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Eterna

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Eterna is a Swiss watch company founded in Grenchen , Canton Solothurn , on 7 November 1856 by Josef Girard and Urs Schild. The company is now owned by Hong Kong –based Citychamp Watch & Jewellery Group Limited, an investment holding company formerly known as China Haidian Holdings.

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60-398: On 7 November 1856, Dr. Joseph Girard and Urs Schild, a 28-year-old school teacher, founded the ébauche factory "Dr. Girard & Schild“. Eight years later the enterprise set out the mutual rights and obligations of employees and employers in writing. Urs Schild became a National Councilor in 1882. Six years later, he died at the age of 58. After the death of Urs Schild, his son Max took over

120-660: A former hill castle , are located above this village. In the 2015 federal election , the most popular party was the SVP which received 32.9% of the vote. The other parties were the SP (22.6%), the FDP (19.5%), the CVP (9.1%), BDP 5.4%, glp 4.8%, Greens 2.9%, and the DPS 1.0%. Although Grenchen is a small city, it has its own airport, Grenchen Airfield , with facilities for the transport of goods. It

180-535: A fully integrated self-winding mechanism with quick-set day/date based on the Valjoux 7733. The movement is an automatic winding, 25-jewel movement that can be fitted with a variety of features including the triple date (day, date, month and moon phase) or a variety of two and three register models with totalizers or counters for minutes, seconds and hours. It is available in three executions or grades: Elaborated, Top and Chronometer. The key components which differ at

240-488: A number of watch brands, SSIH gradually established a strong position in the Swiss watch industry. At the time, both SSIH and ASUAG held a number of well-established Swiss watch brands. ASUAG had been founded in 1931. ASUAG expanded through the purchase of companies that made movement-blanks and a number of finished watch manufacturers that were subsequently brought together under the subsidiary General Watch Co (GWC). In

300-553: A six or more room apartment cost an average of 1477.07 CHF (US$ 1180, £660, €950). The average apartment price in Grenchen was 77.3% of the national average of 1116 CHF. The vacancy rate for the municipality in 2010 was 2.38%. The historical population is given in the following chart: The entire village of Grenchen is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites . The ruins of Burg Grenchen , also known as Bettleschloss ,

360-438: A subsidiary company, ETA SA , to make movements for itself and other Swiss watch companies. This same year, Theodore retired and handed over the control of the company to his nephew Rudolf Schild. Theodore remained on the board of directors after retirement until his death in 1950. Eterna produced many innovations in their history: the smallest production wristwatch with a Baguette movement in 1930, an eight-day alarm watch in

420-571: A total of 7,532 households that answered this question, 38.6% were households made up of just one person and there were 55 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there were 2,275 married couples without children and 1,741 married couples with children. There were 355 single parents with a child or children. There were 73 households that were made up of unrelated people and 123 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another form of collective housing. In 2000 , there were 1,336 single family homes (or 48.4% of

480-494: A watch movement ( ébauche ) factory which eventually became Eterna . In 1926, ETA AS (the movement branch of Eterna, founded in 1896) and FHF (founded in 1793) took part in the creation of Ébauches Ltd. In 1978 AS and ETA merged and in 1985 ETA took in all the activities done before by Ébauches Ltd and FHF (both part of SMH/Swatch Group). SSIH was founded in 1930 through the amalgamation of Omega and Tissot . By consolidating companies that produced high-quality movements and

540-545: Is a municipality in the district of Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains between Solothurn and Biel/Bienne , approximately 25 km (16 mi) north of Bern . With over 16,000 inhabitants, it is one of the larger towns of the canton of Solothurn. The city is well known for its watch industry, that has been present for more than 150 years. Grenchen

600-409: Is available in three executions or grades: Elaborated , Top and Chronometer . The key components which differ at the line of demarcation between Elaborated and Top are the balance wheel (Elaborate=Brass/Top=Glucydur) and the hairspring (Elaborate=Nivarox 2/Top=Anachron). In contrast, since the addition of the "-2" at the end of the movement number, there has been no difference between the standard and

660-522: Is mostly used by private pilots and parachutists, but also for business travel. The freeway A5 and a connection to Grenchen lie in the vicinity of the airport. Two railway stations, ( Grenchen Nord on the Basel-Biel line and Grenchen Süd on the Geneva-Zürich line), provide an excellent connection to the city on the rail network. The Grenchen Tunnel , an 8.5 km long railroad tunnel that

