Mund

This article is about the Swiss town named Mund. For a definition of the word "mund", see the Wiktionary entry mund.

Mund
Old building in Mund village
Country Switzerland Canton Valais District Brig 46°19′N 7°57′E / 46.317°N 7.95°E / 46.317; 7.95Coordinates: 46°19′N 7°57′E / 46.317°N 7.95°E / 46.317; 7.95
Population	532 (Dec 2009)[1]
- Density	13 /km2 (34 /sq mi)
Area	40.2 km2 (15.5 sq mi)
Elevation	1,188 m (3,898 ft)
Postal code	3903
SFOS number	6006
Mayor	Josianne Wyssen
Surrounded by	Baltschieder, Birgisch, Brig-Glis, Eggerberg, Lalden, Naters
Website	www.mund.ch SFSO statistics
Mund
View map of Mund

Mund is a municipality in the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

History

Mund is first mentioned in 1259 as Munt. Until about 1800 it was normally known as Wyler and the last mention of that name was in 1850.^[2]

Geography

Mund has an area, as of 2011^[update], of 40.2 square kilometers (15.5 sq mi). Of this area, 24.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 20.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and 54.7% is unproductive land.^[3]

The municipality is located in the Brig district, An der Nordflanke des Rhonetals auf 1'200 m ü.M. gelegen, bestehend aus der Hauptsiedlung und Weilern, u.a. Bodmen, Ferchen und bis 1854 Finnen. 1259 Munt. Das Dorf M. hiess bis um 1800 Wyler, 1850 wurde. It consists of the village of Mund and the hamlets of Bez. Brig. An der Nordflanke des Rhonetals auf 1'200 m ü.M. gelegen, bestehend aus der Hauptsiedlung und Weilern, u.a. Bodmen, Ferchen und bis 1854 Finnen. 1259 Munt. Das Dorf M. hiess bis um 1800 Wyler, 1850 wurde.

The municipalities of Birgisch and Mund are seeking approval from the Canton to merge on 1 January 2013 into the municipality of Naters.^[4]

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules, a Mitre Or and a Crosier Argent in saltire.^[5]

Demographics

Mund has a population (as of December 2009^[update]) of 532.^[1] As of 2008^[update], 2.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals.^[6] Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of -12.8%. It has changed at a rate of -13% due to migration and at a rate of -1.3% due to births and deaths.^[3]

Most of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks German (571 or 99.5%) as their first language, Italian is the second most common (1 or 0.2%) and English is the third (1 or 0.2%).^[7]

As of 2008^[update], the gender distribution of the population was 50.8% male and 49.2% female. The population was made up of 265 Swiss men (49.8% of the population) and 5 (0.9%) non-Swiss men. There were 258 Swiss women (48.5%) and 4 (0.8%) non-Swiss women.^[8] Of the population in the municipality 447 or about 77.9% were born in Mund and lived there in 2000. There were 98 or 17.1% who were born in the same canton, while 16 or 2.8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 6 or 1.0% 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 26% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.7% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15.3%.^[3]

As of 2000^[update], there were 256 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 269 married individuals, 41 widows or widowers and 8 individuals who are divorced.^[7]

As of 2000^[update] the average number of residents per living room was 0.69 which is more people per room than the cantonal average of 0.63 per room.^[3] 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 95.2% 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 192 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.8 persons per household.^[3] There were 49 households that consist of only one person and 27 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 205 households that answered this question, 23.9% were households made up of just one person and there were 3 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 34 married couples without children, 92 married couples with children There were 9 single parents with a child or children. There were 5 households that were made up of unrelated people and 13 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.^[7]

In 2000^[update] there were 124 single family homes (or 67.8% of the total) out of a total of 183 inhabited buildings. There were 49 multi-family buildings (26.8%), along with 3 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (1.6%) and 7 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (3.8%).^[11]

