Hirzel

Hirzel
Coat of arms
Hirzel Show map of Switzerland Hirzel Show map of Canton of Zurich
Location of Hirzel
Coordinates: 47°13′N 8°36′E / 47.217°N 8.600°E / 47.217; 8.600Coordinates: 47°13′N 8°36′E / 47.217°N 8.600°E / 47.217; 8.600
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Zurich
District	Horgen
Area
• Total	9.72 km2 (3.75 sq mi)
Elevation	678 m (2,224 ft)
Population (Dec 2015)
• Total	2,145
• Density	220/km2 (570/sq mi)
Postal code	8816
SFOS number	0132
Surrounded by	Hausen am Albis, Horgen, Menzingen (ZG), Neuheim (ZG), Schönenberg, Wädenswil
Website	www.hirzel.ch SFSO statistics

Hirzel is a municipality in the district of Horgen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.

Hirzel is first mentioned in 1269 as Hirsol.

Hirzel spans an area of 9.6 km² (3.7 sq mi). Of this area, 68.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 9.3% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (3.3%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains). In 1996^[update] housing and buildings made up 7.2% of the total area, while transportation infrastructure made up the rest (2.2%). Of the total unproductive area, water (streams and lakes) made up 1.1% of the area. As of 2007^[update] 4% of the total municipal area was undergoing some type of construction.

The municipality includes the sections of Hirzel-Kirche, Hirzel-Spitzen and Hirzel-Höchi. In 1878 the municipality borders were surveyed and moved. As a result, several individual farm houses came to Hirzel from Wädenswil, with four more from Horgen.

Hirzel has a population (as of 31 December 2015) of 2,145. As of 2007^[update], 8.2% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. As of 2008^[update] the gender distribution of the population was 49.6% male and 50.4% female. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -1.9%. Most of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks German (93.8%), with English being second most common ( 1.7%) and French being third ( 0.9%).

In the 2007 election the most popular party was the SVP, which received 39.6% of the vote. The next two most popular parties were the SPS (15.7%), the FDP (11.3%).