Gurtnellen

Gurtnellen
Municipality
Coat of arms
Location of Gurtnellen
Gurtnellen Show map of Switzerland Gurtnellen Show map of Canton of Uri
Coordinates: 46°43′N8°37′E / 46.717°N 8.617°E / 46.717; 8.617
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Uri
District	n.a.
Area [1]
• Total	83.31 km2 (32.17 sq mi)
Elevation	928 m (3,045 ft)
Population  (31 December 2018) [2]
• Total	540
• Density	6.5/km2 (17/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)	6482
SFOS number	1209
Surrounded by	Andermatt, Erstfeld, Göschenen, Silenen, Tujetsch (GR), Wassen
Website	www.gurtnellen.ch SFSO statistics

Gurtnellen is a village and a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland.

History

Gurtnellen is first mentioned in 1257 as Chuno und die Gurteneller. In 1321 it was mentioned as Gruntellon, and in 1359 as Gurtenellen. ^[3]

Geography

Map showing the Pfaffensprung spiral tunnel outside Gurtnellen

The Saint Joseph parish church and the Reuss river in Gurtnellen

Aerial view from 1600 m by Walter Mittelholzer (1931)

Gurtnellen has an area, as of 2006 ^[update] , of 83.4 km² (32.2 sq mi). Of this area, 11.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 25.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.3% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (61.7%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). ^[4] In the 1993/97 land survey ^[update] , 16.9% of the total land area was heavily forested, while 5.2% is covered in small trees and shrubbery. Of the agricultural land, 0.0% is used for farming or pastures, while 2.9% is used for orchards or vine crops and 9.0% is used for alpine pastures. Of the settled areas, 0.2% is covered with buildings, 0.1% is industrial, 0.2% is classed as special developments, and 0.8% is transportation infrastructure. Of the unproductive areas, 0.1% is unproductive standing water (ponds or lakes), 0.9% is unproductive flowing water (rivers), 39.3% is too rocky for vegetation, and 21.4% is other unproductive land. ^[5]

The municipality is located above the Reuss along the Gotthard rail line. It consists of the village sections of Dorf, Wiler, Intschi, Arni as well as part of the area on the left side of the Reuss near Amsteg and Silenen.

Demographics

Gurtnellen has a population (as of 31 December 2020) of 512. ^[6] As of 2007 ^[update] , 4.4% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -8.7%. Most of the population (as of 2000 ^[update] ) speaks German (97.3%), with Portuguese being second most common ( 1.6%) and French being third ( 0.5%). ^[4] As of 2007 ^[update] the gender distribution of the population was 50.0% male and 50.0% female. ^[7]

In the 2007 federal election the FDP party received 90.6% of the vote. ^[4]

The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Gurtnellen about 43.9% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule ). ^[4]

Gurtnellen has an unemployment rate of 0.65%. As of 2005 ^[update] , there were 82 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 38 businesses involved in this sector. 64 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 3 businesses in this sector. 168 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 21 businesses in this sector. ^[4]

The historical population is given in the following table: ^{[3] [8]}

year	population
1837	615
1850	675
1880	1,541 a
1900	1,112
1920	1,631 b
1950	1,132
1970	1,048
1980	813
1990	688
2000	631
2005	640
2007	638

^a Population increase due to construction of the Gotthard rail tunnel.

^b Population increase due to bridge construction and electrification of the Gotthard rail tunnel.

References

1. "Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeinden nach 4 Hauptbereichen". Federal Statistical Office. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
2. "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Staatsangehörigkeitskategorie Geschlecht und Gemeinde; Provisorische Jahresergebnisse; 2018". Federal Statistical Office. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
3. Gurtnellen in German , French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland .
4. Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 09-Sep-2009
5. Canton Uri - Ground use statistics Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 8 September 2009
6. "Ständige und nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach institutionellen Gliederungen, Geburtsort und Staatsangehörigkeit". bfs.admin.ch (in German). Swiss Federal Statistical Office - STAT-TAB. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
7. Uri Population statistics Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 8 September 2009
8. Uri in Numbers 2009/10 edition Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 8 September 2009

External links

• Gurtnellen in German , French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland .