Courtelary

Courtelary
Country Switzerland Canton Bern District Jura bernois 47°11′N 07°04′E / 47.183°N 7.067°E / 47.183; 7.067Coordinates: 47°11′N 07°04′E / 47.183°N 7.067°E / 47.183; 7.067
Population	1,270 (Dec 2010)[1]
- Density	57 /km2 (148 /sq mi)
Area	22.24 km2 (8.59 sq mi)
Elevation	695 m (2,280 ft)
Postal code	2608
SFOS number	0434
Surrounded by	Cormoret, Nods, Cortébert, Mont-Tramelan, Les Breuleux, La Chaux-des-Breuleux
Website	www.courtelary.ch SFSO statistics
Courtelary
View map of Courtelary

Municipalities in the district of Courtelary

Courtelary is a municipality of the French-speaking Bernese Jura, in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The town is the capital of the Jura bernois administrative district.

History

Courtelary is first mentioned in 968 as Curtis Alerici.^[2]

Geography

Courtelary has an area, as of 2009^[update], of 22.17 km² (8.56 sq mi). Of this area, 11.39 km² (4.40 sq mi) or 51.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.66 km² (3.73 sq mi) or 43.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.99 km² (0.38 sq mi) or 4.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.03 km² (7.4 acres) or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km² (4.9 acres) or 0.1% is unproductive land.^[3]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.9%. 37.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 5.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 11.7% is used for growing crops and 13.1% is pastures and 26.3% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams.^[3]

Courtelary consists of two sections, the main village down in the valley and a number of individual farms up (about 900 meters (3,000 ft) above sea level) on the mountains.

Demographics

Courtelary has a population (as of 31 December 2010) of 1,270.^[1] As of 2007^[update], 10.4% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 4.9%. Most of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks French (82.8%), with German being second most common (11.1%) and Italian being third ( 1.9%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 34.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (25.8%), the FDP (21.1%) and the Green Party (13.1%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000^[update]) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 26.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 55.7% and the seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.8%. The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Courtelary about 67.2% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule).

Courtelary has an unemployment rate of 0.99%. As of 2005^[update], there were 60 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 23 businesses involved in this sector. 265 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 17 businesses in this sector. 242 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 41 businesses in this sector.^[4] The historical population is given in the following table:^[2]

year	population
1739	354
1801	545
1850	868
1900	1,228
1950	1,239

Industry

The town is also well-known for the Camille Bloch chocolate factory.

Famous residents

It is the place of birth of Swiss composer Paul Miche.

External links

• Courtelary 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} Courtelary 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 04-Jun-2009