Montfaucon, Switzerland

Montfaucon is a municipality in the district of Franches-Montagnes in the canton of Jura in Switzerland. On 1 January 2009 the former municipality of Montfavergier merged into Montfaucon.[3]

Montfaucon
Municipality in Switzerland
Hotel du Lion d'Or in Montfaucon village
Coat of arms
Location of Montfaucon
Montfaucon
Montfaucon
Coordinates: 47°17′N 07°03′E
CountrySwitzerland
CantonJura
DistrictFranches-Montagnes
Government
 • MayorMaire
Area
 • Total14.82 km2 (5.72 sq mi)
Elevation
996 m (3,268 ft)
Population
 (2018-12-31)[2]
 • Total603
 • Density41/km2 (110/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)
2362
SFOS number6751
Surrounded byLe Bémont, Les Enfers, Saint-Brais, Lajoux, Les Genevez, Tramelan(BE)
Websitehttp://www.montfaucon.ch
SFSO statistics

History
Aerial view (1955)

Montfaucon is first mentioned in 1125 as de Monte Falconis. The municipality was formerly known by its German name Falkenberg, however, that name is no longer used.[4]

Geography
Montfaucon

Montfaucon has an area of 18.25 km2 (7.05 sq mi).[5] Of this area, 11.95 km2 (4.61 sq mi) or 65.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 5.51 km2 (2.13 sq mi) or 30.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.71 km2 (0.27 sq mi) or 3.9% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.01 km2 (2.5 acres) or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes and 0.1 km2 (25 acres) or 0.5% is unproductive land.[6]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.1%. Out of the forested land, 26.3% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.9% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 4.6% is used for growing crops and 37.2% is pastures and 23.6% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in lakes.[6]

The municipality is located in the Franches-Montagnes district, on a ridge between Glovelier and Saignelégier. It consists of the villages of Montfaucon and Montfavergier.

The municipalities of Le Bémont, Les Bois, Les Breuleux, La Chaux-des-Breuleux, Les Enfers, Les Genevez, Lajoux, Montfaucon, Muriaux, Le Noirmont, Saignelégier, Saint-Brais and Soubey are considering a merger on at a date in the future into the new municipality of Franches-Montagnes.[3]

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent, a Falcon displayed Gules statant on Coupeaux of the same. This is an example of canting since the name Montfaucon means Falcon Mountain.[7]

Demographics
Montfaucon village

Montfaucon has a population (as of December 2019) of 583.[8] As of 2008, 4.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals.[9] Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 7.4%. Migration accounted for 3.7%, while births and deaths accounted for 3.7%.[10]

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks French (445 or 91.8%) as their first language, German is the second most common (35 or 7.2%) and Spanish is the third (2 or 0.4%).[11]

As of 2008, the population was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. The population was made up of 279 Swiss men (47.8% of the population) and 14 (2.4%) non-Swiss men. There were 276 Swiss women (47.3%) and 15 (2.6%) non-Swiss women.[12] Of the population in the municipality, 215 or about 44.3% were born in Montfaucon and lived there in 2000. There were 135 or 27.8% who were born in the same canton, while 92 or 19.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 25 or 5.2% were born outside of Switzerland.[11]

As of 2000, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 26.2% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 59.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 14.2%.[10]

As of 2000, there were 220 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 222 married individuals, 24 widows or widowers and 19 individuals who are divorced.[11]

As of 2000, there were 200 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household.[10] There were 55 households that consist of only one person and 18 households with five or more people. In 2000, a total of 182 apartments (65.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 45 apartments (16.1%) were seasonally occupied and 52 apartments (18.6%) were empty.[13] As of 2009, the construction rate of new housing units was 12 new units per 1000 residents.[10] The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2010, was 1.53%.[10]

The historical population is given in the following chart:[4][14]

Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CSP which received 28.17% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (23.66%), the CVP (22.82%) and the FDP (14.08%). In the federal election, a total of 181 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 44.3%.[15]

Economy
Train station Pré-Petitjean at Montfaucon

As of  2010, Montfaucon had an unemployment rate of 3.7%. As of 2008, there were 67 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 29 businesses involved in this sector. 34 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 8 businesses in this sector. 76 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 17 businesses in this sector.[10] There were 258 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.2% of the workforce.

