Balsthal
municipality in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland
Balsthal is a municipality in the district of Thal in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.
History
Balsthal is first mentioned in 968 as Palcivallis. In 1255 it was mentioned as Balcetal.
Geography
Balsthal has an area, as of 2009, of 15.71 square kilometers (6.07 sq mi). Of this area, 4.62 km2 (1.78 sq mi) or 29.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 8.53 km2 (3.29 sq mi) or 54.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.26 km2 (0.87 sq mi) or 14.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.1 km2 (25 acres) or 0.6% is either rivers or lakes and 0.18 km2 (0.069 sq mi) or 1.1% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 7.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.6%. Out of the forested land, 53.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.4% is used for growing crops and 19.7% is pastures and 2.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Balsthal” as municipality in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as municipality in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q65455. VIAF identifies the subject as 247366930. Authority coordinates are 47.316, 7.694. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1255 and 2009.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Balsthal”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Balsthal primary sources, Balsthal archive and Balsthal research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Balsthal”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Balsthal” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.