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720-593: Is the municipality's football club. Grenchen has a velodrome, Velodrome Suisse . It hosted the 2015 UEC European Track Championships ., during which a new world record was set in the Ladies' 500m Time Trials by Anastasiia Voinova of Russia. From the 2000 census , 5,654 or 35.5% were Roman Catholic , while 5,754 or 36.1% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church . Of the rest of the population, there were 154 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.97% of

780-567: Is used for agricultural purposes, while 10.42 km (4.02 sq mi) or 40.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 5.39 km (2.08 sq mi) or 20.7% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.34 km (0.13 sq mi) or 1.3% is either rivers or lakes and 0.05 km (12 acres) or 0.2% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 9.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 6.8%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.4%. Out of

840-452: The COSC . Chronometer grade movements are serial numbered, as that is a requirement of the certification authority. Moreover, the degree of decoration on the movement's parts, generally only an aesthetic improvement, increases as well with the grade. The ETA 2892.A2 is a newer design dating to the 1970s and fitted with top quality components. An automatic winding, 21-jewel movement, the 2892

900-605: The hamlet of Staad along the Aare river at an elevation of 430 m (1,410 ft) to the first mountain range of the Jura Mountains , the Oberer Grenchenberg at 1,348 m (4,423 ft). The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a Ploughshare Argent. Grenchen has a population (as of December 2020 ) of 17,577. As of 2008 , 28.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over

960-414: The primary economic sector and about 36 businesses involved in this sector. 5,906 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 217 businesses in this sector. 4,197 people were employed in the tertiary sector , with 544 businesses in this sector. There were 7,988 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.8% of the workforce. In 2008 ,

1020-481: The 1930s and their first automatic watch in 1938. In 1948, Eterna advanced self-winding watch technology with the development of the Eterna-matic automatic movement. The use of five strategically placed ball bearings made the movement very efficient and significantly reduced friction and resistance on the oscillating weight that wound the mainspring. This reduced the wear and tear on internal parts, increasing

1080-408: The 1930s, both ASUAG and SSIH entered into complementary research and development programs to combat a severe economic crisis. Following repeated crises in the Swiss watch industry, by the 1970s both ASUAG and SSIH were again in trouble. Foreign competition and the mass production of cheap new electronic products were taking over the market. Eventually, both ASUAG and SSIH faced bankruptcy. Throughout

1140-499: The 2010–2011 school year, there were a total of 1,309 students in the Grenchen school system. The education system in the Canton of Solothurn allows young children to attend two years of non-obligatory Kindergarten . During that school year, there were 276 children in kindergarten. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school , with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In

1200-621: The 2892.A2 is a favorite of watch brands that market complicated movements such as Breitling with its trademark chronograph (stop watches). The 2892 is also used in certain International Watch Company watches, including newer Ingenieur models introduced in 2013. Omega's Seamaster line of watches (including the Seamaster Professional 300) previously used an embellished version of the ETA 2892.A2 known as

1260-531: The KonTiki watch collection was released. It was inspired by 1947 Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki expedition . After 1982, Eterna was sold several times. By 1995, it was owned by FAP Beteiligungs GmbH. In 1999, Eterna produced a range of watches marketed under the Porsche Design label. Porsche Design sold Eterna to International Volant Ltd, a subsidiary of China Haidian on 29 June 2011. CEO Patrick Kury left

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1320-543: The Omega 1120. Later versions of the Seamaster used a proprietary coaxial escapement invented by George Daniels , an English horologist, and exclusively marketed by Omega , a sister company of ETA. The movement with the coaxial escapement is known as the Omega 2500 series and is derived from the ETA 2892. Later versions of the Seamaster "Planet Ocean" migrated from the Omega 2500 to a different coaxial escapement known as

1380-399: The Omega 8500 series with extremely high magnetic resistance. Current Seamaster Professional 300 models continue to use the Omega 2500 "D" series movements.. The Valjoux 7750 aka ETA 7750 an extremely popular movement used in the majority of mechanical chronograph watches on the market in 2004. The Valjoux 7750 uses a three-plane cam system, the coulisse-lever escapement, rather than

1440-712: The Swiss Competition Commission ordering in July 2012 that based on 2010 supply levels, ETA may reduce the level of supplied movements by 30 per cent in 2014–2015, 50 per cent in 2016-2017 and by 70 per cent by 2018–2019. The number of Nivarox products that must be offered will be reduced gradually, dropping by 70 per cent by 2023. ETA hopes to eventually reach a market position where they are allowed to freely choose to supply or not to supply parts and ébauches to competitors based solely on ETA's discretion. Grenchen Grenchen ( French : Granges )

