Rivera, Switzerland

Rivera is first mentioned in 1296 as Sorenzino. In 1348 it was mentioned as Rivera. Archeological objects and graves from the Iron Age and the Roman era have been found in Rivera. In the Middle Ages, Rivera was part of the valley community of Carvina. In the 13th century Como Cathedral possessed estates in Sorencino. Starting in 1678, representatives from the twelve members of the Swiss Confederation in Ticino met in Casa dei landfogti before they assembled in Lugano. Rivera was a member of the parish of Bironico, before it became an independent parish in 1754. From 1779 until 1793, the parish church of S. Spirito was rebuilt. The villagers earned their living from agriculture, mostly in alpine meadows and pastures. During construction of the Ceneri tunnel in 1872–82, the population increased sharply. The completion of the road in 1811 and the construction of the tunnel and the station led to the emergence of a new district in the flatter part of the valley. This area forms the northern boundary of the agglomeration of Lugano. The base station of the Monte Tamaro gondola opened in 1972 in Rivera. ==Geography==

Rivera has an area, , of . Of this area, or 7.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 76.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 10.3% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.6% is either rivers or lakes and or 5.3% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.5%. Out of the forested land, 64.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 3.1% is used for growing crops and 3.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 4.6% is unproductive vegetation. The village is located in the Lugano district, in the upper Vedeggio valley along the old main road. It consists of the village of Rivera and the hamlets of Soresina, Sorencino and Capidogno. ==Coat of arms==

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Tierced per fess first azure two bendlets wavy argent overall a letter R counterchanged second or coupeaux vert and third gules two tunnel holes sable issuant from base. The coat of arms is fairly recent, being adopted in 1952. The top portion of the coat of arms represents the radio waves from Radio Svizzera Italiana on Monte Ceneri. Monte Ceneri is represented by the middle section. The black arcades represent the tunnels connecting both parts of Ticino, the Sopraceneri and Sottoceneri (over and under the Mount Ceneri). ==Demographics==

Rivera has a population () of 1,462. , 20.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997-2007) the population has changed at a rate of 6.4%. Most of the population () speaks Italian (88.6%), with German being second most common (4.8%) and Serbo-Croatian being third (2.2%). Of the Swiss national languages (), 68 speak German, 28 people speak French, 1,253 people speak Italian. The remainder (66 people) speak another language. , the gender distribution of the population was 49.2% male and 50.8% female. The population was made up of 613 Swiss men (38.5% of the population), and 172 (10.8%) non-Swiss men. There were 660 Swiss women (41.4%), and 149 (9.3%) non-Swiss women. the average number of residents per living room was 0.61 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.6 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 45.3% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage or a rent-to-own agreement). , there were 581 private households in the village, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. The vacancy rate for the village, , was 0.14%. there were 649 apartments in the village. The most common apartment size was the 4 room apartment of which there were 217. There were 30 single room apartments and 178 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 574 apartments (88.4% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 49 apartments (7.6%) were seasonally occupied and 26 apartments (4.0%) were empty. Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1080 height:210 PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:1500 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:250 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:50 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1769 from:start till:320 text:"320" bar:1801 from:start till:316 text:"316" bar:1850 from:start till:400 text:"400" bar:1860 from:start till:420 text:"420" bar:1870 from:start till:396 text:"396" bar:1880 from:start till:755 text:"755" bar:1890 from:start till:478 text:"478" bar:1900 from:start till:524 text:"524" bar:1910 from:start till:557 text:"557" bar:1920 from:start till:636 text:"636" bar:1930 from:start till:754 text:"754" bar:1941 from:start till:818 text:"818" bar:1950 from:start till:879 text:"879" bar:1960 from:start till:950 text:"950" bar:1970 from:start till:1146 text:"1,146" bar:1980 from:start till:1127 text:"1,127" bar:1990 from:start till:1285 text:"1,285" bar:2000 from:start till:1415 text:"1,415" ==Heritage sites of national significance==

The Stazione Radio Monte Ceneri (shared with Bironico) is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. ==Politics==

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 38.07% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (21.28%), the Ticino League (13.43%) and the SVP (11.87%). In the federal election, a total of 520 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 51.5%. In the Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 1,022 registered voters in Rivera, of which 722 or 70.6% voted. 22 blank ballots and 4 null ballots were cast, leaving 696 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 251 or 36.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PPD+GenGiova (with 131 or 18.8%), the LEGA (with 98 or 14.1%) and the SSI (with 88 or 12.6%). In the Consiglio di Stato election, 8 blank ballots and 1 null ballot were cast, leaving 713 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 234 or 32.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the LEGA (with 145 or 20.3%), the PPD (with 134 or 18.8%) and the PS (with 95 or 13.3%). ==Economy==

, Rivera had an unemployment rate of 4.01%. , there were 12 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 5 businesses involved in this sector. 277 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 24 businesses in this sector. 540 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 84 businesses in this sector. Of the working population, 10.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 65.4% used a private car. ==Religion==

From the , 1,162 or 82.1% were Roman Catholic, while 72 or 5.1% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. There are 125 individuals (or about 8.83% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 56 individuals (or about 3.96% of the population) did not answer the question. ==Education==

In Rivera about 63.5% of the population (between age 25 and 64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule). There were 15 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 32 who attend part-time. The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields. There were 2 students in the professional program. , there were 44 students in Rivera who came from another village, while 155 residents attended schools outside the village. ==Transport==

Rivera is served by the nearby Rivera-Bironico station, on the Gotthard railway. ==References==