Rafz 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 district of Bülach in the northwest of the

canton of Zürich The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...

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 ...

. Rafz was first mentioned in 1413 as ''Rafsa''.

Geography

Rafz has an area of . Of this area, 52% is used for agricultural purposes, while 33.1% is forested. The rest of the land (14.9%) is settled. Rafz has border crossings into Germany at Schluchenberg with Baltersweil in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, Germany to the north of town; Rafz town with Lottstetten town also in Baden-Württemberg, and at Solgen with Lottstetten.

Demographics

Rafz has a population (as of ) of . , 14.7% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 18.3%. Most of the population () speaks German (91.1%), with Italian being second most common (2.5%) and Albanian being third (2.5%). In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 44% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (18.3%), the CSP (10.2%) and the Green Party (8.9%). The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 28.5% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59.9% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 11.7%. In Rafz about 79.5% of the population (between age 25 and 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 ...

''). Rafz has an unemployment rate of 1.95%. , there were 150 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 38 businesses involved in this sector. The secondary sector employs 459 people and there are 40 businesses in this sector. The tertiary sector employs 536 people, with 91 businesses in this sector.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 30-Jul-2009

Historical population

The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width: auto height:200 barincrement:45 PlotArea = top:20 left:40 bottom:20 right:35 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:4800 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:800 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:200 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width: 35 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1634 from:start till:412 text:"412" bar:1722 from:start till:827 text:"827" bar:1800 from:start till:837 text:"837" bar:1850 from:start till:1583 text:"1583" bar:1900 from:start till:1436 text:"1436" bar:1950 from:start till:1690 text:"1690" bar:2000 from:start till:3395 text:"3395" bar:2018 from:start till:4576 text:"4576"

Transport

Rafz railway station Rafz is a railway station in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Zürich and Rafz, municipality of Rafz. The station is located on the Eglisau-Neuhausen railway line, Eglisau to Neuhausen line of the Swiss Federal Railway (SBB) that crosses the inte ...

is the terminus of Zürich S-Bahn line S9 from

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, and an intermediate stop on the S22 between Bülach and

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

. It is a 38-minute ride from

Zürich Hauptbahnhof Zürich Hauptbahnhof, often shortened to Zürich HB or just HB, and known in English as Zurich Main Station, is the largest railway station in Switzerland and one of the busiest in Europe. It is a major railway hub, with services to and from a ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Germany–Switzerland border crossings Municipalities of the canton of Zürich