Alterswil

Alterswil
Hotel Alpenrose in Alterswil village
Coat of arms
Alterswil Show map of Switzerland Alterswil Show map of Canton of Fribourg
Location of Alterswil
Coordinates: 46°48′N 7°16′E / 46.800°N 7.267°E / 46.800; 7.267Coordinates: 46°48′N 7°16′E / 46.800°N 7.267°E / 46.800; 7.267
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Fribourg
District	Sense
Government
• Mayor	Gemeindeammann
Area
• Total	16.11 km2 (6.22 sq mi)
Elevation	758 m (2,487 ft)
Population (Dec 2015)
• Total	2,047
• Density	130/km2 (330/sq mi)
Postal code	1715
SFOS number	2291
Surrounded by	Brünisried, Guggisberg (BE), Sankt Antoni, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Wahlern (BE), Zumholz
Website	www.alterswil.ch SFSO statistics

Alterswil is a municipality in the district of Sense in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. It is one of the municipalities with a large majority of German speakers in the mostly French speaking Canton of Fribourg.

Alterswil is first mentioned in 1148 as Alterihcwilere. In 1228 it was mentioned as Vilar Altri.

Alterswil has an area of 16.11 km² (6.22 sq mi). Of this area, 12.31 km² (4.75 sq mi) or 76.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.61 km² (1.01 sq mi) or 16.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.06 km² (0.41 sq mi) or 6.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.08 km² (20 acres) or 0.5% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km² (4.9 acres) or 0.1% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.4%. Out of the forested land, 14.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 45.4% is used for growing crops and 29.4% is pastures, while 1.6% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

The municipality is located in the Sense district, about 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Fribourg. It consists of the linear village of Alterswil and the surrounding settlements of Äckerli, Bennewil, Galtern, Gerewil, Heimberg, Wengliswil, Wilersgut, Wolgiswil, Zumholz and Zitterli.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules, a fleur de lis Argent.

Alterswil has a population (as of December 2015^[update]) of 2,047. As of 2008^[update], 4.1% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 1.1%. Migration accounted for -0.6%, while births and deaths accounted for 1.8%.