Selzach 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 Lebern in the canton of

Solothurn , neighboring_municipalities = Bellach, Biberist, Feldbrunnen-Sankt Niklaus, Langendorf, Rüttenen, Zuchwil , twintowns = Heilbronn (Germany), Kraków (Poland), Le Landeron (Switzerland) Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; ...

in Switzerland.

History

Selzach is first mentioned in 1181 as ''Selsacho''.

Geography

Selzach has an area, , of . Of this area, or 50.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 38.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 9.2% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.7% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.6% 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 4.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.3%. Out of the forested land, 35.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 32.6% is used for growing crops and 9.2% is pastures, while 1.1% is used for orchards or vine crops and 7.3% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is located in the Lebern district. It stretches from the

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it desce ...

river, at an elevation of , to the Hasenmatt mountain on the edge of the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Fre ...

, at an elevation of . It consists of the village of Selzach, the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

of Haag and former city of Altreu.

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 visua ...

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 it ...

is ''Gules a Salt Cellar Argent.''

Demographics

Selzach has a population () of . , 11.9% 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 9.1%.
accessed 4 April 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 **Ger ...

(2,600 or 92.5%), with French being second most common (37 or 1.3%) and

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

being third (33 or 1.2%). , the gender distribution of the population was 50.5% male and 49.5% female. The population was made up of 1,347 Swiss men (43.5% of the population) and 217 (7.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,352 Swiss women (43.6%) and 183 (5.9%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 1,057 or about 37.6% were born in Selzach and lived there in 2000. There were 755 or 26.9% who were born in the same canton, while 574 or 20.4% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 292 or 10.4% were born outside of Switzerland. In there were 27 live births to Swiss citizens and 4 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 28 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 1 while the foreign population increased by 4. There were 5 Swiss men and 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 3 non-Swiss men and 3 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 41 and the non-Swiss population increased by 42 people. This represents a

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...

of 2.8%. The age distribution, , in Selzach is; 210 children or 7.5% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 444 teenagers or 15.8% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 143 people or 5.1% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 793 people or 28.2% are between 25 and 44, and 767 people or 27.3% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 361 people or 12.8% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 92 people or 3.3% who are over 80. , there were 1,072 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,426 married individuals, 163 widows or widowers and 149 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 1,143 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 317 households that consist of only one person and 78 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,159 households that answered this question, 27.4% were households made up of just one person and there were 18 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 358 married couples without children, 389 married couples with children There were 48 single parents with a child or children. There were 13 households that were made up of unrelated people and 16 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing. there were 507 single family homes (or 63.8% of the total) out of a total of 795 inhabited buildings. There were 141 multi-family buildings (17.7%), along with 92 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (11.6%) and 55 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (6.9%). Of the single family homes 31 were built before 1919, while 72 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (109) were built between 1961 and 1970.Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen
accessed 28 January 2011 there were 1,250 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 387. There were 29 single room apartments and 458 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 1,120 apartments (89.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 70 apartments (5.6%) were seasonally occupied and 60 apartments (4.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 4.2 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.35%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1020 height:210 PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:3000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:600 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:120 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1666 from:start till:697 text:"697" bar:1850 from:start till:1052 text:"1,052" bar:1860 from:start till:1030 text:"1,030" bar:1870 from:start till:1091 text:"1,091" bar:1880 from:start till:1204 text:"1,204" bar:1888 from:start till:1419 text:"1,419" bar:1900 from:start till:1537 text:"1,537" bar:1910 from:start till:1713 text:"1,713" bar:1920 from:start till:1823 text:"1,823" bar:1930 from:start till:2064 text:"2,064" bar:1941 from:start till:2109 text:"2,109" bar:1950 from:start till:2237 text:"2,237" bar:1960 from:start till:2636 text:"2,636" bar:1970 from:start till:2948 text:"2,948" bar:1980 from:start till:2739 text:"2,739" bar:1990 from:start till:2773 text:"2,773" bar:2000 from:start till:2810 text:"2,810"

Heritage sites of national significance

The medieval ruined city of Altreu, is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

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 i ...

the most popular party was the SVP which received 32.98% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (20.62%), the CVP (20.39%) and the SP (17.3%). In the federal election, a total of 1,026 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 47.8%.

Economy

, Selzach had an unemployment rate of 2.7%. , there were 157 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 50 businesses involved in this sector. 981 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 constructio ...

and there were 48 businesses in this sector. 262 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 secon ...

, with 79 businesses in this sector. There were 1,511 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 41.6% 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 1,207. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 81, of which 70 were in agriculture and 11 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 929 of which 808 or (87.0%) were in manufacturing and 117 (12.6%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 197. In the tertiary sector; 77 or 39.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 7 or 3.6% were in the movement and storage of goods, 27 or 13.7% were in a hotel or restaurant, 5 or 2.5% were in the information industry, 10 or 5.1% were the insurance or financial industry, 13 or 6.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 27 or 13.7% were in education and 7 or 3.6% were in health care.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Betriebszählung: Arbeitsstätten nach Gemeinde und NOGA 2008 (Abschnitte), Sektoren 1-3
accessed 28 January 2011 , there were 906 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,039 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 12.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 60.4% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 1,192 or 42.4% 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 letter ...

, while 945 or 33.6% 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 14 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.50% of the population), there were 14 individuals (or about 0.50% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 40 individuals (or about 1.42% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 60 (or about 2.14% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 3 individuals who were

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

, 3 individuals who were Hindu and 3 individuals who belonged to another church. 401 (or about 14.27% 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 sufficie ...

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 135 individuals (or about 4.80% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Selzach about 1,116 or (39.7%) of the population have completed non-mandatory

upper secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final ph ...

, and 314 or (11.2%) 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. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

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 ar ...

''). Of the 314 who completed tertiary schooling, 74.5% were Swiss men, 17.8% were Swiss women, 4.5% were non-Swiss men and 3.2% were non-Swiss women. , there were 103 students in Selzach who came from another municipality, while 122 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Solothurn Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Solothurn