1500-427: The chronometer grades in terms of the regulator mechanism, both being Etachron. The degree of decoration on the movement's parts also increases with the grade. To illustrate the differences in accuracy garnered by the successive grades, consider the following specifications: The ETA 2892.A2 is usually found in the more expensive and prestigious watches and brands, and owing to its relatively slim height of 3.60 mm,

1560-463: The company and soon made a business trip to the United States. He returned to introduce machinery to the craftsmen. Max Schild was ahead of his time and his ideas were unpopular. Discouraged, he left the company and handed power over to his brother Theodore, with whom Eterna entered a prosperous 20th century. In the 1900s, wristwatches were just starting to become fashionable. Schild Fréres, as

1620-453: The company celebrated its 160th anniversary with the release of its limited edition Skeleton 1856 watch. The watch was available with straps in 3 different colours and only 160 of each was released. ETA SA ETA SA Manufacture Horlogère Suisse ( ETA SA Swiss Watch Manufacturer ) designs and manufactures quartz watches and both hand-wound and automatic -winding mechanical ébauches and movements . Commonly referred to as ETA ,

1680-695: The company in April 2013. China Haidian was renamed in 2014 to Citychamp Watch & Jewellery Group Limited. According to the Dutch OSINT platform Datenna , Citychamp Watch & Jewellery Group Limited's stake in Eterna led to a low risk of state influence on Eterna by the Chinese government. In the 2000s Eterna resumed manufacturing watches and creating the Calibre 6036 in 2004. The ultra-thin automatic 3030

1740-468: The company is headquartered in Grenchen , Switzerland , and is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Swatch Group . Though ETA was founded by Eterna in 1856 some part of its production line can be traced back to the 1793 founding of Fabriques d’Horlogerie de Fontainemelon (FHF) by David Benguerel, Isaac Benguerel, François Humbert-Droz and Julien Humbert-Droz. Through a series of mergers, ETA has become

1800-399: The company produces finished watches and movements, ETA specializes in the production of ébauche movements used both in watches of sister Swatch Group subsidiary brands and in the watches of competitors, including brands owned by Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A. and others. With the exception of hairsprings manufactured by sister company Nivarox , ETA maintains vertical control over

1860-540: The company was then known, started to produce ladies’ wristwatches adapted from small pocket watches. In 1905, the company changed its name to Eterna. The company continued to be at the leading edge of watch development, and in 1908 it patented the first alarm wristwatch. The watch went into production in 1914 and was launched at the Swiss National Exhibition in Bern that year. By 1932, Eterna had set up

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1920-516: The forested land, 38.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 25.8% is used for growing crops and 6.0% is pastures and 5.3% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is the capital of the Lebern District. It is the second largest city in the Canton of Solothurn. The municipality stretches from

1980-445: The hairspring (Elaborate=Nivarox 2/Top=Anachron). In contrast, since the addition of the "-2" at the end of the movement number, there has been no difference between the standard and the chronometer grades in terms of the regulator mechanism, both being Etachron. To illustrate the differences in accuracy garnered by the successive grades, consider the following specifications: The Chronometer grade must meet strict standards prescribed by

2040-456: The largest manufacturer of Swiss watch movements and controls a virtual monopoly over their production and supply. ETA has undergone several Swiss government investigations due to its market position. To resolve the concerns of Swiss government regulators, ETA has entered into an agreement that governs certain business practices. ETA designs and manufactures mechanical and automatic watches, watch movements and watch ébauches . Although

2100-438: The last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of -1.3%. Most of the population (as of 2000 ) speaks German (13,033 or 81.8%), with Italian being second most common (1,022 or 6.4%) and French being third (460 or 2.9%). There are 16 people who speak Romansh . As of 2008 , the gender distribution of the population was 49.2% male and 50.8% female. The population was made up of 5,328 Swiss men (33.3% of

2160-415: The line of demarcation between Elaborated and Top are the pallet stones, balance wheel & hairspring and the regulator mechanism. To illustrate the differences in accuracy garnered by the successive grades, consider the following specifications: Powermatic 80 movements The Powermatic 80 is a movement designed and produced by ETA SA. The movements feature is to have 80 hours of power reserve, hence

2220-403: The manufacturing of all of the components required to create a watch movement and therefore is considered a true manufacture d'horlogerie. ETA is the result of successive consolidation of the Swiss watch industry, a combination of several former Swiss watch movement manufacturers including Valjoux , Peseux and Lemania . In 1856 at Grenchen , Urs Schild, a schoolmaster, and Dr. Girard set up

