Wettswil am Albis 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 Affoltern in the

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Geography

Wettswil am Albis (sometimes written ''Wettswill a.A.'') has an area of . Of this area, 42.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 23.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 30.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (3.2%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). The term ''am

Albis The Albis is a chain of hills in the Canton of Zürich, Switzerland. Localisation A paronamic tower allows to observe the landscape. Picture gallery Albis - Balderen IMG 3281.jpg, Hiking trail from Felsenegg to Uetliberg __NOTOC__ ...

'' in the name refers to the chain of hills in the area.

History

The earliest written mentions of Wettswil am Albis date back to 1184 where it is referred to as ''Wettesweilare''. The village is believed to have been settled during the period of Alemannic immigration into Switzerland (somewhere between 500 and 700 CE). A chieftain, likely named 'Wetto' or 'Wettin' who might have settled in the region with his clan, might have given the village its name.

Demographics

Wettswil am Albis has a population (as of ) of . , 11.3% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 21.4%. Most of the population () speaks German (91.7%), with French being second most common ( 1.4%) and Italian being third ( 1.3%). In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 35.1% of the votes. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (19%), the SPS (15.4%) and the CSP (10.7%). The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 21.5% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 65.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 13%. In Wettswil am Albis about 88.6% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory

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 ...

''). Wettswil am Albis has an unemployment rate of 1.44%. , there were 61 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 10 businesses involved in this sector. 357 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 29 businesses in this sector. 454 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 115 businesses in this sector.Swiss Federal Statistical Office
accessed 24-Jul-2009

Transport

Bonstetten-Wettswil railway station Bonstetten-Wettswil is a railway station in the Swiss canton of Zurich. The station is situated on the boundary of the municipalities of Bonstetten and Wettswil am Albis and takes its name from both municipalities. The station is located on the ...

is a stop of the

Zürich S-Bahn The Zurich S-Bahn () system is a network of rail lines that has been incrementally expanded to cover the ZVV area, which comprises the entire canton of Zurich and portions of neighbouring cantons (Aargau, Glarus, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, ...

on the lines S5 and S14. It is a 23-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 ...

Notable people

Ines Torelli Ines Torelli (née Ines Stierli; 14 June 1931 – 21 August 2019) was a Swiss comedian, radio personality, and stage, voice and film actress starring usually in Swiss German language cinema and television and stage productions. Early life and ed ...

(born 1931), a Swiss comedian, radio personality, and stage, voice and film actress

References

External links

* {{Authority control Municipalities of the canton of Zürich