Safien

Coordinates: 46°40′N 9°18′E / 46.667°N 9.300°E / 46.667; 9.300
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Safien
Coat of arms of Safien
Location of Safien
Map
Safien is located in Switzerland
Safien
Safien
Safien is located in Canton of Graubünden
Safien
Safien
Coordinates: 46°40′N 9°18′E / 46.667°N 9.300°E / 46.667; 9.300
CountrySwitzerland
CantonGraubünden
DistrictSurselva
Area
 • Total100.58 km2 (38.83 sq mi)
Elevation
1,315 m (4,314 ft)
Population
 (Dec 2011)
 • Total294
 • Density2.9/km2 (7.6/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)
7107
SFOS number3651
Surrounded byCasti-Wergenstein, Duvin, Flerden, Mathon, Nufenen, Pitasch, Portein, Präz, Riein, Sankt Martin, Sarn, Splügen, Sufers, Tenna, Tschappina, Vals
Twin townsBettingen (Switzerland)
Websitewww.safien.ch
SFSO statistics

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]

History[edit]

Safien is first mentioned in 1219 as Stosavia.[2]

Geography[edit]

Thalkirch church, Safien
Mountain huts in Safien
Farm shed on Safierstrasse

Safien had an area, as of 2006, 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[edit]

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[edit]

Hay farmer on Safierstrasse

As of 2011, 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, 0.3% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.[6]

As of 2000:

  • 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[edit]

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[edit]

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]

Economy[edit]

Farmers harvesting hay on Safierstrasse in Safien

As of 2005, Safien has an unemployment rate of 0.46%. Employment and businesses were organized as follows:[3]

Sector People Employed Businesses Involved
Primary (raw materials) 89 35
Secondary (manufacturing) 15 3
Tertiary (service) 32 12

References[edit]

  1. ^ Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (in German) accessed 2 January 2013
  2. ^ a b Safien in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  3. ^ a b c d e Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 02-Dec-2009
  4. ^ Flags of the World.com[permanent dead link] accessed 02-Dec-2009
  5. ^ Swiss Federal Statistics Office – STAT-TAB[permanent dead link] Ständige und Nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Region, Geschlecht, Nationalität und Alter (in German) accessed 3 October 2012
  6. ^ a b Graubunden Population Statistics Archived 2009-08-27 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 21 September 2009
  7. ^ Graubunden in Numbers Archived 2009-09-24 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 21 September 2009

External links[edit]