Bellwald

Coat of arms

Bellwald

Location of Bellwald

Coordinates: 46°26′N 8°9′E / 46.433°N 8.150°ECoordinates: 46°26′N 8°9′E / 46.433°N 8.150°E

Country

Government

• Mayor

Martin Bittel

Area

• Total

13.69 km² (5.29 sq mi)

Elevation

1,560 m (5,120 ft)

Population (Dec 2015)

• Total

411

• Density

30/km² (78/sq mi)

Postal code

3997

SFOS number

6052

Surrounded by

Blitzingen, Ernen, Fiesch, Fieschertal, Grafschaft, Niederwald

Website

www.bellwald.ch
SFSO statistics

Bellwald is a municipality in the district of Goms in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

Bellwald was first used to refer to the nearby mountain 1273 Beliwalt and 1293 Belwalt. The name then came to mean the main village below the mountain. The village was first mentioned in 1374 as Zblattun.

Bellwald has an area, as of 2011^[update], of 13.7 square kilometers (5.3 sq mi). Of this area, 49.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 19.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 4.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and 26.2% is unproductive land.

It lies at 1,600 m (5,200 ft) and is the highest village in Goms, or the upper Rhône River valley.

The municipality consists of scattered settlements between the Rhone and Fiescher valley. It consists of the village of Bellwald and the hamlets of Ried, Eggen, Bodmen and Fürgangen.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure, issuant from Coupeaux Vert a Pine tree of the same trunked Maroon.

Bellwald has a population (as of December 2015^[update]) of 411. As of 2008^[update], 15.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of -6.5%. It has changed at a rate of -3.3% due to migration and at a rate of 2.4% due to births and deaths.

Most of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks German (375 or 87.8%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian is the second most common (16 or 3.7%) and Albanian is the third (12 or 2.8%). There are 3 people who speak French, 1 person who speaks Italian.

...
Wikipedia