Niederbipp is a municipality in the Oberaargau administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2020 the former municipality of Wolfisberg merged into Niederbipp.

Niederbipp
Aerial view of Niederbipp
Aerial view of Niederbipp
Coat of arms of Niederbipp
Location of Niederbipp
Map
Niederbipp is located in Switzerland
Niederbipp
Niederbipp
Niederbipp is located in Canton of Bern
Niederbipp
Niederbipp
Coordinates: 47°16′N 7°42′E / 47.267°N 7.700°E / 47.267; 7.700
CountrySwitzerland
CantonBern
DistrictOberaargau
Area
 • Total17.5 km2 (6.8 sq mi)
Elevation
468 m (1,535 ft)
Population
 (31 December 2018)[2]
 • Total4,715
 • Density270/km2 (700/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)
4704
SFOS number0981
ISO 3166 codeCH-BE
Surrounded byBalsthal (SO), Bannwil, Kestenholz (SO), Laupersdorf (SO), Oberbipp, Oensingen (SO), Schwarzhäusern, Wolfisberg
Websitewww.niederbipp.ch
SFSO statistics

History

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Niederbipp is first mentioned in 968 as Pippa. In 1302 it was mentioned as Nider-Bippe.[3]

Geography

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Aerial view by Walter Mittelholzer (1925)

Niederbipp has an area, as of 2009, of 17.37 square kilometers (6.71 sq mi). Of this area, 8.2 km2 (3.2 sq mi) or 47.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 6.55 km2 (2.53 sq mi) or 37.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.64 km2 (1.02 sq mi) or 15.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and 0.06 km2 (15 acres) or 0.3% is unproductive land.[4]

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.9% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 5.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.0%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.7% of the area Out of the forested land, 36.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 34.1% is used for growing crops and 10.6% is pastures, while 1.3% is used for orchards or vine crops and 1.2% is used for alpine pastures.[4]

The municipality is located on the southern flank of the Jura mountains. It includes the village of Niederbipp, the hamlets of Walde, Holzhüsere and Lehn and scattered individual houses.

Demographics

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Niederbipp has a population (as of 31 December 2020) of 5,097.[5] As of 2007, 18.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 5.1%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (89.0%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 3.1%) and Albanian being third ( 1.8%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP which received 43.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SPS (19.8%), the FDP (19.2%) and the Green Party (6.2%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.5% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.2% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.3%. In Niederbipp about 69.3% of the population (between age 25-64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).

Niederbipp has an unemployment rate of 1.79%. As of 2005, there were 255 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 46 businesses involved in this sector. 623 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 55 businesses in this sector. 853 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 105 businesses in this sector.[6] The historical population is given in the following table:[3]

year population
1764 1,041
1850 2,337
1900 2,245
1950 3,050
2000 3,930

Transport

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Härkingen respectively Niederbipp are scheduled as one of the eight hubs of the proposed Cargo Sous Terrain, an underground cargo transport system those first phase is planned by the early 2030s.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "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. ^ a b Niederbipp in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  4. ^ a b Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data (in German) accessed 25 March 2010
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 21-Jul-2009
  7. ^ "Das wird die Logistik in der Schweiz auf den Kopf stellen" (in German). Limmattaler Zeitung. 2016-01-26. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
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