Wichtrach

Wichtrach
Coat of arms
Wichtrach Show map of Switzerland Wichtrach Show map of Canton of Bern
Location of Wichtrach
Coordinates: 46°51′N 7°35′E / 46.850°N 7.583°E / 46.850; 7.583Coordinates: 46°51′N 7°35′E / 46.850°N 7.583°E / 46.850; 7.583
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Bern
District	Bern-Mittelland
Area
• Total	11.59 km2 (4.47 sq mi)
Elevation	538 m (1,765 ft)
Population (Dec 2015)
• Total	4,115
• Density	360/km2 (920/sq mi)
Postal code	3114
SFOS number	0632
Surrounded by	Gerzensee, Häutligen, Herbligen, Jaberg, Kiesen, Kirchdorf, Münsingen, Oberdiessbach, Oppligen, Tägertschi
Website	www.wichtrach.ch SFSO statistics

Wichtrach is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

Wichtrach was created on 1 January 2004 by uniting the independent municipalities of Niederwichtrach and Oberwichtrach. The parish church of Oberwichtrach was first mentioned in 1180. The two Wichtrach villages were first mentioned in 1180 as Wichtracho.

Wichtrach has an area of 11.59 km² (4.47 sq mi). As of 2012, a total of 7.35 km² (2.84 sq mi) or 63.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.59 km² (1.00 sq mi) or 22.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.52 km² (0.59 sq mi) or 13.1% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.11 km² (27 acres) or 0.9% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km² (4.9 acres) or 0.2% is unproductive land.

During the same year, housing and buildings made up 6.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.4%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 49.9% is used for growing crops and 12.1% is pastures, while 1.5% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

On 1 January 2004 the former municipalities of Niederwichtrach and Oberwichtrach merged into the municipality of Wichtrach.

On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Konolfingen, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Bern-Mittelland.

Wichtrach has a population (as of December 2015^[update]) of 4,115. As of 2010^[update], 5.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2001-2011) the population has changed at a rate of 0%. Migration accounted for -0.6%, while births and deaths accounted for 0.5%.

Most of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks German (94.7%) as their first language, French is the second most common (0.5%) and Italian is the third (1.1%).