Leuk (french: Loèche-Ville) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

in the district of Leuk in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. On 1 January 2013, the former municipality of

Erschmatt Erschmatt is a former municipality in the district of Leuk in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Erschmatt merged into the municipality of Leuk.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
accessed 9 February 2013 Since it controls access to the

Gemmi Pass Gemmi Pass is a high mountain pass across the Bernese Alps connecting Leukerbad (on the south) in the canton of Valais with Kandersteg (on the north) in the canton of Bern. The pass itself lies within the canton of Valais, at a height of above s ...

, it had some importance from the time of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

Raetia Raetia ( ; ; also spelled Rhaetia) was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west ...

. The

Leukerbad Leukerbad (french: Loèche-les-Bains, Walliser German: ''Leiggerbad'', although locally known as ''Baadu'') is a municipality in the district of Leuk in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History The story of Leukerbad dates back to the 4t ...

thermal baths are just north of Leuk, towards the pass. It is the capital of the Leuk district of the Valais. Leuk is home to one of the known installations of

Onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The ...

, the Swiss interception system for

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of '' signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ...

gathering Gather, gatherer, or gathering may refer to: Anthropology and sociology *Hunter-gatherer, a person or a society whose subsistence depends on hunting and gathering of wild foods *Intensive gathering, the practice of cultivating wild plants as a st ...

History

Leuk is first mentioned in 515 as ''villa de Leuca''. Leuk was already inhabited in the pre-Roman era. Scattered La Tène era graves with poppy-head pins, brooches and a

belt hook The belt hook is a device for fastening that predates the belt buckle. History East Asia The earliest archaeological evidence of belt hooks date to the 7th century BCE, in East Asia. Belt hooks were made with bronze, iron, gold, and jade. ...

have been found in Leuk. In the 6th century it belonged to the

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...

of the King of Burgundy Sigismund, who donated it to the Abbey of Saint-Maurice. The local population of

Romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

gradually became Germanized around the turn of the millennium due to invading

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pre ...

. However, even by the 14th century there was still a strong Roman minority in Leuk. Picswiss VS-69-03

The town's first church dates from the 6th or 7th century and probably originated from a Roman building. This church was replaced in the 9th century by a larger building. It was replaced again in the 11th and 12th centuries. The romanesque bell tower of the current church is from this third building. The current church was built by Ulrich Ruffiner in the

gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

. It was richly furnished with altars and sculptures and was consecrated in 1494 as St. Stephan's Church by Bishop Jost von Silenen. In the

charnel house A charnel house is a vault or building where human skeletal remains are stored. They are often built near churches for depositing bones that are unearthed while digging graves. The term can also be used more generally as a description of a pl ...

, with its

dance of death The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ) (from the French language), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory of the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of ...

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...

, 26 statues dating from the 13th to 16th centuries were discovered in 1982 under about a meter (three feet) of bones. The statues including an excellent

Pietà The Pietà (; meaning " pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific for ...

from the 14th century. In addition to St. Stephan's

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

there were several other churches in town. They include a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

chapel at Thel and the Ringacker chapel, which was built in 1690-94 above a

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

cemetery. A Marian shrine, whose hermitage was inhabited by a hermit around 1720–1885, is one of the most important baroque rooms of the Valais. In the

Early Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

and

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...

Leuk changed owners repeatedly until 1138 when it finally came under the authority of the

Bishop of Sion The Diocese of Sion ( la, Dioecesis Sedunensis, french: Diocèse de Sion, german: Bistum Sitten) is a Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is the oldest bishopric in the country and one of the oldest north o ...

. The new rulers encouraged Leuk's development by granting concessions. In 1209 Leuk was given the right to have its own weights and measures. In 1285 they built a hospital and in 1310 they added a warehouse, one on the old trade route between northern Italy and the markets of Champagne. With the warehouse they established a group of teamsters that provided extra draft animals to help wagons make it over the mountains. The episcopal

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

holders Viztum and Meier built the Bishop's Castle (the seat of Meier) and the Viztumsturm (Viztum's tower). In the 14th century the castle ruled over three surrounding areas; Loye (Lobio), Tschablen (Cabulo) and Galdinen (Caldana). All three of those areas grew into independent municipalities. In 1458, Leuk codified the customary rights of the citizens into law. This "old castle law" was updated in 1563. With the decline of the feudal system, the weakening of the secular episcopal power and the rise of the democratic self-consciousness of the Valais, the old order was replaced with a new power structure. The former leading families of de Leuca, Perrini, von Raron and Pontemallio were replaced with new families who had made their money in military service including: the Werra, Mageran, Allet, Ambühl, Albertini, Gasner, Mayenzet, Zen-Ruffinen and Loretan. The village subsequently grew into an independent town with elegant homes and a new church. On the west, a tower and bridge were built in the Dala gorge. The Feschel gorge to the east was spanned with a bridge in 1563. The two gorges and the river Rhone to the south provided excellent natural fortifications for the growing town. The borders of the town were the site of several bloody clashes. The first was the victory in 1296 of troops loyal to the bishop over the upper Valais nobility (including the vom Turn and von Raron families), who were supported by nobles from the

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland ( en, Bernese Highlands, german: Berner Oberland; gsw, Bärner Oberland; french: Oberland bernois), the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern, is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context ...

