Oensingen | ||
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Oensingen village
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Coordinates: 47°17′N 7°43′E / 47.283°N 7.717°ECoordinates: 47°17′N 7°43′E / 47.283°N 7.717°E | ||
Country | Switzerland | |
Canton | Solothurn | |
District | Gäu | |
Area | ||
• Total | 12.07 km2 (4.66 sq mi) | |
Elevation | 465 m (1,526 ft) | |
Population (Dec 2015) | ||
• Total | 6,203 | |
• Density | 510/km2 (1,300/sq mi) | |
Postal code | 4702 | |
SFOS number | 2407 | |
Surrounded by | Balsthal, Kestenholz, Niederbipp (BE), Oberbuchsiten | |
Website |
www SFSO statistics |
Oensingen is a municipality in the district of Gäu in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.
Oensingen is first mentioned in 968 as Oingesingin cum ecclesia.
Oensingen has an area, as of 2009[update], of 12.07 square kilometers (4.66 sq mi). Of this area, 4.79 km2 (1.85 sq mi) or 39.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 4.49 km2 (1.73 sq mi) or 37.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.65 km2 (1.02 sq mi) or 22.0% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.08 km2 (20 acres) or 0.7% is either rivers or lakes and 0.03 km2 (7.4 acres) or 0.2% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 4.6% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 8.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 6.1%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.2% of the area Out of the forested land, 36.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.1% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 31.3% is used for growing crops and 6.7% is pastures and 1.2% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Gäu district, at the base of the Jura Mountains at the exit of the Balsthal gorge.
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a Cross pattee couped Argent.
Oensingen has a population (as of December 2015[update]) of 6,203. As of 2008[update], 26.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 14%.
Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (3,859 or 85.4%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common (164 or 3.6%) and Albanian being third (153 or 3.4%). There are 23 people who speak French and 3 people who speak Romansh.