2280-557: The merger Swiss watchmakers ASUAG and SSIH, was renamed the Swatch Group. One workhorse of the ETA mechanical line is the ETA 2824–2, The 2824 is an automatic winding, twenty-five jewel movement, available in four executions or grades: Standard, Elaborated (improved), Top and Chronometer . The key components which differ at the line of demarcation between Elaborated and Top are the shock protection system (Elaborate=Etachoc/Top=Incabloc), balance wheel (Elaborate=Brass/Top=Glucydur) and

2340-403: The municipality and 3,273 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.6 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. Of the working population, 13.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 52.8% used a private car. Grenchen has a large traditional watch industry and several famous manufacturers are based in the city: FC Grenchen

2400-450: The municipality, there were 699 students in primary school and 108 students in the special, smaller classes. The secondary school program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. 226 lower secondary students attend school in Grenchen. As of 2000 , there were 171 students in Grenchen who came from another municipality, while 267 residents attended schools outside

2460-424: The municipality. The most common apartment size was three rooms of which there were 2,925. There were 429 single room apartments and 1,631 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 7,267 apartments (84.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 584 apartments (6.8%) were seasonally occupied and 788 apartments (9.1%) were empty. As of 2009 , the construction rate of new housing units

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2520-994: The name. This technology of movement was first announced at Baselworld in 2012. Today, the Powermatic 80 movement is mostly used by brands in the Swatch Group , like Tissot , Hamilton and Certina . The accuracy of the movement is said to be -2 / +8 sec. per day. In 2003 the Swiss Competition Commission launched an investigation into the business practices of ETA SA after Nicolas Hayek , then chairman of ETA parent The Swatch Group Ltd., announced in 2002 that ETA would shortly stop supplying ébauches (partial watch movements) to companies outside The Swatch Group. Competitors complained that this would effectively put them out of business. Hayek countered that Swiss watch making companies must begin to invest in their own movement-making capabilities because it

2580-502: The population) and 2,547 (15.9%) non-Swiss men. There were 5,845 Swiss women (36.5%) and 2,289 (14.3%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 5,606 or about 35.2% were born in Grenchen and lived there in 2000. There were 2,017 or 12.7% who were born in the same canton, while 4,258 or 26.7% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 3,433 or 21.5% were born outside of Switzerland. In 2008 , there were 75 live births to Swiss citizens and 47 births to non-Swiss citizens. In

2640-536: The population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist , and 577 individuals (or about 3.62% of the population) did not answer the question. In Grenchen, about 5,773 or (36.2%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education , and 1,457 or (9.1%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule ). Of the 1,457 who completed tertiary schooling, 64.2% were Swiss men, 20.9% were Swiss women, 10.1% were non-Swiss men and 4.9% were non-Swiss women. During

2700-616: The population), there were 171 individuals (or about 1.07% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church , and there were 284 individuals (or about 1.78% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 3 individuals (or about 0.02% of the population) who were Jewish , and 1,145 (or about 7.18% of the population) who were Islamic . There were 70 individuals who were Buddhist , 90 individuals who were Hindu and 17 individuals who belonged to another church. 2,019 (or about 12.67% of

2760-407: The repair of motor vehicles, 188 or 5.7% were in the movement and storage of goods, 236 or 7.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 61 or 1.9% were in the information industry, 119 or 3.6% were the insurance or financial industry, 211 or 6.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 371 or 11.3% were in education and 910 or 27.7% were in health care. In 2000 , there were 5,261 workers who commuted into

2820-532: The same time span, there were 167 deaths of Swiss citizens and 10 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 92 while the foreign population increased by 37. There were 21 Swiss men and 16 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 103 non-Swiss men and 59 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders)

2880-526: The then current levels until 2008, after which ETA was allowed to gradually reduce deliveries until 2010. The commission had found that for ébauches in the price range up to US$ 250, there were no real alternatives and ETA's decision to stop deliveries was a breach of Swiss law pertaining to cartels. Although the 2005 decision has spurred some watchmakers to invest in the personnel and equipment necessary to produce movements in-house, heavy reliance on ETA continued. The original finding has been extended, with

2940-453: The total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 9,004. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 85, of which 77 were in agriculture and 8 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 5,635 of which 5,189 or (92.1%) were in manufacturing and 367 (6.5%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 3,284. In the tertiary sector; 742 or 22.6% were in wholesale or retail sales or