. In 1386, Leuk prevented the advance of Count Amadeus VII of

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Sa ...

into the Upper Valais with the destruction of Dala bridge. In 1415, during the Rarner war, the Bishop's Castle and the Viztumsturm were destroyed by invaders. In 1541, Ulrich Ruffiner built the present

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

-style town hall on the ruins of the Viztumsturm. During the fighting against the French in 1799, after the Battle of Pfyn Leuk was burned but escaped further damage. The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of Leuk is first documented in 1227. Starting in 1500 a number of surrounding villages left the Leuk parish to form their own daughter parishes, including; 1501 Leukerbad, 1660 Gampel, 1663 Turtmann, 1962 Susten. In the second half of the 16th century, the leading Leuker families tended to

Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

. However, in 1604, when the Valais Grand Council met in Visp and voted to remain with the

Catholic faith The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, these the families (especially the Mageran and Ambühl) decided to return to the old faith. In the Middle Ages, the local economy was based on the transport of goods, alpine herding, farming and

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, r ...

. The town produced gravel from the banks of the Rhone in the Pfynwald (Pfyn forest), until this was restricted for environmental reasons in the 1970s.

Limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

mining commenced in 1928 on the Rhone in Susten but has now been given up. In 2005 there were ten large farms and seven wineries in the municipality. In 1908 the Alusuisse-Werke (now Alcan Ltd) opened a processing plant in Chippis and Steg which provided jobs for many people from Leuk. The Leuk-Leukerbad-Bahn

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

line opened in 1915 and converted to bus operation in 1967. In 2005, the train station in Susten was rebuilt with a new railway bridge over the Rhone and a new rail tunnel towards Salgesch. Traditionally Leuk was the central administrative center of the region. At the beginning of the 21st century, it is also the educational, legal and services center in part due to the satellite earth station of International Teleport Switzerland AG. The large antennas of the earth station have made Leuk into a major intercontinental telecommunications center. Near the earth station are the antennas of the Swiss military Onyx system for electronic intelligence gathering. In 1999, the Leuk Castle Foundation was established to restore and maintain the Bishop's Castle in Leuk. As part of the restoration, one of the medieval towers was topped with a glass cupola by the architect

Mario Botta Mario Botta (born 1 April 1943) is a Swiss architect. Career Botta designed his first building, a two-family house at Morbio Superiore in Ticino, at age 16. He graduated from the Università Iuav di Venezia (1969). While the arrangements of sp ...

Geography

Leuk has an area, , of . Of this area, 19.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 48.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 4.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and 26.8% is unproductive land. The municipality is the capital of the Leuk district. It is located above the right side of the Rhone, between the Dala gorge and the Feschelbach river. The town is surrounded by

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyard ...

s. It consists of the village of Leuk-Stadt, the castle, the village of Susten on the left bank of the Rhone and the hamlets of Brianen, Feithieren, Gampinen and Pfyn. The municipalities of Erschmatt and Leuk are considering a merger on at a date in the future into the new municipality with an, , undetermined name.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 17 February 2011

Coat of arms

The

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The ...

of the municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

is ''Gules a Griffin rampant coward langued and armed Argent holding in front paws a sword of the last.''

Demographics

Leuk has a population () of . , 11.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008
accessed 19 June 2010 Over the last 10 years (1999–2009) the population has changed at a rate of 4.7%. It has changed at a rate of 3.3% due to migration and at a rate of 1.1% due to births and deaths.
accessed 09-September-2011 Most of the population () speaks

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

(3,118 or 92.8%) as their first language, Albanian is the second most common (79 or 2.4%) and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

