Visperterminen

History

Visperterminen is first mentioned in the 11th Century as Termenum. In 1221 it was mentioned as Terminum.

Geography

Visperterminen has an area, as of 2011, of 51.6 square kilometers (19.9 sq mi). Of this area, 32.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 31.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.6% is settled (buildings or roads) and 34.7% is unproductive land.

The municipality is located in the Visp district. The municipality stretches from the valley located in the hills north-west of Visp and the Nanz valley over to the Mattwald and Simelihorn. It consists of the village of Visperterminen and the hamlets of Ober- and Unterstalden, Bitzinen, Niederhäusern, Parmili and Sattolti.

The Gebidumsee is located at an elevation of 2,200 m (7,200 ft).

The proposed merger of the municipalities of Eggerberg, Ausserberg, Bürchen, Baltschieder, Visp and Visperterminen was rejected by the residents.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Vert an orb Argent in chief four plates.

Demographics

Visperterminen has a population (as of December 2015) of 1,380. As of 2008, 2.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010 ) the population has changed at a rate of -3.3%. It has changed at a rate of -6.5% due to migration and at a rate of 2.9% due to births and deaths.

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (1,328 or 97.9%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian is the second most common (7 or 0.5%) and Italian is the third (5 or 0.4%). There are 3 people who speak French and 1 person who speaks Romansh.

As of 2008, the population was 48.7% male and 51.3% female. The population was made up of 659 Swiss men (47.4% of the population) and 18 (1.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 694 Swiss women (49.9%) and 19 (1.4%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 1,127 or about 83.1% were born in Visperterminen and lived there in 2000. There were 146 or 10.8% who were born in the same canton, while 33 or 2.4% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 40 or 2.9% were born outside of Switzerland.

As of 2000, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 24.2% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.4% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15.4%.

As of 2000, there were 572 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 703 married individuals, 70 widows or widowers and 12 individuals who are divorced.

As of 2000, there were 484 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.8 persons per household. There were 112 households that consist of only one person and 52 households with five or more people. In 2000, a total of 467 apartments (55.3% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 297 apartments (35.1%) were seasonally occupied and 81 apartments (9.6%) were empty. As of 2009, the construction rate of new housing units was 5 new units per 1000 residents.

The historical population is given in the following chart:

Heritage sites of national significance

The Bronze Age and medieval settlement at Oberstalden is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The hamlets of Barmüli, Bitzinen, Niederhäusern, Oberstalden and Unterstalden are all part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 68.21% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (19.61%), the SVP (8.04%) and the FDP (2.05%). In the federal election, a total of 658 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 59.4%.

In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat election a total of 593 votes were cast, of which 78 or about 13.2% were invalid. The voter participation was 54.0%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 652 votes were cast, of which 18 or about 2.8% were invalid. The voter participation was 59.2%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 59.88%.

Economy

As of 2010, Visperterminen had an unemployment rate of 0.6%. As of 2008, there were 104 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 44 businesses involved in this sector. 335 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 9 businesses in this sector. 130 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 28 businesses in this sector. There were 674 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 38.6% of the workforce.

In 2008 the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 461. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 37, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 333 of which 7 or (2.1%) were in manufacturing, 3 or (0.9%) were in mining and 323 (97.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 91. In the tertiary sector; 21 or 23.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 11 or 12.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 32 or 35.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 6 or 6.6% were the insurance or financial industry, 5 or 5.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 6 or 6.6% were in education and 3 or 3.3% were in health care.

In 2000, there were 30 workers who commuted into the municipality and 497 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 16.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 36.5% used public transportation to get to work, and 42.7% used a private car.

Religion

From the 2000 census, 1,315 or 96.9% were Roman Catholic, while 12 or 0.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 4 individuals (or about 0.29% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 5 (or about 0.37% of the population) who were Islamic. There was 1 person who was Buddhist. 5 (or about 0.37% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 16 individuals (or about 1.18% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Visperterminen about 533 or (39.3%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 77 or (5.7%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 77 who completed tertiary schooling, 75.3% were Swiss men, 18.2% were Swiss women.

During the 2010-2011 school year there were a total of 115 students in the Visperterminen school system. The education system in the Canton of Valais allows young children to attend one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten. During that school year, there are 2 kindergarten classes (KG1 or KG2) and 27 kindergarten students. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school. In Visperterminen there were a total of 7 classes and 115 students in the primary school. The secondary school program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling (orientation classes), followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower and upper secondary students from Visperterminen attend their school in a neighboring municipality.

As of 2000, there were 2 students in Visperterminen who came from another municipality, while 96 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

Visperterminen is home to the Schul- und Gemeindebibliothek (municipal library of Visperterminen). The library has (as of 2008) 5,607 books or other media, and loaned out 10,644 items in the same year. It was open a total of 120 days with average of 6 hours per week during that year.