Gossau ZH

Gossau
Coat of arms
Gossau Show map of Switzerland Gossau Show map of Canton of Zurich
Location of Gossau
Coordinates: 47°19′N 8°45′E / 47.317°N 8.750°E / 47.317; 8.750Coordinates: 47°19′N 8°45′E / 47.317°N 8.750°E / 47.317; 8.750
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Zurich
District	Hinwil
Area
• Total	18.27 km2 (7.05 sq mi)
Elevation	455 m (1,493 ft)
Population (Dec 2016)
• Total	9,791
• Density	540/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Postal code	8625
SFOS number	0115
Surrounded by	Bubikon, Egg, Grüningen, Hinwil, Mönchaltorf, Uster, Wetzikon
Website	www.gossau-zh.ch SFSO statistics

Gossau is a municipality in the district of Hinwil in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. Besides the village of Gossau itself, the municipality includes the settlements of Bertschikon, Grüt, Herschmettlen and Ottikon.

Gossau is first mentioned in 859 as Cozzesouwo.

Gossau has an area of 18.3 km² (7.1 sq mi). Of this area, 67% is used for agricultural purposes, while 14.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 17.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.8%) is non-productive (streams and non-productive vegetation). In 1996^[update] housing and buildings made up 12% of the total area, while transportation infrastructure made up the rest (5.9%). Of the total unproductive area, water (i.e. streams) made up 0.4% of the area. As of 2007^[update] 11.7% of the total municipal area was undergoing some type of construction.

The municipality is made up of five sections; Gossau (with the church settlement of Berg), Bertschikon, Grüt, Herschmettlen and Ottikon. It stretches through the uppermost section of the Glatt valley. The topography is littered with ice age moraines (known as Drumlins) and basin of the former Gossauer Ried (Gossauer moor).

Mayor is Jörg Kündig (FDP, 2014).

Gossau has a population (as of 31 December 2016) of 9,791. As of 2007^[update], 10.5% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. As of 2008^[update] the gender distribution of the population was 49.9% male and 50.1% female. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 12.4%. Most of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks German (92.4%), with Italian being second most common ( 2.0%) and Portuguese being third ( 1.2%).