Oberems

Oberems
Country Switzerland Canton Valais District Leuk 46°16′N 7°41′E / 46.267°N 7.683°E / 46.267; 7.683Coordinates: 46°16′N 7°41′E / 46.267°N 7.683°E / 46.267; 7.683
Population	134 (Dec 2009)[1]
- Density	2 /km2 (4 /sq mi)
Area	50.27 km2 (19.41 sq mi)[2]
Elevation	1,335 m (4,380 ft)
Postal code	3948
SFOS number	6112
Mayor	Reinhard Zeiter
Surrounded by	Agarn, Ayer, Embd, Ergisch, Randa, Saint-Luc, Sankt Niklaus, Unterems
Website	www.oberems.ch/gemeinde/index.htm SFSO statistics
Oberems
Map of Oberems

Oberems is a municipality in the district of Leuk in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

History

Oberems is first mentioned in 1101 as superiori Emesa.^[3]

Geography

Mine in the Turtmann valley

Oberems has an area, as of 2011^[update], of 84.6 square kilometers (32.7 sq mi). Of this area, 15.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 13.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and 70.8% is unproductive land.^[4]

The municipality is located in the Leuk district, on a terrace above the entrance to the Turtmann valley into the Rhone valley. It consists of the villages of Ahorn and Bodmen and several scattered hamlets.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per fess Or a Crow displayed Sable between and above two Mullets of Five Argent and Argent from a two-peaked mountain Vert pouring water palewise wavy Azure.^[5]

Demographics

Houses in Oberems

Building in the Turtmann valley

Oberems has a population (as of December 2009^[update]) of 134.^[1] As of 2008^[update], 2.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals.^[6] Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 0.8%. It has changed at a rate of 7.5% due to migration and at a rate of 0% due to births and deaths.^[4]

All of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks German.^[7]

As of 2008^[update], the gender distribution of the population was 49.3% male and 50.7% female. The population was made up of 63 Swiss men (47.0% of the population) and 3 (2.2%) non-Swiss men. There were 67 Swiss women (50.0%) and 1 (0.7%) non-Swiss women.^[8] Of the population in the municipality 85 or about 68.0% were born in Oberems and lived there in 2000. There were 23 or 18.4% who were born in the same canton, while 11 or 8.8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 4 or 3.2% were born outside of Switzerland.^[7]

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000^[update]) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24.8% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 57.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 17.6%.^[4]

As of 2000^[update], there were 56 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 58 married individuals, 11 widows or widowers and individuals who are divorced.^[7]

As of 2000^[update] the average number of residents per living room was 0.63 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.63 per room.^[4] In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics.^[9] About 83.3% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage or a rent-to-own agreement).^[10]

As of 2000^[update], there were 50 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household.^[4] There were 18 households that consist of only one person and 5 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 52 households that answered this question, 34.6% were households made up of just one person and there was 1 adult who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 12 married couples without children, 16 married couples with children There were 2 single parents with a child or children. There was 1 household that was made up of unrelated people and 2 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.^[7]

In 2000^[update] there were 96 single family homes (or 74.4% of the total) out of a total of 129 inhabited buildings. There were 27 multi-family buildings (20.9%), along with 3 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (2.3%) and 3 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.3%).^[11]

In 2000^[update], a total of 48 apartments (29.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 88 apartments (53.3%) were seasonally occupied and 29 apartments (17.6%) were empty.^[11] The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2010^[update], was 4.24%.^[4]

The historical population is given in the following chart:^[3][12]

Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 53.71% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (24.03%), the SP (17.67%) and the Green Party (3.89%). In the federal election, a total of 44 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 44.9%.^[13]

In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat election a total of 43 votes were cast, of which or about 0.0% were invalid. The voter participation was 43.9%, which is much less than the cantonal average of 54.67%.^[14] In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election election a total of 45 votes were cast, of which or about 0.0% were invalid. The voter participation was 46.9%, which is much less than the cantonal average of 59.88%.^[15]

Economy

As of 2010^[update], Oberems had an unemployment rate of 0.1%. As of 2008^[update], there were 13 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 3 people were employed in the secondary sector and there was 1 business in this sector. 19 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 6 businesses in this sector.^[4] There were 52 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 36.5% of the workforce.

In 2008^[update] the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 26. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 7, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 3 of which or (0.0%) were in manufacturing The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 16. In the tertiary sector; 1 was in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 4 or 25.0% were in the movement and storage of goods, 10 or 62.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, .^[16]

In 2000^[update], there were 6 workers who commuted into the municipality and 26 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 4.3 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.^[17] Of the working population, 15.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 55.8% used a private car.^[4]

Religion

A church in Oberems

From the 2000 census^[update], 118 or 94.4% were Roman Catholic, while 2 or 1.6% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there was 1 member of an Orthodox church. 2 (or about 1.60% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 2 individuals (or about 1.60% of the population) did not answer the question.^[7]

Education

In Oberems about 44 or (35.2%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 8 or (6.4%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 8 who completed tertiary schooling, 62.5% were Swiss men, 12.5% were Swiss women.^[7]

As of 2000^[update], there were 7 students in Oberems who came from another municipality, while 10 residents attended schools outside the municipality.^[17]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Swiss Federal Statistical Office, MS Excel document – Bilanz der ständigen Wohnbevölkerung nach Kantonen, Bezirken und Gemeinden (German) accessed 25 August 2010
2. ^ Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeindedaten nach 4 Hauptbereichen
3. ^ ^{a b} Oberems in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 09-September-2011
5. ^ Flags of the World.com accessed 09-September-2011
6. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008 (German) accessed 19 June 2010
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f} STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000 (German) accessed 2 February 2011
8. ^ Ständige Wohnbevolkerung nach Geschlecht und Heimat am 31.12.2009.xls (German) (French) accessed 24 August 2011
9. ^ Eurostat. "Housing (SA1)" (pdf). Urban Audit Glossary. 2007. p. 18. http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/international/22/lexi.Document.116365.pdf. Retrieved 12 February 2010. 
10. ^ Urban Audit Glossary pg 17
11. ^ ^{a b} Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen (German) accessed 28 January 2011
12. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Bevölkerungsentwicklung nach Region, 1850-2000 (German) accessed 29 January 2011
13. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Nationalratswahlen 2007: Stärke der Parteien und Wahlbeteiligung, nach Gemeinden/Bezirk/Canton (German) accessed 28 May 2010
14. ^ Staatsratswahlen vom 1. März 2009 (German) accessed 24 August 2011
15. ^ Ständeratswahl 2007 (German) accessed 24 August 2011
16. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Betriebszählung: Arbeitsstätten nach Gemeinde und NOGA 2008 (Abschnitte), Sektoren 1-3 (German) accessed 28 January 2011
17. ^ ^{a b} Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb (German) accessed 24 June 2010

External links

• Official website (German)