28-644: Flums is a municipality in the Wahlkreis (constituency) of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland . It is close to a large shopping complex and also is the gateway to a large skiing resort called Flumserberg . Flums is first mentioned in 765 as Flumini . As of 2006, Flums has an area of 75.1 km (29.0 sq mi), of which 51.7% is used for agricultural purposes, 32.2% forested, 3.9% settled (buildings or roads), and 12.1% non-productive (rivers or lakes). The municipality
56-465: A Tertiary school, and 274 (5.6%) are not in school. The remainder did not answer this question. The historical population is given in the following table: The Gräpplang Castle (a prehistoric hilltop settlement and a ruined medieval castle), the Chapel of St. Jakob, and the catholic Church of St. Justus are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance . The municipality is located on
84-477: A certain time in Switzerland are also allowed to participate in municipal politics. As at the cantonal and federal level, citizens enjoy political rights, including direct democratic ones, in their municipality. Municipalities are financed through direct taxes (such as income tax ), with rates varying more or less within a framework set by the canton (see Taxation in Switzerland ). As among the cantons, there
112-599: A household made up of relatives, 18 who lived household made up of unrelated persons, and 141 who were either institutionalized or lived in another type of collective housing. In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 52% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (21.1%), the SP (10.9%), and the FDP (8.1%). The entire Swiss population
140-449: Is a tax transfer among the municipalities to balance various levels of tax income. Switzerland has a relatively high number of small municipalities, with a population of 1,000 or less, especially in rural areas. Because of the increasing difficulty in providing professional government services and in finding volunteers for political offices in small municipalities, the cantons tend to encourage voluntary mergers of municipalities. This led to
168-494: Is generally well educated. In Flums about 57.1% of the population between age 25-64 have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule ). Out of the total population in Flums, as of 2000, the highest education level completed by 1,372 people (28.1% of the population) was Primary , while 1,465 (30.0%) have completed Secondary , 298 (6.1%) have attended
196-847: Is located in the Sarganserland Wahlkreis . Until 2002 it was the capital of the Sargans district. In terms of area, it is the third largest municipality in the canton. Flums covers an area from the Schils valley to the border with the Canton of Glarus , part of the Flumserberge, part of the Seez valley , and the western slope of the Alvier chain. It consists of the village sections of Flums-Dorf, Grossberg, and Kleinberg. The blazon of
224-449: The A3 motorway . As of 2007, Flums had an unemployment rate of 1.04%. As of 2005, there were 339 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 152 businesses involved in this sector. 996 people were employed in the secondary sector with 65 businesses. 861 people were employed in the tertiary sector , with 149 businesses. As of October 2009 the average unemployment rate
252-809: The Bürgerrecht (citizenship), regardless of where they were born or where they may currently live. Instead of the place of birth , Swiss legal documents, e.g. passports, contain the Bürgerort (place of citizenship, or place of origin ). The Bürgergemeinde also often holds and administers the common property in the village for the members of the community. Each canton determines the powers and responsibilities of its municipalities. These may include providing local government services such as education, medical and social services, public transportation, and tax collection. The degree of centralization varies from one canton to another. The federal constitution protects
280-659: The Swiss Reformed Church . Of the rest of the population, there were 5 individuals (or about 0.10% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic faith, 92 individuals (or about 1.88% of the population) who belonged to the Orthodox Church, and 30 individuals (or about 0.61% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 614 (or about 12.58% of the population) who were Islamic , 5 individuals (or about 0.10% of
308-540: The municipality of Flums of the Canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland . It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance . Gräpplang is mentioned around the middle of the 13th century as the administrative seat of the Hochstift Chur, pledged to Ulrich von Flums in 1292 and sold to the Tschudi family in 1528, whose descendants remained owners until 1767. This article about a castle in Switzerland
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#1732794049897336-403: The autonomy of municipalities within the framework set out by cantonal law. Municipalities are generally governed by an executive council headed by a president or mayor . Legislative authority is exercised by a town meeting of all citizens, or by a municipal parliament, depending on the size of the municipality, and on cantonal and municipal law. In some cantons, foreigners who have lived for
364-724: The exercise of political rights for everyone except the members of the Bürgergemeinde . In the Regeneration era (1830–1848), the liberal revolutions of the common people helped to restore some rights again in a few cantons. In other cantons, the Bürgergemeinden were able to maintain power as political communities. In the city of Zürich it was not until the Municipal Act of 1866 that the political municipality came back into existence. The relationship between
392-659: The lowest level of administrative division in Switzerland. Each municipality is part of one of the Swiss cantons , which form the Swiss Confederation . In most cantons, municipalities are also part of districts or other sub-cantonal administrative divisions. There are 2,131 municipalities as of January 2024 . Their populations range between several hundred thousand ( Zürich ), and a few dozen people ( Kammersrohr , Bister ), and their territory between 0.32 km² ( Rivaz ) and 439 km² ( Scuol ). The beginnings of
