Inkwil

Inkwil
Inkwil
Location of Inkwil
Coordinates: 47°12′N 7°40′E / 47.200°N 7.667°ECoordinates: 47°12′N 7°40′E / 47.200°N 7.667°E
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Bern
District	Oberaargau
Area[1]
• Total	3.36 km^2 (1.30 sq mi)
Elevation	464 m (1,522 ft)
Population (Dec 2015[2])
• Total	624
• Density	190/km^2 (480/sq mi)
Postal code	3375
SFOS number	0980
Surrounded by	Bolken (SO), Niederönz, Röthenbach bei Herzogenbuchsee, Subingen (SO), Wangenried
Website	www.inkwil.ch SFSO statistics

Inkwil is a municipality in the Oberaargau administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

History

Inkwil is first mentioned in 1262 as Inchwile.^[3]

Geography

Inkwil has an area, as of 2009, of 3.36 km² (1.30 sq mi). Of this area, 1.65 km² (0.64 sq mi) or 49.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.21 km² (0.47 sq mi) or 36.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.44 km² (0.17 sq mi) or 13.1% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.05 km² (12 acres) or 1.5% is either rivers or lakes and 0.03 km² (7.4 acres) or 0.9% is unproductive land.^[4]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 7.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.7%. 35.1% of the total land area is heavily forested. Of the agricultural land, 37.5% is used for growing crops and 8.9% is pastures, while 2.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes.^[4]

It is divided into three sections; Dorf, Vorstatt and Station.

Demographics

Inkwil has a population (as of 31 December 2015) of 624.^[5] As of 2007, 4.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -2.4%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (98.0%), with Portuguese being second most common ( 0.5%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 0.5%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 36.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (29.8%), the FDP (13.7%) and the CSP (5.4%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 26.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.4% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15%. About 82.2% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).

Inkwil has an unemployment rate of 1.64%. As of 2005, there were 20 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 8 businesses involved in this sector. 69 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 6 businesses in this sector. 20 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 10 businesses in this sector.^[6] The historical population is given in the following table:^[3]

year	population
1764	154
1850	420
1900	442
1950	507
2000	654

Heritage sites of national significance

It is home to the Inkwilersee Insel prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[7]

References

1. Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeindedaten nach 4 Hauptbereichen
2. Swiss Federal Statistical Office - STAT-TAB, online database – Ständige und nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach institutionellen Gliederungen, Geburtsort und Staatsangehörigkeit (German) accessed 30 August 2016
3. Inkwil in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
4. Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data (German) accessed 25 March 2010
5. Swiss Federal Statistical Office - STAT-TAB, online database – Ständige und nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach institutionellen Gliederungen, Geburtsort und Staatsangehörigkeit (German) accessed 30 August 2016
6. Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 21-Jul-2009
7. UNESCO World Heritage Site - Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps

External links

Inkwil in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.