Naters

Geschichte

Naters is a municipality in the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipalities of Birgisch and Mund merged into the municipality of Naters, which also includes the villages of Hegdorn, Geimen, Mehlbaum, Rischinen and Blatten bei Naters.HistoryNaters is first mentioned in 1018 as Nares.GeographyNaters has an area, of 101.3km2. Of this area, 16.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and 72.7% is unproductive land.The municipality is located in the Brig district, on the right bank of the Rhone river on the gently sloping alluvial country around the Kelchbach. It covers the entire Natischer mountain between Kelchbach and the Mass. It consists of the villages of Naters, Hegdorn, Geimen, Mehlbaum, Rischinen and Blatten.Coat of armsThe blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules, between two Crosiers Or in saltire in chief a Mitre of the same.DemographicsNaters has a population of., 11.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 6.9%. It has changed at a rate of 5.7% due to migration and at a rate of -0.1% due to births and deaths.Most of the population speaks German (6,902 or 91.8%) as their first language, Italian is the second most common (188 or 2.5%) and Albanian is the third (101 or 1.3%). There are 79 people who speak French and 7 people who speak Romansh.