Honau, Switzerland

Honau is first mentioned in 1344 as Honowa.[3]

Honau has an area of 1.3 km² (0.50 sq mi). Of this area, 68.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 19.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 9.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (2.4%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).[4] In the 1997 land survey, 19.2% of the total land area was forested. Of the agricultural land, 65.6% is used for farming or pastures, while 3.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the settled areas, 4% is covered with buildings, 1.6% is classed as special developments, and 4% is transportation infrastructure. All the unproductive areas are classed as flowing water (rivers).

The municipality is located between the Reuss river and the Rooterberg mountain (798 m (2,618 ft)).

Honau has a population (as of 2007) of 357, of which 10.4% are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 24.8%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (94.1%), with Albanian being second most common ( 3.8%) and Portuguese being third ( 0.9%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 40.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (25.9%), the FDP (13.6%) and the Green Party (9.5%).

The age distribution in Honau is; 111 people or 31.2% of the population is 0–19 years old. 69 people or 19.4% are 20–39 years old, and 158 people or 44.4% are 40–64 years old. The senior population distribution is 13 people or 3.7% are 65–79 years old, 5 or 1.4% are 80–89 years old and no one is over 90 years old.[5]

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Honau about 76.4% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).

As of 2000 there are 104 households, of which 19 households (or about 18.3%) contain only a single individual. 23 or about 22.1% are large households, with at least five members.[5] As of 2000 there were 84 inhabited buildings in the municipality, of which 73 were built only as housing, and 11 were mixed use buildings. There were 61 single family homes, 8 double family homes, and 4 multi-family homes in the municipality. Most homes were either two (35) or three (35) story structures. There were only 2 single story buildings and 1 four or more story buildings.[5]

Honau has an unemployment rate of 1.49%. As of 2005, there were 22 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 8 businesses involved in this sector. 2 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 1 businesses in this sector. 67 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 9 businesses in this sector.[4] As of 2000 52.8% of the population of the municipality were employed in some capacity. At the same time, females made up 36.7% of the workforce.

In the 2000 census the religious membership of Honau was; 193 (60.3%) were Roman Catholic, and 66 (20.6%) were Protestant, with an additional 2 (0.63%) that were of some other Christian faith. There are 17 individuals (5.31% of the population) who are Muslim. Of the rest; there were 1 (0.31%) individuals who belong to another religion, 32 (10.%) who do not belong to any organized religion, 9 (2.81%) who did not answer the question.[5]

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Honau.

• Honau in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.