Collonges, Switzerland

Collonges is a municipality in the district of Saint-Maurice in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

Collonges
Collonges village
Coat of arms
Location of Collonges
Collonges
Collonges
Coordinates: 46°10′N 7°2′E
CountrySwitzerland
CantonValais
DistrictSaint-Maurice
Government
  MayorFlorian Darbellay
Area
  Total12.3 km2 (4.7 sq mi)
Elevation
452 m (1,483 ft)
Population
 (2018-12-31)[2]
  Total798
  Density65/km2 (170/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
  Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)
1903
SFOS number6211
Surrounded byBex (VD), Dorénaz, Evionnaz, Fully, Lavey-Morcles (VD), Saint-Maurice
Websitewww.collonges.ch
SFSO statistics

History

Collonges is first mentioned in 1239 as Colunges. The village of Collonges was built on the site of the former village of Arbignon, which was known as desertum Alpinonis in the 11th and 12th Centuries. Arbignon was probably abandoned due to flooding of Aboyeu creek.[3]

Geography

Aerial view by Walter Mittelholzer (1927)

Collonges has an area, as of 2009, of 12.2 square kilometers (4.7 sq mi). Of this area, 2.06 km2 (0.80 sq mi) or 16.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 6.44 km2 (2.49 sq mi) or 52.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.54 km2 (0.21 sq mi) or 4.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.18 km2 (0.069 sq mi) or 1.5% is either rivers or lakes and 3.02 km2 (1.17 sq mi) or 24.7% is unproductive land.[4]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 0.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.0%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.1% of the area Out of the forested land, 48.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 4.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 5.2% is used for growing crops and 1.9% is pastures, while 1.1% is used for orchards or vine crops and 8.8% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 10.0% is unproductive vegetation and 14.7% is too rocky for vegetation.[4]

The municipality is located in the Saint-Maurice district, on the right side of the Rhone. The municipality stretches from the valley floor to the Dent-de-Morcles.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Impalled: 1. Azure, on a Saltire Or five Roses Gules barbed Vert and seeded of the second, 2. Or a Bar wavy Azure in chief three Trefoils slipped Vert in fess.[5]

Demographics

Collonges has a population (as of December 2019) of 826.[6] As of 2008, 10.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals.[7] Over the last 10 years (2000–2010 ) the population has changed at a rate of 6.5%. It has changed at a rate of 5.5% due to migration and at a rate of 2% due to births and deaths.[8]

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks French (446 or 91.4%) as their first language, Portuguese is the second most common (20 or 4.1%) and Italian is the third (10 or 2.0%). There are 8 people who speak German and 1 person who speaks Romansh.[9]

As of 2008, the population was 48.1% male and 51.9% female. The population was made up of 229 Swiss men (42.4% of the population) and 31 (5.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 252 Swiss women (46.7%) and 28 (5.2%) non-Swiss women.[10] Of the population in the municipality, 190 or about 38.9% were born in Collonges and lived there in 2000. There were 133 or 27.3% who were born in the same canton, while 78 or 16.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 77 or 15.8% were born outside of Switzerland.[9]

As of 2000, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.2% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15.4%.[8]

As of 2000, there were 179 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 253 married individuals, 31 widows or widowers and 25 individuals who are divorced.[9]

As of 2000, there were 198 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household.[8] There were 56 households that consist of only one person and 10 households with five or more people. In 2000, a total of 183 apartments (77.5% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 42 apartments (17.8%) were seasonally occupied and 11 apartments (4.7%) were empty.[11]

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

Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 37.87% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (28.39%), the SP (15.35%) and the SVP (11.79%). In the federal election, a total of 289 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 68.8%.[13]

In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat election a total of 248 votes were cast, of which 15 or about 6.0% were invalid. The voter participation was 60.6%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%.[14] In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 284 votes were cast, of which 13 or about 4.6% were invalid. The voter participation was 67.6%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.[15]

Economy

As of  2010, Collonges had an unemployment rate of 7.5%. As of 2008, there were 18 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 6 businesses involved in this sector. 43 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 7 businesses in this sector. 18 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 7 businesses in this sector.[8] There were 232 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 37.5% of the workforce.

In 2008 the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 66. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 12, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 41 of which 11 or (26.8%) were in manufacturing and 31 (75.6%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 13. In the tertiary sector; 1 was in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 7 or 53.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was a technical professional or scientist, 3 or 23.1% were in education.[16]

In 2000, there were 17 workers who commuted into the municipality and 184 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 10.8 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[17] Of the working population, 11.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 72.4% used a private car.[8]

Religion

From the 2000 census, 386 or 79.1% were Roman Catholic, while 46 or 9.4% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 5 members of an Orthodox church (or about 1.02% of the population), and there was 1 individual who belongs to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish, and 5 (or about 1.02% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 2 individuals who were Buddhist. 25 (or about 5.12% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 17 individuals (or about 3.48% of the population) did not answer the question.[9]

Education

In Collonges about 183 or (37.5%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 29 or (5.9%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 29 who completed tertiary schooling, 72.4% were Swiss men, 17.2% were Swiss women.[9]

As of 2000, there were 31 students in Collonges who came from another municipality, while 54 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[17]

References

  1. "Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeinden nach 4 Hauptbereichen". Federal Statistical Office. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  2. "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Staatsangehörigkeitskategorie Geschlecht und Gemeinde; Provisorische Jahresergebnisse; 2018". Federal Statistical Office. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  3. Collonges in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  4. Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data (in German) accessed 25 March 2010
  5. Flags of the World.com accessed 21-September-2011
  6. "Ständige und nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach institutionellen Gliederungen, Geburtsort und Staatsangehörigkeit". bfs.admin.ch (in German). Swiss Federal Statistical Office - STAT-TAB. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  7. Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008 Archived June 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 19 June 2010
  8. Swiss Federal Statistical Office Archived January 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine accessed 21-September-2011
  9. STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000 Archived April 9, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 2 February 2011
  10. Ständige Wohnbevolkerung nach Geschlecht und Heimat am 31.12.2009.xls (in German and French) accessed 24 August 2011
  11. Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen Archived September 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 28 January 2011
  12. Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Bevölkerungsentwicklung nach Region, 1850-2000 Archived September 30, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 29 January 2011
  13. Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Nationalratswahlen 2007: Stärke der Parteien und Wahlbeteiligung, nach Gemeinden/Bezirk/Canton Archived May 14, 2015, at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 28 May 2010
  14. Staatsratswahlen vom 1. März 2009 (in German) accessed 24 August 2011
  15. Ständeratswahl 2007 (in German) accessed 24 August 2011
  16. Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Betriebszählung: Arbeitsstätten nach Gemeinde und NOGA 2008 (Abschnitte), Sektoren 1-3 Archived December 25, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 28 January 2011
  17. Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb (in German) accessed 24 June 2010
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