Biberist

Biberist
Biberist
Coat of arms
Biberist
Location of Biberist
Coordinates: 47°11′N 7°34′E / 47.183°N 7.567°E / 47.183; 7.567Coordinates: 47°11′N 7°34′E / 47.183°N 7.567°E / 47.183; 7.567
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Solothurn
District	Wasseramt
Area
• Total	12.3 km2 (4.7 sq mi)
Elevation	447 m (1,467 ft)
Population (Dec 2015)
• Total	8,223
• Density	670/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
Postal code	4562
SFOS number	2513
Surrounded by	Bätterkinden (BE), Bellach, Derendingen, Gerlafingen, Lohn-Ammannsegg, Lüsslingen, Solothurn, Zielebach (BE), Zuchwil
Website	www.biberist.ch SFSO statistics

Biberist is a municipality in the district of Wasseramt in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.

Biberist is first mentioned in 762 as Biberussa. In 1300 Ober- and Unterbiberist were mentioned as ze beiden Biberschon.

During the Helvetic Republic it was the capital of the Biberist district.

Biberist has an area, as of 2009^[update], of 12.3 square kilometers (4.7 sq mi). Of this area, 4.53 km² (1.75 sq mi) or 36.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 4.19 km² (1.62 sq mi) or 34.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.25 km² (1.25 sq mi) or 26.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.27 km² (0.10 sq mi) or 2.2% is either rivers or lakes.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 4.4% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 12.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 7.5%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.1%. Out of the forested land, 32.3% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 26.3% is used for growing crops and 8.9% 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 Wasseramt district, between the Emme and Aare rivers south of Solothurn. The two villages of Ober- and Unterbiberist were merged into a single municipality in 1857.

The municipalities of Biberist, Derendingen, Luterbach, Bellach, Langendorf and Solothurn are considering a merger at a date in the future into the new municipality of with an, as of 2011^[update], undetermined name.