Erstfeld

Geschichte

Erstfeld is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland.HistoryErstfeld is first mentioned in 1258 as Ourzcvelt. In 1638, it was listed under the Latin name in Protocampis. In 1831, it was known as Hirschfelden.GeographyErstfeld has an area, of 59.2km2. Of this area, 11.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 29.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (56.2%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains)., 19.8% of the total land area was heavily forested, while 7.9% is covered in small trees and shrubbery. Of the agricultural land, 0.2% is used for farming or pastures, while 5.3% is used for orchards or vine crops and 6.3% is used for alpine pastures. Of the settled areas, 1.2% is covered with buildings, 0.3% is industrial, 0.1% is listed as parks and greenbelts and 1.2% is transportation infrastructure. Of the unproductive areas, 0.1% is unproductive standing water (ponds or lakes), 0.9% is unproductive flowing water (rivers), 41.8% is too rocky for vegetation, and 13.3% is other unproductive land.The municipality consists of the linear village of Erstfeld and scattered farm houses along the valley floor and up the mountain sides.Erstfeld is at the base of the northern ramp of the Gotthard railway and houses all the rolling stock needed for the rail line.PopulationErstfeld has a population of., 13.3% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years, the population has decreased at a rate of -10.8%. Most of the population speaks German (88.7%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common (3.7%), and Italian being third (2.4%). As of 2007, the gender distribution of the population was 50.6% male and 49.4% female.