is the third (52 or 1.5%). There are 15 people who speak Italian and 2 people who speak Romansh. , the gender distribution of the population was 49.6% male and 50.4% female. The population was made up of 1,526 Swiss men (43.8% of the population) and 203 (5.8%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,573 Swiss women (45.1%) and 184 (5.3%) non-Swiss women.Ständige Wohnbevolkerung nach Geschlecht und Heimat am 31.12.2009.xls
accessed 24 August 2011 Of the population in the municipality 1,617 or about 48.1% were born in Leuk and lived there in 2000. There were 985 or 29.3% who were born in the same canton, while 319 or 9.5% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 295 or 8.8% were born outside of Switzerland. The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59.8% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.2%. , there were 1,401 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,602 married individuals, 221 widows or widowers and 137 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 1,209 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. There were 330 households that consist of only one person and 124 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,264 households that answered this question, 26.1% were households made up of just one person and there were 14 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 328 married couples without children, 455 married couples with children. There were 64 single parents with a child or children. There were 18 households that were made up of unrelated people and 55 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing. there were 534 single family homes (or 62.1% of the total) out of a total of 860 inhabited buildings. There were 217 multi-family buildings (25.2%), along with 59 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (6.9%) and 50 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (5.8%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen
accessed 28 January 2011 , a total of 1,126 apartments (79.5% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 241 apartments (17.0%) were seasonally occupied and 50 apartments (3.5%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.3 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.84%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:960 height:210 PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:3400 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:700 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:140 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1850 from:start till:1042 text:"1,042" bar:1860 from:start till:1123 text:"1,123" bar:1870 from:start till:1223 text:"1,223" bar:1880 from:start till:1329 text:"1,329" bar:1888 from:start till:1552 text:"1,552" bar:1900 from:start till:1592 text:"1,592" bar:1910 from:start till:1649 text:"1,649" bar:1920 from:start till:1885 text:"1,885" bar:1930 from:start till:1966 text:"1,966" bar:1941 from:start till:2242 text:"2,242" bar:1950 from:start till:2336 text:"2,336" bar:1960 from:start till:2546 text:"2,546" bar:1970 from:start till:2796 text:"2,796" bar:1980 from:start till:2983 text:"2,983" bar:1990 from:start till:3253 text:"3,253" bar:2000 from:start till:3361 text:"3,361"

Heritage sites of national significance

The Dalaturm, the Church of St. Stephan, the

Rathaus In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

(Town council house), the ''Ringacker'' Chapel of ''Mariä Empfängnis'' with the Hermitage and Zen-Ruffinen Castle are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire small town of Leuk and village of Erschmatt are part of the

Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage. Sites of national importance Types The types are based on t ...

. File:Picswiss VS-69-18.jpg , Church of St. Stephan File:Picswiss VS-69-05.jpg,

(Town council house) File:Picswiss VS-69-07.jpg , ''Ringacker'' Chapel of ''Mariä Empfängnis'' with Hermitage File:VonWerraSitz.JPG, Zen-Ruffinen Castle

Politics

In the

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not ...

the most popular party was the CVP which received 71.78% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (13.34%), the SVP (11.2%) and the FDP (1.76%). In the federal election, a total of 1,856 votes were cast, and the

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Univ ...

was 75.9%. In the 2009 Conseil d'État/Staatsrat election a total of 1,684 votes were cast, of which 117 or about 6.9% were invalid. The voter participation was 70.5%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 1,849 votes were cast, of which 73 or about 3.9% were invalid. The voter participation was 76.4%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.

Economy

, Leuk had an unemployment rate of 2.2%. , there were 148 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 56 businesses involved in this sector. 218 people were employed in the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construc ...

and there were 44 businesses in this sector. 850 people were employed in the

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

, with 133 businesses in this sector. There were 1,595 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 41.8% of the workforce. the total number of

full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit that indicates the workload of an employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often used to measure a ...

jobs was 952. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 84, of which 71 were in agriculture and 13 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 205 of which 46 or (22.4%) were in manufacturing and 138 (67.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 663. In the tertiary sector; 91 or 13.7% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 48 or 7.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 95 or 14.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 18 or 2.7% were in the information industry, 28 or 4.2% were the insurance or financial industry, 42 or 6.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 83 or 12.5% were in education and 204 or 30.8% were in health care. , there were 398 workers who commuted into the municipality and 877 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 20.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 55.8% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 2,845 or 84.6% were

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, while 159 or 4.7% belonged to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...

. Of the rest of the population, there were 21 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.62% of the population), there were 2 individuals (or about 0.06% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 29 individuals (or about 0.86% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 141 (or about 4.20% of the population) who were

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

ic. There was 1 person who was

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

and 4 individuals who belonged to another church. 48 (or about 1.43% of the population) belonged to no church, are

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficien ...

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and 124 individuals (or about 3.69% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Leuk about 1,149 or (34.2%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 215 or (6.4%) have completed additional higher education (either

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

or a ''

Fachhochschule A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied art ...

''). Of the 215 who completed tertiary schooling, 73.5% were Swiss men, 21.4% were Swiss women, 3.7% were non-Swiss men. During the 2010–2011 school year there were a total of 438 students in the Leuk school system. The education system in the Canton of Valais allows young children to attend one year of non-obligatory

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

. During that school year, there 4 kindergarten classes (KG1 or KG2) and 63 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

. In Leuk there were a total of 13 classes and 258 students in the primary school. The

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. There were 180 lower secondary students who attended school in Leuk.Obligatorische Schulzeit
accessed 24 August 2011 All the upper secondary students attended school in another municipality. , there were 128 students in Leuk who came from another municipality, while 124 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

Notable people

* Franz Xaver, Baron von Werra (1914 in Leuk – 1941), a German World War II fighter pilot and flying ace who was shot down over Britain, captured and escaped back to Germany * Rabea Grand (born 1984 in Leuk), a retired alpine skier who rose to be the Swiss national champion at the giant slalom in 2009

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Switzerland Cultural property of national significance in Valais Populated places on the Rhône Populated riverside places in Switzerland