Municipal mergers led to the disappearance of 33 Swiss communes in 2017, according SonntagsZeitung newspaper. Another 145 municipalities have plans to merge.
Those figures reflects a broader trend towards municipal amalgamations. The past ten years witnessed the merger of 500 municipalities, the newspaper wrote, citing official statistics.
The trend is most visible in the mountain regions “where the rate of emigration has intensified once again,” according to Reto Lindegger, director of the Association of Swiss Municipalities.
To ensure their survival, smaller municipalities or communes are banding together and merging into one. Some are going even further in a bid to boost their number of residents.
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Holidaymaker becomes village chief
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It took a headhunter to find a new local council leader in Tujetsch – a man who owns a holiday flat in the mountain village.
Following the example of Albinen in the region of Valais, the nearby municipality of Varen is offering conditional financial assistance to anyone who moves there.
Swiss communes are the lowest administrative division of Switzerland. They are governed by their own elected representatives and often enjoy considerable discretionary powers.
Communes can decide on matters of education, health, transport and public security. They also collect all taxes.
Swiss voters are set to decide on a people’s initiative calling for better protection of ecosystems in the country. Have your say on the September 22 vote.
Swiss ‘very satisfied’ halfway through Paris Olympics
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Six medals and five fourth places – Swiss Olympic is very satisfied with the results of the first week of the 2024 Summer Games.
Sex offender who coached Swiss medallist leaves Olympics
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A convicted sex offender who coached women’s triathlon silver medallist Julie Derron of Switzerland has left the Paris 2024 Games.
Swiss government has refused protection status S to almost 2,500 people
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The reasons given for these refusals are that there is an alternative form of protection in another country, or that the people concerned were not entitled to this status.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
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Refugees and locals learn to live together in Swiss town
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Bex was one of the first towns in the region to have an asylum seekers' centre and its foreign population is relatively high. So do people get along?
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Rheinau, a Swiss municipality in the outskirts of Zurich has decided to guarantee basic income to residents on a trial basis.
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Participation in town hall meetings has reached a new low, marking a 30-year decline in Swiss democracy at a local level. But all is not lost.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.