Niederurnen

Niederurnen
Country Switzerland Canton Glarus District n.a. 47°8′N 9°3′E / 47.133°N 9.05°E / 47.133; 9.05Coordinates: 47°8′N 9°3′E / 47.133°N 9.05°E / 47.133; 9.05
Population	3,946 (December 2009)
- Density	280 /km2 (725 /sq mi)
Area	14.1 km2 (5.4 sq mi)
Elevation	430 m (1,411 ft)
Postal code	8867
SFOS number	1622
Localities	Ziegelbrücke
Surrounded by	Bilten, Mollis, Oberurnen, Schänis (SG), Schübelbach (SZ), Weesen (SG)
Website	www.niederurnen.ch SFSO statistics
Niederurnen
View map of Niederurnen

Niederurnen is a former municipality in the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Effective from 1 January 2011, Niederurnen is part of the municipality of Glarus Nord.

History

Niederurnen is first mentioned either before 1045 or between 1077 and 1101 as Niter Urnnen.^[1]

Geography

Oberurnen, Niederurnen and Ziegelbrücke

Niederurnen has an area, as of 2006^[update], of 14.1 km² (5.4 sq mi). Of this area, 37.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 45.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 10.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (6.4%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).^[2]

Niederurnen is located in the Glarner Unterland at the mouth of the Niederurnertal or Alpental valley. It consists of the village of Niederurnen and the industrial park of Ziegelbrücke, which is separated from the rest of the municipality by the A3 highway.

Demographics

Niederurnen has a population (as of 31 December 2009) of 3,946.^[3] As of 2007^[update], 24.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.^[4] Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 7.4%. Most of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks German (83.1%), with Italian being second most common ( 5.6%) and Albanian being third ( 2.8%).^[2]

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SPS which received 61.9% of the vote. Most of the rest of the votes went to the SVP with 31.9% of the vote.^[2]

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Niederurnen about 59.4% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule).^[2]

Niederurnen has an unemployment rate of 1.53%. As of 2005^[update], there were 65 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 24 businesses involved in this sector. 798 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 47 businesses in this sector. 1,145 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 161 businesses in this sector.^[2]

The historical population is given in the following table:^[1]

year	population
1543	ca. 200
1701	532
1799	770
1850	1,505
1900	1,873
1950	2,931
2000	3,741

Transportation

The municipality is located on the A3 motorway.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Niederurnen in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 14-Sep-2009
3. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office (German) accessed 4 April 2011. Numbers are from December 2009 but cover the new municipal borders from 2011.
4. ^ Canton Glarus population growth (German) accessed 9 September 2009