Seeland (administrative district)

Seeland District Verwaltungskreis Seeland
District
Coordinates: 47°02′N 7°16′E / 47.033°N 7.267°E / 47.033; 7.267Coordinates: 47°02′N 7°16′E / 47.033°N 7.267°E / 47.033; 7.267
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Bern
Capital	Aarberg
Area
• Total	335 km2 (129 sq mi)
Population (2015)
• Total	72,076
• Density	220/km2 (560/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Municipalities	42

Seeland District in the Canton of Bern was created on 1 January 2010.^[1] It is part of the Seeland administrative region. It contains 45 municipalities with an area of 334.14 km² (129.01 sq mi) and a population (as of 2015) of 72,076.^[2]

Municipalities

Flag	Name	Population (31 December 2015)[3]	Area in km²
	Aarberg	4,529	7.92
	Arch	1,540	6.37
	Bargen	995	7.88
	Brüttelen	568	6.62
	Büetigen	833	3.62
	Bühl	423	2.95
	Büren an der Aare	3,537	12.64
	Diessbach bei Büren	996	6.27
	Dotzigen	1,455	4.22
	Epsach	328	3.44
	Erlach	1,410	3.50
	Finsterhennen	533	3.56
	Gals	780	7.84
	Gampelen	864	10.75
	Grossaffoltern	2,999	15.01
	Hagneck	410	1.84
	Hermrigen	303	3.43
	Ins	3,444	23.91
	Jens	674	4.56
	Kallnach	1,905	15.18
	Kappelen	1,350	10.97
	Leuzigen	1,251	10.27
	Lüscherz	528	5.44
	Lyss	14,341	1483
	Meienried	52	0.65
	Merzligen	401	2.27
	Müntschemier	1,333	4.88
	Oberwil bei Büren	830	6.72
	Radelfingen	1,256	14.72
	Rapperswil	2,586	18.19
	Rüti bei Büren	840	6.50
	Schüpfen	3,719	19.83
	Seedorf	3,002	20.92
	Siselen	579	5.50
	Studen (BE)	3,107	2.73
	Täuffelen	2,753	4.40
	Treiten	433	4.75
	Tschugg	447	3.30
	Vinelz	860	4.57
	Walperswil	999	6.94
	Wengi	609	7.06
	Worben	2,274	2.81
	Total (42)	72,076	334.14

Mergers and name changes

On 1 January 2011 the municipality of Busswil bei Büren merged into the municipality of Lyss.^[4]

On 1 January 2013 the municipality of Niederried bei Kallnach merged into Kallnach. The municipality of Ruppoldsried merged into Rapperswil.^[5]

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

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 together 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.^[6]

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^[7]

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.^[6]

Demographics

Seeland has a population (as of December 2015) of 72,076.^[8]

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.^[9]

References

Subdivisions of the canton of Bern
Administrative Regions [1][2]	Bern-Mittelland Emmental-Oberaargau Jura Bernois Oberland Seeland
Administrative Districts[1][2]	Bern-Mittelland Jura Bernois Biel/Bienne Emmental Frutigen-Niedersimmental Interlaken-Oberhasli Oberaargau Obersimmental-Saanen Seeland Thun
Districts of Switzerland Municipalities of the canton of Bern

1. 1 2 "Karte der Verwaltungskreise und Verwaltungsregionen" (PDF) (PDF) (in German). Thun, Berne: Justiz-, Gemeinde- und Kirchendirektion, Canton of Berne. 1 January 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-14. 
2. 1 2 "Regierungsstatthalterämter" (in German). Thun, Berne: Justiz-, Gemeinde- und Kirchendirektion, Canton of Berne. Retrieved 2015-10-14.