Seeland (administrative district)

Seeland District in the Canton of Bern was created on 1 January 2010.[1] It is part of the Seeland administrative region. It contains 42 municipalities with an area of 334.14 km2 (129.01 sq mi) and a population (as of 2020) of 76,052.[2]

Seeland District
Verwaltungskreis Seeland
District
Coordinates: 47°02′N 7°16′E
Country  Switzerland
Canton Bern
CapitalAarberg
Area
 • Total335 km2 (129 sq mi)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total76,052
 • Density230/km2 (590/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Municipalities42

Municipalities
Flag Name Population
(31 December 2020)[2]		 Area in km2
Aarberg Aarberg4,626 7.92
Arch Arch1,700 6.37
Bargen Bargen1,051 7.88
Brüttelen Brüttelen582 6.62
Büetigen Büetigen894 3.62
Bühl Bühl482 2.95
Büren an der Aare Büren an der Aare3,622 12.64
Diessbach bei Büren Diessbach bei Büren991 6.27
Dotzigen Dotzigen1,490 4.22
Epsach Epsach326 3.44
Erlach Erlach1,386 3.50
Finsterhennen Finsterhennen562 3.56
Gals Gals828 7.84
Gampelen Gampelen950 10.75
Grossaffoltern Grossaffoltern3,033 15.01
Hagneck Hagneck420 1.84
Hermrigen Hermrigen307 3.43
Ins Ins3,560 23.91
Jens Jens633 4.56
Kallnach Kallnach2,220 15.19
Kappelen Kappelen1,420 10.97
Leuzigen Leuzigen1,295 10.27
Lüscherz Lüscherz559 5.44
Lyss Lyss15,763 1483
Meienried Meienried53 0.65
Merzligen Merzligen389 2.27
Müntschemier Müntschemier1,561 4.88
Oberwil bei Büren Oberwil bei Büren887 6.72
Radelfingen Radelfingen1,272 14.72
Rapperswil Rapperswil2,592 18.19
Rüti bei Büren Rüti bei Büren867 6.50
Schüpfen Schüpfen3,792 19.83
Seedorf Seedorf3,134 20.92
Siselen Siselen612 5.50
Studen Studen (BE)3,372 2.73
Täuffelen Täuffelen2,971 4.40
Treiten Treiten429 4.75
Tschugg Tschugg470 3.30
Vinelz Vinelz878 4.57
Walperswil Walperswil1,039 6.94
Wengi Wengi630 7.06
Worben Worben2,404 2.81
Total (42)76,052 334.14

Mergers and name changes

On 1 January 2011 the municipality of Busswil bei Büren merged into the municipality of Lyss.[3]

On 1 January 2013 the municipality of Niederried bei Kallnach merged into Kallnach. The municipality of Ruppoldsried merged into Rapperswil.[4]

On 1 January 2016 the municipality of Bangerten merged into Rapperswil.

On 1 January 2019 the former municipality of Golaten merged into Kallnach.

History

During the Ancien Régime Bern acquired the rural bailiwicks or counties of Aarberg, Buren, Erlach and Nidau from the estates of the Lords of Aarberg-Valangin, Strassberg-Büren, Nidau and the Counts of Neuchâtel. Between 1595 and 1628 they were combined militarily into the so-called Seefähnchen. However, they were politically separate. It was not until 1783-84 that Johann Friedrich von Ryhiner's administrative compendium of the Bernese State presented the four counties as a united region.[5]

During the Helvetic Republic (1798-1803), the borders of the Seeland shrunk to the Amt of Erlach and portions of the Amts of Nidau and Aarberg. Between 1803 and 1815 it was a Grand Council of Bern election district with the Amts of Fraubrunnen and Wangen and portions of the Amts of Bern and Burgdorf. Between 1850 and 1918 it formed a National Council of Switzerland constituency, made up of Laupen and Biel. From 1869 to 1921 it was again a Grand Council of Bern election district made up of the Amts of Biel, Aarberg, Laupen and the northern portion of Bern. In 2010, the Seeland region was created with the Districts of Biel and Seeland. The new Seeland district (Verwaltungskreise) was made up of all or part of the former districts of Aarberg, Büren, Erlach and Nidau[6]

The Bernese Seeland consists of two differing landscapes. The lake shore areas were occupied as far back as the Neolithic, such as the UNESCO World Heritage Site pile dwellings at Twann from about 3800 BC. The lake shore areas were easily settled and fishing dominated the local economies. During the Middle Ages vineyards were added on the slopes of the Jura Mountains above the lakes. In contrast, the plains and the Grosses Moos swamp were crossed by meandering rivers like the Aare and Zihl/Thielle which frequently flooded making the land hostile to settlements. The villages on the edges of the swamp, used the swamp mainly for grazing. However, following the Jura water correction projects the bogs were drained and the formerly useless swamps became excellent farming land.[5]

Demographics

Seeland has a population (as of December 2020) of 76,052.[2]

As of 2008, the population was 49.4% male and 50.6% female. The population was made up of 30,045 Swiss men (44.0% of the population) and 3,719 (5.4%) non-Swiss men. There were 31,406 Swiss women (46.0%) and 311 (0.5%) non-Swiss women.[7]

References
  1. Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz, Mutationsmeldungen 2009 / Répertoire officiel des communes de Suisse, Mutations 2009 / Elenco ufficiale dei Comuni della Svizzera, Mutazione 2009 (PDF) (Report). Federal Statistical Office. 2009. 2776. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2010. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  2. "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.
  3. Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz Archived 2015-11-13 at the Wayback Machine (in German) accessed 4 April 2011
  4. Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (in German) accessed 17 April 2013
  5. Seeland in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  6. Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz, Mutationsmeldungen 2009 / Répertoire officiel des communes de Suisse, Mutations 2009 / Elenco ufficiale dei Comuni della Svizzera, Mutazione 2009 (PDF) (Report). Federal Statistical Office. 2009. nden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2010. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  7. Statistical office of the Canton of Bern (in German) accessed 4 January 2012
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