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Alvaneu

Coordinates: 46°41′N 9°39′E / 46.683°N 9.650°E / 46.683; 9.650
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Alvaneu
Coat of arms of Alvaneu
Location of Alvaneu
Map
Alvaneu is located in Switzerland
Alvaneu
Alvaneu
Alvaneu is located in Canton of Graubünden
Alvaneu
Alvaneu
Coordinates: 46°41′N 9°39′E / 46.683°N 9.650°E / 46.683; 9.650
CountrySwitzerland
CantonGraubünden
DistrictAlbula
Government
 • MayorThomas Kollegger
Area
 • Total35.68 km2 (13.78 sq mi)
Elevation
1,181 m (3,875 ft)
Population
 (2006)
 • Total419
 • Density12/km2 (30/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)
7492
SFOS number3511
ISO 3166 codeCH-GR
Surrounded byArosa, Brienz/Brinzauls, Filisur, Lantsch/Lenz, Schmitten, Surava, Tiefencastel
Websitewww.albula-alvra.ch
SFSO statistics

Alvaneu (Romansh: Alvagni) is a former municipality in the district of Albula in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Alvaschein, Mon, Stierva, Tiefencastel, Alvaneu, Brienz/Brinzauls and Surava merged to form the new municipality of Albula/Alvra.[1]

On 20 March 2007 Peter Martin Wettler, a media expert and resident of Zurich was appointed Prince of Belfort by the village's authorities.[2]

History

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Alvaneu is first mentioned in 1244 as Aluenude. In 1530 it was mentioned as Allweneü.[3]

Geography

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Belfort castle ruins near Alvaneu
Aerial view from 2300 m by Walter Mittelholzer (1925)

Before the merger, Alvaneu had a total area of 35.7 km2 (13.8 sq mi).[4] Of this area, 27% is used for agricultural purposes, while 32.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (38.2%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).[4]

The former municipality is located in the Belfort sub-district of the Albula district. It is located on a terrace above the Albula river. It consists of the village of Alvaneu (Alvaneu-Dorf) and Alvaneu-Bad on the valley floor. The municipality also includes the settlement of Aclas d'Alvagni as well as the alpine settlements of Creusch and Ramoz.

Demographics

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Alvaneu had a population (as of 2013) of 403.[4] As of 2007, 7.6% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -6.2%.[4]

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 42% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (25.1%), the SPS (22.8%) and the FDP (7.9%).[4]

In Alvaneu 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).[4]

Alvaneu has an unemployment rate of 0.27%. As of 2005, there were 43 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 16 businesses involved in this sector. 37 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 4 businesses in this sector. 124 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 23 businesses in this sector.[4]

The historical population is given in the following table:[3][5]

year population
1838 362
1850 354
1880 314
1900 382
1930 441
1950 475
1960 396
1970 421
1980 379
1990 380
2000 407

Languages

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The traditional language of the population until the middle of the 19th century was Romansh. However, in 1880, only 80.1% of the inhabitants spoke Romansch as their native language. This erosion continued (1910: 68.06%, 1941: 56.0%, 1970: 47.03%). 1960 was the last census that counted a Romansch-speaking majority.

Languages in Alvaneu
Language Census of 1980 Census of 1990 Census of 2000
Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
German 189 49.87% 230 60.53% 308 76.43%
Romansh 157 41.42% 109 28.68% 68 16.87%
Italian 30 7.92% 28 7.37% 14 3.47%
Population 379 100% 380 100% 403 100%

Although 31% still speak some Romansch, German is now the only official language for municipality business.

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (76.4%), with Rhaeto-Romance being second most common (16.9%) and Italian being third ( 3.5%).[4]

References

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  1. ^ Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (in German) accessed 2 January 2013
  2. ^ Leybold-Johnson, Isobel (March 20, 2007). "Mountain village converts to a princedom". Swissinfo. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  3. ^ a b Alvaneu in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Portraits of communes". Federal Statistical Office (Switzerland). Archived from the original on 2016-01-05. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
  5. ^ Graubunden in Numbers Archived 2009-09-24 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 21 September 2009
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