Zermatt

Coat of arms

Zermatt

Location of Zermatt

Coordinates: 46°01′N 7°45′E / 46.017°N 7.750°ECoordinates: 46°01′N 7°45′E / 46.017°N 7.750°E

Country

Government

• Mayor

Christoph Bürgin
(as of 2004)

Area

• Total

242.69 km² (93.70 sq mi)

Elevation

1,608 m (5,276 ft)

Population (Dec 2015)

• Total

5,759

• Density

24/km² (61/sq mi)

Postal code

3920

SFOS number

6300

Localities

Blatten, Findeln, Gornergrat, Ried, Schwarzsee, Z'mutt

Surrounded by

Alagna Valsesia (IT-VC), Ayas (IT-AO), Ayer, Bionaz (IT-AO), Evolène, Gressoney-La-Trinité (IT-AO), Macugnaga (IT-VB), Randa, Saas-Almagell, Täsch, Valtournenche (IT-AO)

Twin towns

Alfano (Italy)

Website

www.zermatt.ch
SFSO statistics

Zermatt is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a population of about 5,800 inhabitants.

The town lies at the upper end of Mattertal at an elevation of 1,620 m (5,310 ft), at the foot of Switzerland's highest peaks. It lies about 10 km (6.2 mi) from the over 10,800 ft (3,291.84 m) high Theodul Pass bordering Italy.

Zermatt is famed as a mountaineering and ski resort of the Swiss Alps. Until the mid-19th century, it was predominantly an agricultural community; the first and tragic ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 was followed by a rush on the mountains surrounding the village, leading to the construction of many tourist facilities. The year round population (as of December 2015^[update]) is 5,759, though there may be several times as many tourists in Zermatt at any one time. Much of the local economy is based on tourism, with about half of the jobs in town in hotels or restaurants and just under half of all apartments are vacation apartments. Just over one-third of the permanent population was born in the town, while another third moved to Zermatt from outside Switzerland.

The name of Zermatt, as well as that of the Matterhorn itself, derives from the alpine meadows, or matten (in German), in the valley. The name appeared first as Zur Matte ("at the meadow") and became later Zermatt. It does not appear until 1495 on a map or 1546 in a text, but may have been employed long before.

Praborno or Prato Borno (prato also means meadow) are the older names of Zermatt; they appear in the ancient maps as early as the thirteenth century. The Romand-speaking people from the Aosta Valley and from the Romand-speaking part of canton Wallis (Vallais) used this name until about 1860 in the form of Praborne, or Praborgne. The reason of this change from Praborno to Zermatt is attributed to the gradual replacement of the Romance-speaking people by German-speaking colony.

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Wikipedia