S-chanf (; ; ) 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

Maloja Region Maloja Region is one of the eleven Districts of Switzerland, administrative districts in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Grisons in Switzerland. It has an area of and a population of (as of ). It was created on 1 January 2017 as part of a ...

in the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

of Graubünden. Localities in the municipality of include Susauna, Chapella and

Cinuos-chel Cinuos-chel-Brail railway station is a railway station in the municipality of S-chanf, in the Switzerland, Swiss Canton of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Graubünden, Graubünden. It is located on the Bever–Scuol-Tarasp railway, Bever–Scuo ...

Name

is first mentioned around 1137–1139 as ''Scaneves''. In 1356 it was mentioned as ''Scanevo''. The

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

''Scanfs'' was official until 1943.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 23 September 2009 Chapella is the site of a chapel mentioned in 1209. Susauna is mentioned as ''Sauzana'' in 1285.

Geography

S-chanf has an area, , of . Of this area, 23.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (57.1%) is nonproductive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). Before 2017, the municipality was located in the Oberengadin subdistrict of the Maloja district along the

Inn river The Inn (; ; ) is a river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The long river is a right tributary of the Danube, being the third largest tributary of the Danube by discharge. The highest point of its drainage basin is the summit of Piz Berni ...

and at the mouth of the Casanna pass. After 2017 it is part of the

. It consists of the

linear village In mathematics, the term ''linear'' is used in two distinct senses for two different properties: * linearity of a '' function'' (or '' mapping''); * linearity of a ''polynomial''. An example of a linear function is the function defined by f(x)= ...

of with the sections of Cinuos-chel and Susauna. The village's elevation is . Susauna is a hamlet on the territory of S-chanf municipality, situated on the road to

Scaletta Pass Scaletta Pass (Romansh language, Romansh: ''Cuolm S-chaletta'', ) (el. 2606 m) is a mountain pass in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It lies in the Albula Range of the Alps. The path from Dischma leads to Cinuos-chel in the Inn River, Inn ...

, a historic international trading route.

Demographics

In 1850, had a population of 439, all Romansh speaking. The population declined to 402 by 1900 and rose again to 460 by 1950. S-chanf has a population (as of ) of . As of 2008, 11.4% of the population were foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 7.5% per annum.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 21-Oct-2009 , the gender distribution of the population was 50.7% male and 49.3% female.Graubunden in Numbers
accessed 21 September 2009 The age distribution, , in was 66 children, or 10.6% of the population, between 0 and 9 years old; 46 teenagers, or 7.4%, between 10 and 14; and 46 teenagers, or 7.4%, between 15 and 19. Of the adult population, 74 people, or 11.9% of the population, were between 20 and 29 years old; 119 people, or 19.2%, were between 30 and 39; 82 people, or 13.2%, were between 40 and 49; and 73 people, or 11.8%, were between 50 and 59. The senior-population distribution was 43 people, or 6.9% of the population, between 60 and 69 years old; 47 people, or 7.6%, between 70 and 79; 21 people, or 3.4%, between 80 and 89; and 3 people, or 0.5%, between 90 and 99.Graubunden Population Statistics
accessed 21 September 2009 In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP, which received 44.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (24.5%), the SP (23.8%), and the CVP (5.4%). In about 67% of the population (between ages 25 and 64) have completed either nonmandatory

upper secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

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 ...

''). S-chanf has an unemployment rate of 1.49%. , there were 45 people employed in the primary (extraction) economic sector and about 21 businesses involved in this sector; 51 people employed in the secondary (manufacturing) sector, with 6 businesses; and 119 people employed in the tertiary (service) sector, with 32 businesses. The historical population is given in the following table:

Languages

Most of the population () speaks Romansh (51.8%), with

being second most common (37.3%) and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

being third (5.6%). The population speaks either the Upper-

Engadin The Engadin or Engadine (;This is the name in the two Romansh idioms that are spoken in the Engadin, Vallader and Puter, as well as in Sursilvan and Rumantsch Grischun. In Surmiran, the name is ''Nagiadegna'', and in Sutsilvan, it is ''Gidegna'' ...

Romansh dialect of Puter or a Bündner variety of

Alemannic German Alemannic, or rarely Alemannish (''Alemannisch'', ), is a group of High German dialects. The name derives from the ancient Germanic tribal confederation known as the Alemanni ("all men"). Distribution Alemannic dialects are spoken by approxi ...

. About 68% of the population could understand Romansh at least passively. Until the mid-19th century, all residents of the village spoke Romansh, but due to increasing trade with the outside world, its usage began to decline. In 1880 about 86% spoke Romansh as a first language; in 1910, 92%; and in 1941, 81%. By 1970 this figure had dropped to 65% and, by 2000, to 52%.

Tourism and infrastructure

S-chanf is one of the pedestrian gateways into the

Swiss National Park The Swiss National Park (; ; ; ) is located in the Western Rhaetian Alps, in eastern Switzerland. It lies within the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden, between Zernez, S-chanf, Scuol, and the Fuorn Pass in the Engadin valley on the ...

, as it is near the confluence of the Val Trupchun, a pedestrian only area of the park, and the

. In the park, early risers may spot

marmot Marmots are large ground squirrels in the genus ''Marmota'', with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. These herbivores are active during the summer, when they can often be found in groups, but are not seen during the winter, w ...

s and, high on the mountains, Steinbok (ibex). It has at least two hotels: the Aurora and the Scaletta. S-chanf is the final destination of the "

Engadin Skimarathon The Engadin Skimarathon is an annual cross-country skiing race (ski marathon) held on the second Sunday of March in the upper Engadine valley (Switzerland), between Maloja and S-chanf. It debuted in 1969 and has been a part of Worldloppet as l ...

", a popular cross country ski race over

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

distance, which starts in Maloja. The '' twin homes and barn at Nrs. 216/217'' and ''the home with barn at Nr. 107'' are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance.Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance
21.11.2008 version, accessed 21-Oct-2009 S-chanf is the home to a base of the

Swiss Air Force The Swiss Air Force (; ; ; ) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914, three days after the outbreak of World War I, as a part of the Swiss Army, army and in October 1936 as an independent service. In peaceti ...

, which maintains one of its antiaircraft target shooting ranges (serving also as finish area of the "Engadine Ski Marathon") in that area. Chapella 20

The hospice at La Chapella dates to about 1250. It was abandoned in the late 18th century, and re-opened as a youth center in 1967. The chapel at Susauna dates to 1696, which had its own pastors from 1723 to 1834. It was abandoned in the 20th century and is now inhabited only

seasonally A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

Transportation

The municipality has two railway stations: and . Both are located on the Bever–Scuol-Tarasp line and have regular service to , , , and .

References

External links

*http://www.s-chanf.ch * {{Authority control Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden Populated places on the Inn (river)