Rovio, Ticino

Rovio is first mentioned in 852 as Rovi. Five fire pits from about 1000 BC were discovered within the municipal area, as well as remains from the Iron Age and the Roman era. In 1213 the Vicinanza which included Rovio village came under the Pieve of Riva San Vitale. In 1517, the entire Pieve became part of the bailiwick of Lugano. In 1798, it joined the short-lived Republic of Riva San Vitale. It was part of the parish of Riva San Vitale until 1213 when it became an independent parish. The parish church of SS Vitale e Agata was first mentioned in that same year. Between the end of the 16th Century and 1613, it was rebuilt. The romanesque Oratory of San Vigilio was built in the first half of the 11th Century. Agriculture, livestock and vineyards were the main sources of income. Due to lack of farming land, many residents also emigrated as construction workers and craftsmen. Since the 1960s many new houses have been built. In 2000, more than three-quarters of workers in Rivio were commuters, with the majority going to Lugano. ==Geography==

The municipality of Rovio is located in the district of Lugano, on the left side of the Valmara valley. It includes the Swiss side of the peak of Monte Generoso, at an elevation of on the border with Italy. ==Demographics==

Rovio has a population () of . , 16.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 18.5%. Most of the population () speaks Italian (83.1%), with German being second most common (11.9%) and Portuguese being third (1.6%). Of the Swiss national languages (), 80 speak German, 7 people speak French, 559 people speak Italian, and 1 person speaks Romansh. The remainder (26 people) speak another language. , the gender distribution of the population was 49.3% male and 50.7% female. The population was made up of 307 Swiss men (40.8% of the population), and 64 (8.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 332 Swiss women (44.1%), and 50 (6.6%) non-Swiss women. , there were 281 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0%. there were 449 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 5 room apartment of which there were 136. There were 21 single room apartments and 136 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 281 apartments (62.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 163 apartments (36.3%) were seasonally occupied and 5 apartments (1.1%) 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:680 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:100 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:20 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1591 from:start till:62 text:"62" bar:1801 from:start till:396 text:"396" bar:1850 from:start till:384 text:"384" bar:1860 from:start till:359 text:"359" bar:1870 from:start till:340 text:"340" bar:1880 from:start till:360 text:"360" bar:1890 from:start till:314 text:"314" bar:1900 from:start till:375 text:"375" bar:1910 from:start till:401 text:"401" bar:1920 from:start till:405 text:"405" bar:1930 from:start till:441 text:"441" bar:1941 from:start till:382 text:"382" bar:1950 from:start till:376 text:"376" bar:1960 from:start till:347 text:"347" bar:1970 from:start till:450 text:"450" bar:1980 from:start till:535 text:"535" bar:1990 from:start till:579 text:"579" bar:2000 from:start till:673 text:"673" ==Politics==

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 33.24% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (18%), the Ticino League (17.01%) and the CVP (11.8%). In the federal election, a total of 289 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 54.7%. In the Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 521 registered voters in Rovio, of which 359 or 68.9% voted. 3 blank ballots were cast, leaving 356 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PS which received 111 or 31.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PLRT (with 58 or 16.3%), the LEGA (with 53 or 14.9%) and the SSI (with 51 or 14.3%). In the Consiglio di Stato election, 1 blank ballot and 2 null ballots were cast, leaving 356 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PS which received 128 or 36.0% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the LEGA (with 76 or 21.3%), the PLRT (with 59 or 16.6%) and the SSI (with 45 or 12.6%). ==Economy==

, Rovio had an unemployment rate of 3.31%. , there were 9 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 3 businesses involved in this sector. 13 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 5 businesses in this sector. 61 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 16 businesses in this sector. Of the working population, 6.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 71.1% used a private car. ==Religion==

From the , 498 or 74.0% were Roman Catholic, while 55 or 8.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. There are 92 individuals (or about 13.67% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 28 individuals (or about 4.16% of the population) did not answer the question. ==Education==

In Rovio about 78.5% of the population (between ages 25 and 64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). There were 3 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 14 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 52 students from Rovio who attended schools outside the municipality. ==References==