Sembrancher

Sembrancher
Coat of arms
Sembrancher
Location of Sembrancher
Coordinates: 46°5′N 7°9′E / 46.083°N 7.150°E / 46.083; 7.150Coordinates: 46°5′N 7°9′E / 46.083°N 7.150°E / 46.083; 7.150
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Valais
District	Entremont
Government
• Mayor	Bernard Giovanola
Area
• Total	17.63 km2 (6.81 sq mi)
Elevation	717 m (2,352 ft)
Population (Dec 2015)
• Total	984
• Density	56/km2 (140/sq mi)
Postal code	1933
SFOS number	6035
Surrounded by	Bagnes, Bovernier, Orsières, Vollèges
Twin towns	Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres (France)
Website	www.sembrancher.ch SFSO statistics

Sembrancher is a municipality in the district of Entremont in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

Sembrancher is first mentioned in 1177 as Sancti Pancratii de Branchi. Its German name St Branschier is no longer used.

Sembrancher has an area, as of 2011^[update], of 17.7 square kilometers (6.8 sq mi). Of this area, 17.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 63.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 4.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and 15.3% is unproductive land.

The municipality is the capital of the district of Entremont. It is located at the confluence of the Dranse de Bagnes and the Dranse d'Entremont along the road over the Great St Bernard Pass. It lies about 10 km (6.2 mi) distant from Verbier ski resort and Martigny.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure, in base Coupeaux Argent, issuant from sinister an Arm proper clad Vert and cuffed Argent holding a branch Or.

Sembrancher has a population (as of December 2015^[update]) of 984. As of 2008^[update], 9.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 3%. It has changed at a rate of 3% due to migration and at a rate of -0.4% due to births and deaths.

Most of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks French (778 or 98.2%) as their first language, German is the second most common (6 or 0.8%) and Italian is the third (4 or 0.5%).