Court, Switzerland

Court
Country Switzerland Canton Bern District Jura bernois 47°14′N 7°20′E / 47.233°N 7.333°E / 47.233; 7.333Coordinates: 47°14′N 7°20′E / 47.233°N 7.333°E / 47.233; 7.333
Population	1,393 (Dec 2010)[1]
- Density	57 /km2 (147 /sq mi)
Area	24.60 km2 (9.50 sq mi)
Elevation	666 m (2,185 ft)
Postal code	2738
SFOS number	0690
Surrounded by	Romont, Sorvilier, Champoz, Moutier, Eschert, Gänsbrunnen, Selzach, Grenchen
Website	www.court.ch SFSO statistics
Court
View map of Court

Court is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura (Jura Bernois).

History

Court is first mentioned in 1148 as Cort.^[2]

Geography

Court

Court has an area, as of 2009^[update], of 24.62 km² (9.51 sq mi). Of this area, 8.44 km² (3.26 sq mi) or 34.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 14.76 km² (5.70 sq mi) or 60.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.14 km² (0.44 sq mi) or 4.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.03 km² (7.4 acres) or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes and 0.21 km² (0.081 sq mi) or 0.9% is unproductive land.^[3]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.7%. 56.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.9% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 4.1% is used for growing crops and 8.8% is pastures and 21.3% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams.^[3]

Court is a ribbon village in the eastern portion of the Vallée de Tavannes and along the entrance to the Court Canyon through which the Birs River runs. It also includes about a dozen isolated farm houses in le Chaluet, on Graitery, on Mont Girod and in Montoz.

Demographics

Court has a population (as of 31 December 2010) of 1,393.^[1] As of 2007^[update], 7.2% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -1.5%. Most of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks French (89.1%), with German being second most common ( 6.6%) and Portuguese being third ( 1.0%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 37.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (29.9%), the FDP (15.7%) and the CSP (6.2%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000^[update]) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24.2% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 56.1% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 19.6%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Court about 65.9% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule).

Court has an unemployment rate of 1.12%. As of 2005^[update], there were 90 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 27 businesses involved in this sector. 379 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 38 businesses in this sector. 140 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 36 businesses in this sector.^[4] The historical population is given in the following table:^[2]

year	population
1629	314
1850	581
1900	1,082
1950	1,355
2000	1,349

External links

• http://www.court.ch
• Court (BE) in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Swiss Federal Statistical Office - STAT-TAB, online database – Datenwürfel für Thema 01.2 - Bevölkerungsstand und -bewegung (German) accessed 29 September
2. ^ ^{a b} Court in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
3. ^ ^{a b} Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data (German) accessed 25 March 2010
4. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 07-Jul-2009