In 2000^[update], a total of 186 apartments (77.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 42 apartments (17.4%) were seasonally occupied and 13 apartments (5.4%) were empty.^[11] As of 2009^[update], the construction rate of new housing units was 7.5 new units per 1000 residents.^[3] The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2010^[update], was 3.07%.^[3]

The historical population is given in the following chart:^[2][12]

Sights

The entire hamlet of Bodmen is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites^[13]

Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 76.82% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (16.8%), the SP (3.92%) and the FDP (1.18%). In the federal election, a total of 280 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 61.4%.^[14]

In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat election a total of 284 votes were cast, of which 8 or about 2.8% were invalid. The voter participation was 67.8%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%.^[15] In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election election a total of 275 votes were cast, of which 5 or about 1.8% were invalid. The voter participation was 60.3%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 59.88%.^[16]

Economy

As of 2010^[update], Mund had an unemployment rate of 0.5%. As of 2008^[update], there were 60 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 41 businesses involved in this sector. 4 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 3 businesses in this sector. 34 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 11 businesses in this sector.^[3] There were 271 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 32.8% of the workforce.

In 2008^[update] the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 43. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 18, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 4, all of which were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 21. In the tertiary sector; 2 or 9.5% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 2 or 9.5% were in the movement and storage of goods, 5 or 23.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was the insurance or financial industry, 3 or 14.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 3 or 14.3% were in education.^[17]

In 2000^[update], there were 11 workers who commuted into the municipality and 221 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 20.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.^[18] Of the working population, 34.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 53.9% used a private car.^[3]

Religion

From the 2000 census^[update], 544 or 94.8% were Roman Catholic, while 5 or 0.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 4 individuals (or about 0.70% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Islamic. 7 (or about 1.22% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 15 individuals (or about 2.61% of the population) did not answer the question.^[7]

Education

In Mund about 193 or (33.6%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 22 or (3.8%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 22 who completed tertiary schooling, 77.3% were Swiss men, 22.7% were Swiss women.^[7]

During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 40 students in the Mund school system. The education system in the Canton of Valais allows young children to attend one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten.^[19] During that school year, there was one kindergarten class (KG1 or KG2) and 7 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Mund there were a total of 3 classes and 40 students in the primary school. The secondary school program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower secondary students from Mund attend their school in a neighboring municipality.^[20] All the upper secondary students attended school in another municipality.

As of 2000^[update], there were 4 students in Mund who came from another municipality, while 49 residents attended schools outside the municipality.^[18]

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. ^ ^{a b} Mund in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 26-August-2011
4. ^ Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (German) accessed 17 February 2011
5. ^ Flags of the World.com accessed 26-August-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. ^ "Kantonsliste A-Objekte" (in German). KGS Inventar. Federal Office of Civil Protection. 2009. http://www.bevoelkerungsschutz.admin.ch/internet/bs/de/home/themen/kgs/kgs_inventar/a-objekte.html. Retrieved 25 April 2011. 
14. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Nationalratswahlen 2007: Stärke der Parteien und Wahlbeteiligung, nach Gemeinden/Bezirk/Canton (German) accessed 28 May 2010
15. ^ Staatsratswahlen vom 1. März 2009 (German) accessed 24 August 2011
16. ^ Ständeratswahl 2007 (German) accessed 24 August 2011
17. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Betriebszählung: Arbeitsstätten nach Gemeinde und NOGA 2008 (Abschnitte), Sektoren 1-3 (German) accessed 28 January 2011
18. ^ ^{a b} Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb (German) accessed 24 June 2010
19. ^ EDK/CDIP/IDES (2010). Kantonale Schulstrukturen in der Schweiz und im Fürstentum Liechtenstein / Structures Scolaires Cantonales en Suisse et Dans la Principauté du Liechtenstein (Report). http://edudoc.ch/record/35128/files/Schulsystem_alle.pdf. Retrieved 24 June 2010. 
20. ^ Obligatorische Schulzeit (German) accessed 24 August 2011

External links

• Official website (German)