In 2008 the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 130. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 45, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 29, all of which were in manufacturing. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 56. In the tertiary sector; 13 or 23.2% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 4 or 7.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 26 or 46.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 8 or 14.3% were the insurance or financial industry, 4 or 7.1% were in education.[16]

In 2000, there were 41 workers who commuted into the municipality and 154 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.8 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 22.0% of the workforce coming into Montfaucon are coming from outside Switzerland.[17] Of the working population, 4.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 60% used a private car.[10]

Religion
Village church

From the 2000 census, 344 or 70.9% were Roman Catholic, while 57 or 11.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 2 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.41% of the population), and there were 50 individuals (or about 10.31% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 2 (or about 0.41% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 1 individual who belonged to another church. 33 (or about 6.80% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 21 individuals (or about 4.33% of the population) did not answer the question.[11]

Education

In Montfaucon about 166 or (34.2%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 35 or (7.2%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 35 who completed tertiary schooling, 60.0% were Swiss men, 31.4% were Swiss women.[11]

The Canton of Jura school system provides two year of non-obligatory Kindergarten, followed by six years of Primary school. This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude. Following the lower Secondary students may attend a three or four year optional upper Secondary school followed by some form of Tertiary school or they may enter an apprenticeship.[18]

During the 2009-10 school year, there were a total of 47 students attending 3 classes in Montfaucon. There was one kindergarten class with 9 students in the municipality.[19] The municipality had 3 primary classes and 47 students.[20] There are only nine Secondary schools in the canton, so all the students from Montfaucon attend their secondary school in another municipality.

As of 2000, there were 9 students in Montfaucon who came from another municipality, while 43 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[17]

References
  1. "Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeinden nach 4 Hauptbereichen". Federal Statistical Office. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  2. "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Staatsangehörigkeitskategorie Geschlecht und Gemeinde; Provisorische Jahresergebnisse; 2018". Federal Statistical Office. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  3. "Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (in German)". Archived from the original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  4. Montfaucon in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  5. Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeindedaten nach 4 Hauptbereichen
  6. Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data (in German). Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  7. Flags of the World.com. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  8. "Ständige und nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach institutionellen Gliederungen, Geburtsort und Staatsangehörigkeit". bfs.admin.ch (in German). Swiss Federal Statistical Office - STAT-TAB. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  9. Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008 (in German). Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  10. Swiss Federal Statistical Office. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  11. STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000 Archived 9 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine (in German). Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  12. Canton Jura Statistics- Population résidante permanente au 1er janvier 2010, canton du Jura et communes Archived 26 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine (in French). Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  13. Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen Archived 7 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine (in German). Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  14. Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Bevölkerungsentwicklung nach Region, 1850-2000 Archived 30 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine (in German). Retrieved 29 January 2011.
  15. Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Nationalratswahlen 2007: Stärke der Parteien und Wahlbeteiligung, nach Gemeinden/Bezirk/Canton (in German). Retrieved 28 May 2010.
  16. Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Betriebszählung: Arbeitsstätten nach Gemeinde und NOGA 2008 (Abschnitte), Sektoren 1-3 Archived 25 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine (in German). Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  17. Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb Archived 4 August 2012 at Archive.today (in German). Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  18. EDK/CDIP/IDES (2010). Kantonale Schulstrukturen in der Schweiz und im Fürstentum Liechtenstein / Structures Scolaires Cantonales en Suisse et Dans la Principauté du Liechtenstein (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  19. Effectifs de l'école enfantine 2009-2010 Archived 14 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine (in French). Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  20. Effectifs de l'école primaire (in French). Retrieved 19 December 2011.
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