420-584: The modern municipality system date back to the Helvetic Republic . Under the Old Swiss Confederacy , citizenship was granted by each town and village to only residents. These citizens enjoyed access to community property and in some cases additional protection under the law. Additionally, the urban towns and the rural villages had differing rights and laws. The creation of a uniform Swiss citizenship, which applied equally for citizens of
448-400: The municipal coat of arms is Trierced per fess Or, Sable and Argent. As of 31 December 2020, Flums has a population of 4,964. In 2007, about 23.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population as of 2000, 20 were from Germany , 126 from Italy , 688 from ex- Yugoslavia , 14 from Austria , 46 from Turkey , and 77 from other countries. Over the last 10 years
476-471: The municipalities under cantonal or federal law. Municipalities are numbered by the Swiss Federal Office for Statistics (see Community Identification Number#Switzerland ). One or more postal codes (PLZ/NPA) can by assigned to a municipality or shared with other municipalities. Between 2011 and 2021 nine of the smallest municipalities merged into others as part of the effort to eliminate
504-436: The number of municipalities dropping by 384 between the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2019. Some municipalities designate themselves as "city" ( ville or Stadt ) or as "village" ( Dorf ). These designations result from tradition or local preference – for example, several small municipalities designated as cities held city rights in medieval times – and normally do not impact the legal or political rights or obligations of
532-533: The old towns and their tenants and servants, led to conflict. The wealthier villagers and urban citizens held rights to forests, common land and other municipal property which they did not want to share with the "new citizens", who were generally poor. The compromise solution, which was written into the municipal laws of the Helvetic Republic, is still valid today. Two politically separate but often geographically similar organizations were created. The first,
560-408: The political municipality and the Bürgergemeinde was often dominated by the latter's ownership of community property. Often the administration and profit from the property were totally held by the Bürgergemeinden , leaving the political municipality dependent on the Bürgergemeinde for money and use of the property. It was not until the political municipality acquired rights over property that served
588-447: The political voting and electoral body rights from the Bürgergemeinde . In the cities, the percentage of members in the Bürgergemeinde in the population was reduced as a result of increasing emigration to the cities. This led to the Bürgergemeinde losing its former importance to a large extent. However, the Bürgergemeinde has remained, and it includes all individuals who are citizens of the Bürgergemeinde , usually by having inherited
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#1732794049897616-893: The population has decreased at a rate of -0.3%. As of 2000, most of the population speaks German (86.9%), with Albanian being second most common (8.1%) and Italian being third (1.5%). As of 2000, of the Swiss national languages , 4,242 speak German , 9 speak French , 75 speak Italian , and 4 speak Romansh . The age distribution in Flums is as of 2000; 691 children or 14.2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old; 740 teenagers or 15.2% are between 10 and 19; 584 people or 12.0% are between 20 and 29 years old; 752 people or 15.4% are between 30 and 39; 629 people or 12.9% are between 40 and 49; 572 people or 11.7% are between 50 and 59; 395 people or 8.1% are between 60 and 69 years old; 332 people or 6.8% are between 70 and 79; 163 people or 3.3% are between 80 and 89; and 24 people or 0.5% are between 90 and 99. In 2000 there were 493 persons (or 10.1% of
644-475: The population) who belonged to another church not listed on the census, 139 (or about 2.85% of the population) belonged to no church and were agnostic or atheist , and 137 individuals (or about 2.81% of the population) did not answer the question. Municipalities of Switzerland Municipalities ( German : Gemeinden , Einwohnergemeinden or politische Gemeinden ; French : communes ; Italian : comuni ; Romansh : vischnancas ) are
672-409: The population) who were living alone in a private dwelling. There were 822 (or 16.8%) persons who were part of a couple (married or otherwise committed) without children, and 3,099 (or 63.5%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 220 (or 4.5%) people who lived in a single parent home, while there were 60 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 29 persons who lived in
700-507: The public (such as schools, fire stations, etc.) and taxes, that they obtained full independence. For example, in the city of Bern, it was not until after the property division of 1852 that the political municipality had the right to levy taxes. It was not until the Federal Constitution of 1874 that all Swiss citizens were granted equal political rights on local and Federal levels. This revised constitution finally removed all
728-401: The smallest communities. Only Bister has not merged into a new municipality although the smallest municipality is now Kammersrohr with a population of just 32. In addition to the municipalities as basic territorial political subdivisions, a number of other local subdivisions exist in several cantons. These include: Gr%C3%A4pplang Castle Gräpplang Castle is a castle in
756-677: The so-called municipality, was a political community formed by election and its voting body consists of all resident citizens. However, the community land and property remained with the former local citizens who were gathered together into the Bürgergemeinde /bourgeoisie. During the Mediation era (1803–1814), and especially during the Restoration era (1814–1830), many of the gains toward uniform citizenship were lost. Many political municipalities were abolished and limits were placed on
784-417: Was 3.9%. There were 354 businesses in the municipality of which 68 were involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 147 were involved in the third. As of 2000 there were 1,403 residents who worked in the municipality, while 945 residents worked outside Flums and 664 people commuted into the municipality for work. From the 2000 census, 3,480 or 71.3% are Roman Catholic , while 380 or 7.8% belonged to
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