Safien
Former municipality in Graubünden, Switzerland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Safien is a former municipality in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The municipalities of Valendas, Versam, Safien and Tenna merged on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of Safiental.[1]
Safien | |
|---|---|
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
 Location of Safien | |
  Safien  Safien | |
| Coordinates: 46°40′N 9°18′E | |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Canton | Graubünden |
| District | Surselva |
| Area | |
• Total | 100.6 km2 (38.8 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,315 m (4,314 ft) |
| Population (Dec 2011) | |
• Total | 294 |
| • Density | 2.92/km2 (7.57/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 7107 |
| SFOS number | 3651 |
| ISO 3166 code | CH-GR |
| Surrounded by | Casti-Wergenstein, Duvin, Flerden, Mathon, Nufenen, Pitasch, Portein, Präz, Riein, Sankt Martin, Sarn, Splügen, Sufers, Tenna, Tschappina, Vals |
| Twin towns | Bettingen (Switzerland) |
| Website | www.safien.ch |
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History
Safien is first mentioned in 1219 as Stosavia.[2]
Geography
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Safien had an area, as of 2006[update], of 100.6 km2 (38.8 sq mi). Of this area, 45.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (35.4%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).[3]
The former municipality was the capital of the Safien sub-district of the Surselva district in the mid and upper Safien valley. The only other municipality in the sub-district was Tenna, which occupied the lower Safien valley. The valley is drained by the Rabiusa river.
The former municipality consists of the village of Safien-Platz (elevation: 1,350 m (4,430 ft)) and scattered hamlets and single farm houses throughout the valley.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a Cross gyronny Argent and Sable[4] It is based on the simple design of the sub-district, with different colors.
Demographics
As of 2011[update], Safien has a population of 294.[5] The historical population is given in the following table:[2]
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1803 | 770 |
| 1850 | 685 |
| 1900 | 455 |
| 1950 | 453 |
| 2000 | 308 |
| 2010 | 305 |
As of 2008[update], 0.3% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.[6]
As of 2000[update]:
- most of the population speaks Swiss German (96.1%), with Swiss Italian being second most common ( 1.6%) and Albanian being third ( 1.6%).[3]
- the gender distribution was 49.5% male and 50.5% female.[7]
- the age distribution was as follows:[6]
| Age group | Population | % of total |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0-9yrs) | 49 | 15.9% |
| Teenagers (10-19yrs) | 43 | 14.0% |
| Adults (20-29yrs) | 24 | 7.8% |
| Adults (30-39yrs) | 37 | 12.0% |
| Adults (40-49yrs) | 39 | 12.7% |
| Adults (50-59yrs) | 36 | 11.7% |
| Seniors (60-69yrs) | 30 | 9.7% |
| Seniors (70-79yrs) | 28 | 9.1% |
| Seniors (80-89yrs) | 18 | 5.8% |
| Seniors (90-99yrs) | 4 | 1.3% |
| Total | 308 | 100% |
Education
Around 61.7% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).[3] The nearest fachhochschules to Safien are in Chur, such as the Chur University of Applied Sciences and Fachhochschule Graubünden.
Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 62.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (18.8%), the FDP (7.4%) and the CVP (5.4%).[3]
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