Wigoltingen
Encyclopedia
Wigoltingen 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 Weinfelden
Weinfelden (district)
Weinfelden District is one of the five districts of the canton of Thurgau, Switzerland. It has a population of . Its capital is the town of Weinfelden.The district contains the following municipalities:...

 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 Thurgau
Thurgau
Thurgau is a northeast canton of Switzerland. The population, , is . In 2007, there were a total of 47,390 who were resident foreigners. The capital is Frauenfeld.-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

Wigoltingen has an area, , of 17.15 square kilometres (6.6 sq mi). Of this area, 12.93 km² (5 sq mi) or 75.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.15 km² (0.83011964097395 sq mi) or 12.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.9 km² (0.733594101325817 sq mi) or 11.1% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.21 km² (0.0810814533044324 sq mi) or 1.2% is either rivers or lakes and 0.01 km² (2.5 acre) or 0.1% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 4.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 0.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.5%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 6.2%. Out of the forested land, 11.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 71.7% is used for growing crops, while 3.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 0.3% is in lakes and 0.9% is in rivers and streams.

In 1995 Engwang and Illhart merged with Wigoltingen.

Demographics

Wigoltingen has a population of , 10.6% of the population are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of -1.4%. 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....

(94.4%), 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 ( 1.8%) and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

 being third ( 1.4%).

, the gender distribution of the population was 50.7% male and 49.3% female. The population was made up of 934 Swiss men (44.5% of the population), and 131 (6.2%) non-Swiss men. There were 942 Swiss women (44.9%), and 92 (4.4%) non-Swiss women.

In there were 8 live births to Swiss citizens and 2 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 21 deaths of Swiss citizens and 2 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 13 while the foreign population remained the same. There were 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland to another country, 2 non-Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland to another country and 4 non-Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland to another country. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources) was a decrease of 22 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 10 people. This represents a population growth rate of -0.6%.

The age distribution, , in Wigoltingen is; 195 children or 9.2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 282 teenagers or 13.3% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 254 people or 12.0% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 236 people or 11.1% are between 30 and 39, 367 people or 17.3% are between 40 and 49, and 369 people or 17.4% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 203 people or 9.6% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 137 people or 6.5% are between 70 and 79, there are 71 people or 3.3% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 9 people or 0.4% who are 90 and older.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.54 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 54.9% 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 752 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household. there were 350 single family homes (or 82.4% of the total) out of a total of 425 inhabited buildings. There were 43 two family buildings (10.1%), 13 three family buildings (3.1%) and 19 multi-family buildings (or 4.5%). There were 417 (or 20.5%) persons who were part of a couple without children, and 1,305 (or 64.1%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 52 (or 2.6%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 14 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 10 who lived in a household made up of unrelated persons, and 36 who are either institutionalized or live in another type of collective housing.

The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.47%. , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.8 new units per 1000 residents. there were 791 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 6 room apartment of which there were 227. There were 20 single room apartments and 227 apartments with six or more rooms. the average price to rent an average apartment in Wigoltingen was 1053.12 Swiss franc
Swiss franc
The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave Büsingen , it is in wide daily use there...

s (CHF) per month (US$840, £470, €670 approx. exchange rate from 2000). The average rate for a one room apartment was 600.80 CHF (US$480, £270, €380), a two room apartment was about 891.06 CHF (US$710, £400, €570), a three room apartment was about 870.59 CHF (US$700, £390, €560) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 1469.60 CHF (US$1180, £660, €940). The average apartment price in Wigoltingen was 94.4% of the national average of 1116 CHF.

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 42.64% 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....

 (22.52%), 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...

 (10.4%) 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:...

 (8.94%). In the federal election, a total of 769 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 51.3%.

The historical population is given in the following table:
year population
1950 1,694
1960 1,741
1980 1,645
1990 1,868
2000 2,036

Heritage sites of national significance

The Altenklingen Castle
Altenklingen Castle
Altenklingen Castle is a castle in the municipality of Wigoltingen of the Canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.-References:...

 is listed as Swiss a 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...

. The hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 of Engwang and Altenklingen Castle are both 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:...


Economy

, Wigoltingen had an unemployment rate of 1.43%. , there were 202 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 74 businesses involved in this sector. 365 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 26 businesses in this sector. 257 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 46 businesses in this sector. there were 1,418 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 650 or about 45.8% of the residents worked outside Wigoltingen while 337 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 1,105 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality. Of the working population, 7.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 47.3% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 506 or 24.9% were Roman Catholic, while 1,190 or 58.4% 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 was 1 Old Catholic who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
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...

  there are 10 individuals (or about 0.49% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 98 individuals (or about 4.81% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There were 25 (or about 1.23% 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 9 individuals (or about 0.44% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 133 (or about 6.53% 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 64 individuals (or about 3.14% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Wigoltingen about 74.4% 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...

).

Wigoltingen is home to the Wigoltingen primary and secondary school district
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 2008/2009 school year there were 343 students at either the primary or secondary levels. There were 61 children in the 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...

, and the average class size was 20.33 kindergartners. Of the children in kindergarten, 20 or 32.8% were female, 9 or 14.8% were not Swiss citizens and 7 or 11.5% did not speak German natively. The lower and upper primary levels begin at about age 5-6 and last for 6 years. There were 100 children in who were at the lower primary level and 115 children in the upper primary level. The average class size in the primary school was 19.55 students. At the lower primary level, there were 51 children or 51.0% of the total population who were female, 7 or 7.0% were not Swiss citizens and 10 or 10.0% did not speak German natively. In the upper primary level, there were 45 or 39.1% who were female, 8 or 7.0% were not Swiss citizens and 6 or 5.2% did not speak German natively. At the secondary level, students are divided according to performance.

The secondary level begins at about age 12 and usually lasts 3 years. There were 64 teenagers who were in the advanced school, of which 36 or 56.3% were female, 2 or 3.1% were not Swiss citizens. There were 64 teenagers who were in the standard school, of which 32 or 50.0% were female, 6 or 9.4% were not Swiss citizens and 5 or 7.8% did not speak German natively. The average class size for all classes at the secondary level was 21.33 students.
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