Sarnen | |
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 Coat of arms | |
Location of Sarnen  | |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Canton | Obwalden |
| District | n.a. |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Werner Stauffer |
| Area | |
| • Total | 70.01 km2 (27.03 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 473 m (1,552 ft) |
| Population (31 December 2018)[2] | |
| • Total | 10,368 |
| • Density | 150/km2 (380/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (Central European Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time) |
| Postal code(s) | 6060-6061 |
| SFOS number | 1407 |
| ISO 3166 code | CH-OW |
| Localities | Sarnen-Dorfschaft, Kägiswil, Schwendi/Wilen and Ramersberg |
| Surrounded by | Alpnach, Entlebuch (LU), Flühli (LU), Giswil, Hasle (LU), Kerns, Sachseln |
| Website | www SFSO statistics |
Sarnen is the capital of the canton of Obwalden situated on the shores of Lake Sarnen (Sarner See), Switzerland. It has a population of just under 10,000 and is surrounded by countryside and mountains. Sarnen is located 20 km south of Lucerne.
History
Stone Age and Bronze Age finds show that the Sarnen valley was inhabited from the earliest times. Over the years Sarnen developed into an important trading center.
Geography
Sarnen is situated at an altitude of Template:M to ft on the shore of the Lake Sarner (Sarner See). Lake Sarner covers approximately an area of Template:Km2 to mi2. The town is surrounded by mountain chains and a protected bog can be found nearby. The most well-known mountain close to Sarnen is Mount Pilatus with an elevation of Template:M to ft.
Sarnen has an area, as of 2006[update], of Template:Km2 to mi2. Of this area, 40% is used for agricultural purposes, while 50.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 5.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (4%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).[3]
The municipality is made up of 5 sections; Sarnen (population 5,984), Stalden (pop. 1,072), Wilen (pop. 1,234), Kägiswil (pop. 1,214) and Ramersberg (pop. 294).[4]
Demographics
Sarnen has a population (as of 2008[update]) of 9,822, of which 12.8% are foreign nationals.[5] Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 6.7%. Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (91.0%), with Italian being second most common ( 1.6%) and Albanian being third ( 1.6%).[3] As of 2000[update] the gender distribution of the population was 49.9% male and 50.1% female. As of 2000[update] there are 3,452 households in Sarnen.[5]
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 34.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (30%), the Other (22.7%) and the SPS (12.6%).[3]
The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Sarnen about 68.6% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule).[3]
Sarnen has an unemployment rate of 1.16%. As of 2005[update], there were 465 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 182 businesses involved in this sector. 1,854 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 119 businesses in this sector. 3,649 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 451 businesses in this sector.[3]
As of 2008[update], the religious membership of the municipality was; 7,403 or 74.7% are Roman Catholic, while 779 or 7.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there are 39 individuals (or about 0.39% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic faith. There are 1,687 individuals (or about 17.03% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census) or no church.[5]
The historical population is given in the following table:[4]
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1945 | 5,723 |
| 1955 | 6,336 |
| 1965 | 6,686 |
| 1975 | 7,015 |
| 1985 | 7,956 |
| 1995 | 8,858 |
| 2000 | 9,218 |
| 2005 | 9,472 |
| 2006 | 9,512 |
| 2007 | 9,617 |
| 2008 | 9,798 |
Sarnen today
The town of Sarnen has been experiencing steady growth over the past years. It has become more attractive due to its proximity to Lucerne. Many commuters work in Lucerne and use the motorway or railway service to get to work.
Among companies active in Sarnen include Sarna Polymer Holding (waterproofing systems for the construction industry), Leister Technologies (heated-air tools) and Nahrin AG (healthy nutrition).
Transportation
Road
The motorway A8 passes by Sarnen.
Railway
Sarnen lies on the Lucerne—Interlaken line, 23 minutes from Lucerne and 90 minutes from Interlaken. The rail station is situated in the center of the town and serves all major Swiss cities and several international destinations. Trains are operated by Swiss Federal Railways.
Airplane
Switzerland has three major international airports Geneva airport, Zurich airport and Basel airport. Both Basel and Zurich airports lie nearer to Sarnen than Geneva.
By road it takes approximately 1 hour 20 minutes from both airports. The distance in kilometres from Basel and Zurich airport are approximately 125 and 90 respectively.
Geneva and Zurich airports have built-in railway station. The journey from Zurich takes either 1 h 30 min or 1 h 55 min depending on train connections.
Weather
Sarnen has an average of 139.3 days of rain per year and on average receives Template:Mm to in of percipitation. The wettest month is August during which time Sarnen receives an average of Template:Mm to in of percipitation. During this month there is percipitation for an average of 13.6 days. The month with the most days of percipitation is June, with an average of 14.6, but with only Template:Mm to in of percipitation. The driest month of the year is January with an average of Template:Mm to in of percipitation over 13.6 days.[6]
Image gallery
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the Sarneraa - river that flows through townthe Sarneraa - river that flows through town
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town hall with fountaintown hall with fountain
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churchchurch
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Landenberg - the castle above SarnenLandenberg - the castle above Sarnen
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Hospital and Gymnasium (school)Hospital and Gymnasium (school)
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Library in the historic Grundacher HouseLibrary in the historic Grundacher House
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Lake Sarnen
References
- ^ a b "Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeinden nach 4 Hauptbereichen". Federal Statistical Office. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- ^ https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/pxweb/fr/px-x-0102020000_201/-/px-x-0102020000_201.px. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
((cite web)): Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ a b c d e Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 03-Sep-2009
- ^ a b Sarnen in Numbers Template:De icon accessed 3 September 2009
- ^ a b c Canton Obwalden Statistics accessed 2 September 2009 Template:De icon
- ^ "Temperature and Percipitation Average Values-Table, 1961-1990" (in German, French, and Italian). Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology - MeteoSwiss. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
((cite web)): Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help), the weather station elevation is 475 meters above sea level.
External links
- Sarnen Official site Template:De icon
- Sarnen Tourism
- Local companies:
Municipalities in the Canton of Obwalden, Switzerland | ||
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