Val-de-Travers

Val-de-Travers
Coat of arms
Val-de-Travers
Location of Val-de-Travers
Coordinates: 46°54′N 6°36′E / 46.900°N 6.600°E / 46.900; 6.600Coordinates: 46°54′N 6°36′E / 46.900°N 6.600°E / 46.900; 6.600
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Neuchâtel
District	Val-de-Travers
Area[1]
• Total	124.91 km2 (48.23 sq mi)
Elevation	737 m (2,418 ft)
Population (Dec 2015[2])
• Total	10,905
• Density	87/km2 (230/sq mi)
Postal code	2112
SFOS number	6512
Website	www.val-de-travers.ch SFSO statistics

Val-de-Travers is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Travers in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2009, when the former municipalities of Boveresse, Buttes, Couvet, Fleurier, Les Bayards, Môtiers, Noiraigue, Saint-Sulpice and Travers merged to form Val-de-Travers.^[3]

The region is known for its production of absinthe.

History

Val-de-Travers is first mentioned in 1150 as Vallis traversis.^[4]

Geography

Chasseron village

Val-de-Travers has an area, as of 2009, of 124.9 square kilometers (48.2 sq mi). Of this area, 52.92 km² (20.43 sq mi) or 42.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 63.24 km² (24.42 sq mi) or 50.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 7.54 km² (2.91 sq mi) or 6.0% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.59 km² (0.23 sq mi) or 0.5% is either rivers or lakes and 0.39 km² (0.15 sq mi) or 0.3% is unproductive land.^[5]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.5% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.5%. Out of the forested land, 46.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 5.0% is used for growing crops and 23.9% is pastures and 13.4% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.^[5]

The municipality is located in a valley in the Neuchâtel Jura. The valley provides a connection between the Swiss plateau and Franche-Comte.

The river L'Areuse (previous called La Reuse, the name morphed into Areuse), flows lengthways of the valley, most of this river is a shallow river, and about 10 meters wide, it narrows into a gorge near Noiraigue. historically, this river provided much of the water and fish for the valley.

Demographics

Houses in Fleurier village

Val-de-Travers has a population (as of December 2015) of 10,905.^[6] As of 2008, 18.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals.^[7] Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of -2.5%. Migration accounted for -1.8%, while births and deaths accounted for -1.6%.^[8]

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks French (88.9%) as their first language, Italian is the second most common (3.0%) and German is the third (2.7%).^[8]

As of 2008, the population was 48.6% male and 51.4% female. The population was made up of 4,161 Swiss men (38.4% of the population) and 1,103 (10.2%) non-Swiss men. There were 4,677 Swiss women (43.2%) and 891 (8.2%) non-Swiss women.^[9]

As of 2000, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 55.9% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 19.1%.^[8]

As of 2009, the construction rate of new housing units was 0.6 new units per 1000 residents.^[8] The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2010, was 1.39%.^[8]

Heritage sites of national significance

The Farm House no. 1201 or Monlési, the Maison des Chats or Petitpierre, the Séchoir à absinthe, Ivernois Castle and the Maison Boy de la Tour, the Hôtel des Six-Communes, the medieval church of St-Pierre, the Temple in Môtiers and Areuse Bridge are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The villages of Buttes, Les Verrières, Môtiers, Couvet, Fleurier and Travers are all part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.^[10]

• 
  Farm House no. 1201 or Monlési
• 
  Maison des chats
• 
  Séchoir à absinthe in Boveresse, this particular 'rocks' back and forth because of the wind, it creates a draft used to help dry the wormwood.
• 
  Ivernois Castle, Maison Boy de la Tour
• 
  Motiers-Hotel-Six-Communes, previously used to be a midway station, used to house stables and rooms amongst other services. Romans also used a location near the Six-Communes for the same purpose
• 
  medieval church of St-Pierre
• 
  Temple of Môtiers
• 
  Areuse Bridge

Economy

Fleurier train station

As of 2010, Val-de-Travers had an unemployment rate of 6.6%. As of 2008, there were 322 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 139 businesses involved in this sector. 1,980 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 162 businesses in this sector. 2,188 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 374 businesses in this sector.^[8] There were residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity. Of the working population, 13.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 57.3% used a private car.^[8]

Education

In the canton of Neuchâtel most municipalities provide two years of non-mandatory kindergarten, followed by five years of mandatory primary education. The next four years of mandatory secondary education is provided at thirteen larger secondary schools, which many students travel out of their home municipality to attend.^[11] During the 2010-11 school year, there were 10.5 kindergarten classes with a total of 198 students in Val-de-Travers. In the same year, there were 29 primary classes with a total of 528 students.^[12]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Val-de-Travers.

• Boveresse in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

Municipalities in the district of Val-de-Travers, Switzerland
La Côte-aux-Fées Les Verrières Val-de-Travers Canton of Neuchâtel Districts of Canton Neuchâtel Municipalities of the canton of Neuchâtel