Erlinsbach, Solothurn

Both Niedererlinsbach and Obererlinsbach were first mentioned in 1173 as Arnlesbah. In 1276 Niedererlinsbach was mentioned as ze [...] Nidern Ernlispach while Obererlinsbach was mentioned as ze Obern [...] Ernlispach. ==Coat of arms==

The blazon of Niedererlinsbach's coat of arms is Per fess Gules and Argent a Bend wavy counterchanged. The blazon of the Obererlinsbach's coat of arms is Gules a Willow Vert issuant from a Bar wavy Argent. File:Niedererlinsbach-blason.png|Niedererlinsbach's Coat of Arms File:Obererlinsbach-blason.png|Obererlinsbach's Coat of Arms ==Geography==

Erlinsbach has an area, , of . Of this area, or 43.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 40.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 13.6% is settled (buildings or roads), or 2.8% is either rivers or lakes. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 7.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.2%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.9% of the area Out of the forested land, 38.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 18.4% is used for growing crops and 22.1% is pastures, while 2.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. ==Demographics==

Erlinsbach has a population () of . , 14.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 10.1%. Of the population in the former municipality of Niedererlinsbach, 645 or about 29.4% were born in Niedererlinsbach and lived there in 2000. There were 285 or 13.0% who were born in the same canton, while 910 or 41.5% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 307 or 14.0% were born outside of Switzerland. Of the population in the former municipality of Obererlinsbach, 175 or about 25.3% were born in Obererlinsbach and lived there in 2000. There were 66 or 9.6% who were born in the same canton, while 333 or 48.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 100 or 14.5% were born outside of Switzerland. In there were 19 live births to Swiss citizens and 4 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 15 deaths of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 4 while the foreign population increased by 3. There were 5 Swiss men and 2 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 10 non-Swiss men and 1 non-Swiss woman who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 66 and the non-Swiss population increased by 14 people. This represents a population growth rate of 2.8%. , the construction rate of new housing units was 12.6 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 2.8%. ==Historic Population==

The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1100 height:500 PlotArea = height:350 left:100 bottom:90 right:100 Legend = columns:3 left:220 top:70 columnwidth:160 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:3200 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:600 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:120 start:0 Colors= id:NI value:yellowgreen legend:Niedererlinsbach id:OB value:green legend:Obererlinsbach PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:30 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1850 from: 0 till:766 text:"766" color:NI bar:1860 from: 0 till:822 text:"822" color:NI bar:1870 from: 0 till:870 text:"870" color:NI bar:1880 from: 0 till:931 text:"931" color:NI bar:1890 from: 0 till:974 text:"974" color:NI bar:1900 from: 0 till:1085 text:"1,085" color:NI bar:1910 from: 0 till:1354 text:"1,354" color:NI bar:1920 from: 0 till:1352 text:"1,352" color:NI bar:1930 from: 0 till:1444 text:"1,444" color:NI bar:1940 from: 0 till:1473 text:"1,473" color:NI bar:1950 from: 0 till:1594 text:"1,594" color:NI bar:1960 from: 0 till:1755 text:"1,755" color:NI bar:1970 from: 0 till:1874 text:"1,874" color:NI bar:1980 from: 0 till:1964 text:"1,964" color:NI bar:1990 from: 0 till:1995 text:"1,995" color:NI bar:2000 from: 0 till:2191 text:"2,191" color:NI bar:1850 from: 766 till:1229 text:"463" color:OB bar:1860 from: 822 till:1290 text:"468" color:OB bar:1870 from: 870 till:1321 text:"451" color:OB bar:1880 from: 931 till:1356 text:"425" color:OB bar:1890 from: 974 till:1443 text:"469" color:OB bar:1900 from: 1085 till:1530 text:"445" color:OB bar:1910 from: 1354 till:1828 text:"474" color:OB bar:1920 from: 1352 till:1795 text:"443" color:OB bar:1930 from: 1444 till:1867 text:"423" color:OB bar:1940 from: 1473 till:1891 text:"418" color:OB bar:1950 from: 1594 till:2003 text:"409" color:OB bar:1960 from: 1755 till:2157 text:"402" color:OB bar:1970 from: 1874 till:2305 text:"431" color:OB bar:1980 from: 1964 till:2356 text:"392" color:OB bar:1990 from: 1995 till:2470 text:"475" color:OB bar:2000 from: 2191 till:2882 text:"691" color:OB ==Sights==

The entire village of Niedererlinsbach is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites. ==Religion==

From the in Niedererlinsbach, 1,048 or 47.8% were Roman Catholic, while 637 or 29.1% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 50 members of an Orthodox church (or about 2.28% of the population), there were 8 individuals (or about 0.37% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 49 individuals (or about 2.24% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 74 (or about 3.38% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 2 individuals who were Buddhist and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 265 (or about 12.09% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 56 individuals (or about 2.56% of the population) did not answer the question. In Obererlinsbach, 324 or 46.9% were Roman Catholic, while 219 or 31.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 2 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.29% of the population), there were 3 individuals (or about 0.43% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 28 individuals (or about 4.05% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 16 (or about 2.32% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 5 individuals who were Hindu. 91 (or about 13.17% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 3 individuals (or about 0.43% of the population) did not answer the question. ==Politics==

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 33.97% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (19.77%), the FDP (16.32%) and the SP (14.68%). In the federal election, a total of 1,050 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 51.2%. ==Economy==

, Erlinsbach had an unemployment rate of 2.4%. , there were 43 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 17 businesses involved in this sector. 149 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 23 businesses in this sector. 431 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 74 businesses in this sector. Of the working population, 24.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 51.6% used a private car. , there were 67 workers who commuted into Obererlinsbach and 295 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 4.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. ==Education==

In Niedererlinsbach about 853 or (38.9%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 246 or (11.2%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 246 who completed tertiary schooling, 63.0% were Swiss men, 23.6% were Swiss women, 6.9% were non-Swiss men and 6.5% were non-Swiss women. , there were 10 students in Niedererlinsbach who came from another municipality, while 173 residents attended schools outside the municipality. In Obererlinsbach about 297 or (43.0%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 89 or (12.9%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 89 who completed tertiary schooling, 58.4% were Swiss men, 22.5% were Swiss women, 9.0% were non-Swiss men and 10.1% were non-Swiss women. , there were 14 students in Obererlinsbach who came from another municipality, while 42 residents attended schools outside the municipality. ==References==