Zizers

History

Zizers is first mentioned in 824 as Zizuris.

Geography

Zizers has an area, as of 2006, of 11 km² (4.2 sq mi). Of this area, 41.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 38.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 12.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (7.8%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

Before 2017, the municipality was the capital of the sub-district of Fünf Dörfer in the Landquart district, after 2017 it was part of the Landquart Region. It is located on the most important road through the Rhine river valley.

Until 1854 Mastrils was part of Zizers. In 1913 the enclaves of Oberzollbruck (population in 1910, 30), Russhof (population 91) and Untere Mühle (population 8) became part of Igis.

Demographics

Zizers has a population (as of 31 December 2015) of 3,361. As of 2008, 13.6% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 4.3%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (88.7%), with Italian being second most common ( 3.2%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 2.0%).

As of 2000, the gender distribution of the population was 49.7% male and 50.3% female. The age distribution, as of 2000, in Zizers is; 315 children or 10.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old. 197 teenagers or 6.6% are 10 to 14, and 220 teenagers or 7.4% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 357 people or 12.0% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 480 people or 16.1% are 30 to 39, 474 people or 15.9% are 40 to 49, and 368 people or 12.3% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 288 people or 9.7% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 159 people or 5.3% are 70 to 79, there are 99 people or 3.3% who are 80 to 89, and there are 26 people or 0.9% who are 90 to 99.

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 36.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (20%), the CVP (18.6%) and the FDP (18.5%).

In Zizers about 72.9% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).

Zizers has an unemployment rate of 1.9%. As of 2005, there were 73 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 20 businesses involved in this sector. 96 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 22 businesses in this sector. 484 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 92 businesses in this sector.

From the 2000 census, 1,286 or 43.1% are Roman Catholic, while 1,303 or 43.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there are 12 individuals (or about 0.40% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 66 individuals (or about 2.21% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 112 (or about 3.75% of the population) who are Islamic. There are 13 individuals (or about 0.44% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 131 (or about 4.39% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 65 individuals (or about 2.18% of the population) did not answer the question.

The historical population is given in the following table:

Heritage sites of national significance

Both the Upper Castle Zizers with gardens and the Lower Castle Zizers (known as Johannesstift) with its gardens are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance.