Wichtrach is a municipality in the district of Konolfingen in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

History

Wichtrach was created on January 1, 2004 by uniting of the independent municipalities of Niederwichtrach and Oberwichtrach. The parish church of Oberwichtrach was first mentioned in 1180.

Geography

Wichtrach has an area of . Of this area, 64.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 22.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 11.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.1%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

Demographics

Wichtrach has a population ( ) of 4,031, of which 6.1% are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 13.7%. Most of the population ( ) speaks German (94.7%), with Italian being second most common ( 1.1%) and Serbo-croatian being third ( 1.1%). When the municipalities were united, the populations were Oberwichtrach had 2,446 and Niederwichtrach had 1,365.

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 36.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (17.4%), the FDP (14.9%) and the Green Party (11.1%).

The age distribution of the population ( ) is children and teenagers (0-19 years old) make up 25.6% of the population, while adults (20-64 years old) make up 63.7% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 10.8%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Wichtrach about 81.4% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule).

Wichtrach has an unemployment rate of 1.16%. , there were 192 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 53 businesses involved in this sector. 267 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 33 businesses in this sector. 471 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 87 businesses in this sector.

External links

References

1. Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 06-Jul-2009