Schwyz

Schwyz
Schwyz [zoom]
Country Switzerland Canton Schwyz District Schwyz 47°1′N 8°39′E / 47.017°N 8.65°E / 47.017; 8.65Coordinates: 47°1′N 8°39′E / 47.017°N 8.65°E / 47.017; 8.65
Population	14,180 (December 2008[update])
- Density	267 /km2 (691 /sq mi)
Area	53.17 km2 (20.53 sq mi)
Elevation	516 m (1,693 ft)
Postal code	6430
SFOS number	1372
Mayor	Beat Bürgler
Localities	Schwyz, Ibach, Seewen, Rickenbach
Surrounded by (view map)	Alpthal, Illgau, Ingenbohl, Lauerz, Morschach, Muotathal, Oberiberg, Rothenthurm, Sattel, Steinen
Website	www.schwyz.ch SFSO statistics

Schwyz

The town of Schwyz (help·info) (French: Schwyz, Italian: Svitto) is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland.

The Federal Charter of 1291 or Bundesbrief, the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the Bundesbriefmuseum.

History of the toponym

Schwyz with Brunnen on Lake Lucerne, Mount Rigi and Lake Lauerz, seen from Grosser Mythen

Street in Schwyz

The name Schwyz is first attested in 972 as the village Suittes and is perhaps related to Old High German suedan "to burn", referring to the area of forest that was burned and cleared to build^[1]. The name was extended to the area dominated by Schwyz (the Canton of Schwyz), and later to the entire Old Swiss Confederacy. Other cantons tended to resent this in the 15th century, but after 1499 the term Schwyzer was widely self-adopted, out of spite so to speak, since it had been employed as a term of abuse by the Swabian side during the Swabian War. Eidgenossenschaft and Schwytzerland could be used interchangeably as country names in the 16th century. Today, Swiss-German people use the name Schwyz as the Swiss name of the country. Most famous is the sentence "Hop hop Schwyz", which most Swiss people yell in an international soccer game.

Geography

Schwyz has an area, as of 2006^[update], of 53.2 square kilometers (20.5 sq mi). Of this area, 46.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 39.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 8.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (5.8%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).^[2]

Demographics

Schwyz has a population (as of 2008^[update]) of 14,180, of which 15.6% are foreign nationals.^[3] Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 4.2%. Most of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks German (90.1%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common (2.7%) and Italian being third (2.0%).^[2]

As of 2000^[update] the gender distribution of the population was 49.9% male and 50.1% female. The age distribution, as of 2008^[update], in Schwyz is; 3,537 people or 25.6% of the population is between 0 and 19. 4,144 people or 30.0% are 20 to 39, and 4,172 people or 30.2% are 40 to 64. The senior population distribution is 1,073 people or 7.8% are 65 to 74. There are 633 people or 4.6% who are 70 to 79 and 243 people or 1.76% of the population who are over 80. There are 3 people who are over 100 years old in Schwyz.^[3]

As of 2000^[update] there are 5,338 households, of which 1,582 households (or about 29.6%) contain only a single individual. 391 or about 7.3% are large households, with at least five members.^[3]

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 39.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (26.1%), the SPS (17.1%) and the FDP (12.7%).^[2]

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Schwyz about 66.4% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule).^[2]

Schwyz has an unemployment rate of 1.15%. As of 2005^[update], there were 510 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 183 businesses involved in this sector. 2,838 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 190 businesses in this sector. 6,394 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 692 businesses in this sector.^[2]

From the 2000 census^[update], 11,269 or 81.6% are Roman Catholic, while 751 or 5.4% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there are 7 individuals (or about 0.05% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic faith, there are 423 individuals (or about 3.06% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are less than 5 individuals who belong to another Christian church. There are 5 individuals (or about 0.04% of the population) who are Jewish, and 502 (or about 3.64% of the population) who are Islamic. There are 80 individuals (or about 0.58% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 377 (or about 2.73% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 385 individuals (or about 2.79% of the population) did not answer the question.^[3]

The historical population is given in the following table:^[4]

Weather

Schwyz has an average of 149.2 days of rain per year and on average receives 1,629 mm (64.1 in) of percipitation. The wettest month is August during which time Schwyz receives an average of 199 mm (7.8 in) of percipitation. During this month there is percipitation for an average of 13.9 days. The month with the most days of percipitation is June, with an average of 14.8, but with only 182 mm (7.2 in) of percipitation. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 99 mm (3.9 in) of percipitation over 13.9 days.^[5]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Schwyz

• Municipality of Schwyz (German)
• Canton of Schwyz (German)

v • d • e Municipalities in the district of Schwyz, Switzerland Alpthal | Arth | Illgau | Ingenbohl | Lauerz | Morschach | Muotathal | Oberiberg | Riemenstalden | Rothenthurm | Sattel | Schwyz | Steinen | Steinerberg | Unteriberg Canton of Schwyz | Districts of Canton Schwyz | Municipalities of the canton of Schwyz

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