Uerkheim

Uerkheim
Municipality
Coat of arms
Location of Uerkheim
Uerkheim Show map of Switzerland Uerkheim Show map of Canton of Aargau
Coordinates: 47°18′N8°2′E / 47.300°N 8.033°E / 47.300; 8.033
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Aargau
District	Zofingen
Area [1]
• Total	7.09 km2 (2.74 sq mi)
Elevation	455 m (1,493 ft)
Population  (31 December 2018) [2]
• Total	1,334
• Density	190/km2 (490/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)	4813
SFOS number	4286
ISO 3166 code	CH-AG
Surrounded by	Bottenwil, Holziken, Kölliken, Safenwil, Schöftland, Staffelbach, Zofingen
Website	www.uerkheim.ch SFSO statistics

Uerkheim is a municipality in the district of Zofingen in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.

Geography

Aerial view from 2000 m by Walter Mittelholzer (1923)

Uerkheim has an area, as of 2009 ^[update] , of 7.1 square kilometers (2.7 sq mi). Of this area, 3.41 km² (1.32 sq mi) or 48.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.86 km² (1.10 sq mi) or 40.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.79 km² (0.31 sq mi) or 11.1% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.01 km² (2.5 acres) or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes and 0.01 km² (2.5 acres) or 0.1% is unproductive land. ^[3]

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.1% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 6.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.7%. Out of the forested land, 36.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 13.4% is used for growing crops and 32.8% is pastures, while 1.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. ^[3]

The municipality of Uerkheim is considering a merger on 1 January 2014 into Zofingen. ^[4]

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent a Bar Gules between two Mullets of Five Or. ^[5]

Demographics

Uerkheim has a population (as of December 2020 ^[update] ) of 1,342. ^[6] As of June 2009 ^[update] , 9.5% of the population are foreign nationals. ^[7] Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of -2.9%. Most of the population (as of 2000 ^[update] ) speaks German (95.4%), with Albanian being second most common ( 1.3%) and French being third ( 0.9%). ^[8]

The age distribution, as of 2008 ^[update] , in Uerkheim is; 117 children or 9.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 156 teenagers or 12.1% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 142 people or 11.1% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 162 people or 12.6% are between 30 and 39, 245 people or 19.1% are between 40 and 49, and 194 people or 15.1% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 128 people or 10.0% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 91 people or 7.1% are between 70 and 79, there are 46 people or 3.6% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 4 people or 0.3% who are 90 and older. ^[9]

As of 2000 ^[update] , there were 31 homes with 1 or 2 persons in the household, 254 homes with 3 or 4 persons in the household, and 202 homes with 5 or more persons in the household. ^[10] As of 2000 ^[update] , there were 500 private households (homes and apartments) in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. ^[8] In 2008 ^[update] there were 212 single family homes (or 37.5% of the total) out of a total of 565 homes and apartments. ^[11] There were a total of 2 empty apartments for a 0.4% vacancy rate. ^[11] As of 2007 ^[update] , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.3 new units per 1000 residents. ^[8]

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 52.66% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (13.64%), the FDP (8.61%) and the Green Party (6.63%). In the federal election, a total of 464 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 47.0%. ^[12]

The historical population is given in the following table: ^[9]

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1975	1,177	—
1980	1,168	−0.8%
1990	1,281	+9.7%
2000	1,287	+0.5%

Economy

As of  2007 ^[update] , Uerkheim had an unemployment rate of 1.1%. As of 2005 ^[update] , there were 101 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 40 businesses involved in this sector. 86 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 20 businesses in this sector. 178 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 36 businesses in this sector. ^[8]

In 2000 ^[update] there were 688 workers who lived in the municipality. Of these, 517 or about 75.1% of the residents worked outside Uerkheim while 114 people commuted into the municipality for work. There were a total of 285 jobs (of at least 6 hours per week) in the municipality. ^[13] Of the working population, 7.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 57.5% used a private car. ^[8]

Religion

From the 2000 census ^[update] , 199 or 15.7% were Roman Catholic, while 881 or 69.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there was 1 individual who belonged to the Christian Catholic faith. ^[10]

Education

In Uerkheim about 69.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule ). ^[8] Of the school age population (in the 2008/2009 school year ^[update] ), there are 81 students attending primary school in the municipality. ^[10]

Uerkheim is home to the Schul-u.Gde.Bibliothek Uerkheim (school and municipal library of Uerkheim). The library has (as of 2008 ^[update] ) 4,351 books or other media, and loaned out 3,833 items in the same year. It was open a total of 91 days with average of 4 hours per week during that year. ^[14]

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. Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data (in German) accessed 25 March 2010
4. Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (in German) accessed 14 January 2010
5. Flags of the World.com accessed 15-June-2010
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. Statistical Department of Canton Aargau -Bereich 01 -Bevölkerung (in German) accessed 20 January 2010
8. Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 15-June-2010
9. Statistical Department of Canton Aargau -Bevölkerungsdaten für den Kanton Aargau und die Gemeinden (Archiv) (in German) accessed 20 January 2010
10. Statistical Department of Canton Aargau - Aargauer Zahlen 2009 (in German) accessed 20 January 2010
11. Statistical Department of Canton Aargau (in German) accessed 20 January 2010
12. Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Nationalratswahlen 2007: Stärke der Parteien und Wahlbeteiligung, nach Gemeinden/Bezirk/Canton (in German) accessed 28 May 2010
13. Statistical Department of Canton Aargau-Bereich 11 Verkehr und Nachrichtenwesen (in German) accessed 21 January 2010
14. Swiss Federal Statistical Office, list of libraries Archived 2015-07-06 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 14 May 2010