 281 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 82. There were 2 single room apartments and 133 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 247 apartments (87.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 18 apartments (6.4%) were seasonally occupied and 16 apartments (5.7%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.9 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.37%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 36.98% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP
(27.1%), the FDP
(15.24%) and the Green Party
(8.55%). In the federal election, a total of 229 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 41.4%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 82. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 22, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 9 of which 1 was in manufacturing and 8 (88.9%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 51. In the tertiary sector; 38 or 74.5% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 10 or 19.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 3.9% were technical professionals or scientists, .
, there were 21 workers who commuted into the municipality and 269 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 12.8 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 8.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 68.1% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 7 individuals (or about 1.11% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 14 individuals (or about 2.22% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 3 (or about 0.47% of the population) who were Islam
ic. 93 (or about 14.72% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 12 individuals (or about 1.90% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 43 who completed tertiary schooling, 69.8% were Swiss men, 27.9% were Swiss women.
, there were 56 students from Walterswil who 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 Olten
Olten (district)
Olten District is one of the ten districts of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland, situated around the city of Olten. Together with the Gösgen District, it 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....
.
Geography
Walterswil has an area, , of 4.48 square kilometres (1.7 sq mi). Of this area, 2.39 km² (0.922784159036159 sq mi) or 53.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.62 km² (0.625485496919907 sq mi) or 36.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.48 km² (0.185329036124417 sq mi) or 10.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and 0.02 km² (4.9 acre) or 0.4% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.7%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.3% of the area Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 31.7% is used for growing crops and 19.2% is pastures, while 2.5% is used for orchards or vine crops.
Coat of arms
The blazonBlazon
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 Per fess Gules and Argent a Bend counterchanged and in the second a Juniper Branch proper.
Demographics
Walterswil has a population of . , 5.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of -0.4%.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....
(621 or 98.3%), with 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...
being second most common (2 or 0.3%) and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
being third (2 or 0.3%).
, the gender distribution of the population was 51.9% male and 48.1% female. The population was made up of 338 Swiss men (48.1% of the population) and 27 (3.8%) non-Swiss men. There were 320 Swiss women (45.5%) and 18 (2.6%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 192 or about 30.4% were born in Walterswil and lived there in 2000. There were 67 or 10.6% who were born in the same canton, while 336 or 53.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 30 or 4.7% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 3 live births to Swiss citizens and were 4 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 1 while the foreign population remained the same. There was 1 Swiss man who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 2 non-Swiss men and 2 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 12 and the non-Swiss population remained the same. This represents a population growth rate of -1.7%.
The age distribution, , in Walterswil is; 54 children or 8.5% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 106 teenagers or 16.8% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 29 people or 4.6% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 192 people or 30.4% are between 25 and 44, and 151 people or 23.9% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 79 people or 12.5% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 21 people or 3.3% who are over 80.
, there were 268 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 317 married individuals, 26 widows or widowers and 21 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.53 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 70.9% 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 265 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 80 households that consist of only one person and 21 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 267 households that answered this question, 30.0% were households made up of just one person and there were 5 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 79 married couples without children, 84 married couples with children There were 15 single parents with a child or children. There were 2 households that were made up of unrelated people and 2 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 149 single family homes (or 68.7% of the total) out of a total of 217 inhabited buildings. There were 24 multi-family buildings (11.1%), along with 40 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (18.4%) and 4 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (1.8%). Of the single family homes 18 were built before 1919, while 18 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (35) were built between 1981 and 1990.
there were 281 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 5 rooms of which there were 82. There were 2 single room apartments and 133 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 247 apartments (87.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 18 apartments (6.4%) were seasonally occupied and 16 apartments (5.7%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.9 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.37%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
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 36.98% 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...
(27.1%), 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....
(15.24%) 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:...
(8.55%). In the federal election, a total of 229 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 41.4%.
Economy
, Walterswil had an unemployment rate of 3.4%. , there were 36 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 16 businesses involved in this sector. 11 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 5 businesses in this sector. 58 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 12 businesses in this sector. There were 335 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 41.8% 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 82. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 22, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 9 of which 1 was in manufacturing and 8 (88.9%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 51. In the tertiary sector; 38 or 74.5% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 10 or 19.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 3.9% were technical professionals or scientists, .
, there were 21 workers who commuted into the municipality and 269 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 12.8 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 8.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 68.1% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 241 or 38.1% were Roman Catholic, while 262 or 41.5% 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 7 individuals (or about 1.11% 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 14 individuals (or about 2.22% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 3 (or about 0.47% 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. 93 (or about 14.72% 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 12 individuals (or about 1.90% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Walterswil about 276 or (43.7%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 43 or (6.8%) 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 43 who completed tertiary schooling, 69.8% were Swiss men, 27.9% were Swiss women.
, there were 56 students from Walterswil who attended schools outside the municipality.