3000-502: The total) out of a total of 2,763 inhabited buildings. There were 940 multi-family buildings (34.0%), along with 310 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (11.2%) and 177 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (6.4%). Of the single family homes, 67 were built before 1919, while 187 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (388) were built between 1946 and 1960. In 2000 , there were 8,639 apartments in

3060-413: The traditional chronograph mechanism, the column wheel. It is constructed of a mainplate, calendar plate, and chronograph top plate. Levers push a cam back and forth, driving the stopwatch mechanism of the Valjoux 7750. In the 1980s, many companies began using the Valjoux 7750 because it was easier to mass-produce and distribute in high-volume. The system and movement were developed by Edmond Capt in 1970, as

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3120-400: The watch’s accuracy and useful life. The new watch became popular, and is probably the most famous Eterna watch and may be one of Eterna’s greatest designs. Its popularity was such that in 1948 Eterna adopted the image of five balls as its corporate logo. The Golden Heart for Ladies watch model, powered by Eterna-matic, was worn by actresses Gina Lollobrigida and Brigitte Bardot . In 1958,

3180-592: The years of crisis and restructuring from 1978, Ernst Thomke was at the helm of ETA SA, and also had become CEO of Ebauches SA and appointed on the Board of Directors of ASUAG. He became SMH's first CEO, position he held until 1991. At that time, Nicolas G. Hayek, as newly elected chairman of the board and main shareholder had already become the only person of reference. In 1998, Swiss Corporation for Microelectronics and Watchmaking Industries Ltd ( Société de Microélectronique et d'Horlogerie or SMH), founded in 1983 through

3240-413: Was 0.9 new units per 1000 residents. As of 2003 , the average price to rent an apartment in Grenchen was 862.63 Swiss francs (CHF) per month (US$ 690, £390, €550 approx. exchange rate from 2003). The average rate for a one-room apartment was 571.19 CHF (US$ 460, £260, €370), a two-room apartment was about 637.30 CHF (US$ 510, £290, €410), a three-room apartment was about 776.90 CHF (US$ 620, £350, €500) and

3300-562: Was 2,551 people or 16.0% of the population was between 65 and 79 years old and there were 853 people or 5.4% who were over 80. As of 2000 , there were 5,771 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 7,679 married individuals, 1,264 widows or widowers and 1,224 individuals who were divorced. As of 2000 , there were 7,409 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.1 persons per household. There were 2,910 households that consisted of only one person and 352 households with five or more people. Out of

3360-543: Was a decrease of 20 and the non-Swiss population increased by 190 people. This represents a population growth rate of 1.1%. The age distribution as of 2000 in Grenchen was as follows: 942 children or 5.9% of the population were between 0 and 6 years old and 2,291 teenagers or 14.4% were between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 838 people or 5.3% of the population were between 20 and 24 years old. 4,463 people or 28.0% were between 25 and 44, and 4,000 people or 25.1% were between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution

3420-497: Was built between 1911 and 1915, offers a connection between the Swiss plateau and Delémont / Basel . Construction of the tunnel attracted many foreign workers to Grenchen, coming mostly from Italy. Grenchen has its own bus company, "BGU". The bus lines connect Grenchen with Bettlach , Lengnau , Büren , Rüti and Selzach . As of  2010 , Grenchen had an unemployment rate of 5.7%. As of 2008 , there were 122 people employed in

3480-438: Was detrimental to the long-term health of the Swiss watchmaking industry to rely on one supplier, ETA, for the bulk of ébauche and parts production. The Swiss Competition Commission ordered ETA to continue supplying ébauches to companies outside The Swatch Group during the investigation. In 2005 the Swiss Competition Commission concluded its investigation and ordered ETA to continue delivering ébauches and parts at

3540-504: Was produced for the 150th anniversary in 2006. In 2009, a half-century after the Eterna-Matic, the "Spherodrive" once again highlighted the significance of tiny ball-bearings in mechanical watchmaking. The company remains active in wristwatch design. In 2014, it was announced that the partnership with Porsche Design would end and therefore end the production of Porsche branded watches, a partnership they started back in 1998. In 2016,

3600-580: Was the 2008 winner of the Wakker Prize for architectural heritage. Jura-Sternwarte Grenchen is located at Grenchen. Around 1000 AD, the local barons built a castle on the local cliff that was inhabited for three centuries. The name Grenchen was first documented in 1131 as Granechun . The name comes from the gallo-romanic graneca , meaning by the granary . Grenchen has an area, as of 2009 , of 26.01 square kilometers (10.04 sq mi). Of this area, 9.85 km (3.80 sq mi) or 37.9%

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