Inkwil is a

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

in the Oberaargau administrative district in the canton of

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

History

Inkwil is first mentioned in 1262 as ''Inchwile''.

Geography

Inkwil has an area, , of . Of this area, or 49.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 36.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 13.1% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.5% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.9% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 7.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.7%. 35.1% of the total land area is heavily forested. Of the agricultural land, 37.5% is used for growing crops and 8.9% is pastures, while 2.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes. It is divided into three sections; Dorf, Vorstatt and Station.

Demographics

Inkwil has a population (as of ) of . , 4.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -2.4%. Most of the population () speaks German (98.0%), with Portuguese being second most common ( 0.5%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 0.5%). In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 36.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (29.8%), the FDP (13.7%) and the CSP (5.4%). The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 26.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.4% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15%. About 82.2% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a ''

Fachhochschule A (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...

''). Inkwil has an unemployment rate of 1.64%. , there were 20 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 8 businesses involved in this sector. 69 people are 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 constructi ...

and there are 6 businesses in this sector. 20 people are 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 ...

, with 10 businesses in this sector.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 21-Jul-2009 The historical population is given in the following table:

Heritage sites of national significance

It is home to the Inkwilersee Insel prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

.UNESCO World Heritage Site - Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
/ref>

References

External links

{{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Bern