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Laufen district

Laufen District
Bezirk Laufen
District
Location of Laufen District
Country   Switzerland
Canton  Basel-Landschaft
Capital Laufen
Area
 • Total 89.55 km2 (34.58 sq mi)
Population (2016)
 • Total 19,682
 • Density 220/km2 (570/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Municipalities 13

Laufen District or Laufental District (French: District de Laufon) is one of the five districts of the largely German-speaking canton of Basel-Country, Switzerland. Its capital is the town of Laufen.

Prior to 1994, it was a district of the canton of Bern, one of the seven historical districts of the Bernese Jura. In 1979, three neighbouring French-speaking districts of Bern seceded to form the new canton of Jura. Laufen was left as an exclave of Bern, wedged between Jura, Solothurn, Basel-Country, and France. In 1980, the populace voted to secede from Bern and join Basel-Country. After a transitional period of preparation, this was effected in 1994.

It has a population of 19,682 (as of 31 March 2016).

Laufen district has an area, as of 2009, of 89.56 square kilometers (34.58 sq mi). Of this area, 32.47 km2 (12.54 sq mi) or 36.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 46.75 km2 (18.05 sq mi) or 52.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 9.43 km2 (3.64 sq mi) or 10.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.62 km2 (0.24 sq mi) or 0.7% is either rivers or lakes and 0.25 km2 (0.097 sq mi) or 0.3% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 4.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.2%. Out of the forested land, 49.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 17.1% is used for growing crops and 14.9% is pastures, while 1.6% is used for orchards or vine crops and 2.6% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.


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