Safien is a former municipality in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The municipalities of Valendas, Versam, Safien and Tenna merged on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of Safiental.[1]
Safien | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Safien  | |
  Safien  Safien | |
| Coordinates: 46°40′N 9°18′E / 46.667°N 9.300°E | |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Canton | Graubünden |
| District | Surselva |
| Area | |
| • Total | 100.58 km2 (38.83 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,315 m (4,314 ft) |
| Population (Dec 2011) | |
| • Total | 294 |
| • Density | 2.9/km2 (7.6/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (Central European Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time) |
| Postal code(s) | 7107 |
| SFOS number | 3651 |
| ISO 3166 code | CH-GR |
| Surrounded by | Casti-Wergenstein, Duvin, Flerden, Mathon, Nufenen, Pitasch, Portein, Präz, Riein, Sankt Martin, Sarn, Splügen, Sufers, Tenna, Tschappina, Vals |
| Twin towns | Bettingen (Switzerland) |
| Website | www SFSO statistics |
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History
editSafien is first mentioned in 1219 as Stosavia.[2]
Geography
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Safien had an area, as of 2006[update], of 100.6 km2 (38.8 sq mi). Of this area, 45.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (35.4%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).[3]
The former municipality was the capital of the Safien sub-district of the Surselva district in the mid and upper Safien valley. The only other municipality in the sub-district was Tenna, which occupied the lower Safien valley. The valley is drained by the Rabiusa river.
The former municipality consists of the village of Safien-Platz (elevation: 1,350 m (4,430 ft)) and scattered hamlets and single farm houses throughout the valley.
Coat of arms
editThe blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a Cross gyronny Argent and Sable[4] It is based on the simple design of the sub-district, with different colors.
Demographics
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As of 2011[update], Safien has a population of 294.[5] The historical population is given in the following table:[2]
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1803 | 770 |
| 1850 | 685 |
| 1900 | 455 |
| 1950 | 453 |
| 2000 | 308 |
| 2010 | 305 |
As of 2008[update], 0.3% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.[6]
As of 2000[update]:
- most of the population speaks Swiss German (96.1%), with Swiss Italian being second most common ( 1.6%) and Albanian being third ( 1.6%).[3]
- the gender distribution was 49.5% male and 50.5% female.[7]
- the age distribution was as follows:[6]
| Age group | Population | % of total |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0-9yrs) | 49 | 15.9% |
| Teenagers (10-19yrs) | 43 | 14.0% |
| Adults (20-29yrs) | 24 | 7.8% |
| Adults (30-39yrs) | 37 | 12.0% |
| Adults (40-49yrs) | 39 | 12.7% |
| Adults (50-59yrs) | 36 | 11.7% |
| Seniors (60-69yrs) | 30 | 9.7% |
| Seniors (70-79yrs) | 28 | 9.1% |
| Seniors (80-89yrs) | 18 | 5.8% |
| Seniors (90-99yrs) | 4 | 1.3% |
| Total | 308 | 100% |
Education
editAround 61.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).[3] The nearest fachhochschules to Safien are in Chur, such as the Chur University of Applied Sciences and Fachhochschule Graubünden.
Politics
editIn the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 62.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (18.8%), the FDP (7.4%) and the CVP (5.4%).[3]
Economy
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As of 2005[update], Safien has an unemployment rate of 0.46%. Employment and businesses were organized as follows:[3]
| Sector | People Employed | Businesses Involved |
|---|---|---|
| Primary (raw materials) | 89 | 35 |
| Secondary (manufacturing) | 15 | 3 |
| Tertiary (service) | 32 | 12 |
References
edit- ^ Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (in German) accessed 2 January 2013
- ^ a b Safien in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
- ^ a b c d e Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 02-Dec-2009
- ^ Flags of the World.com[permanent dead link] accessed 02-Dec-2009
- ^ Swiss Federal Statistics Office – STAT-TAB[permanent dead link] Ständige und Nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Region, Geschlecht, Nationalität und Alter (in German) accessed 3 October 2012
- ^ a b Graubunden Population Statistics Archived 2009-08-27 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 21 September 2009
- ^ Graubunden in Numbers Archived 2009-09-24 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 21 September 2009
External links
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