Waldenburg, Switzerland

Waldenburg (Swiss Standard German pronunciation: [ˈvaldn̩bʊrɡ] ) is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland, and the capital of the district of the same name.

Geography

Waldenburg has an area, as of 2009, of 8.3 square kilometers (3.2 sq mi). Of this area, 2.61 km2 (1.01 sq mi) or 31.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 5.18 km2 (2.00 sq mi) or 62.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.48 km2 (0.19 sq mi) or 5.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and 0.01 km2 (2.5 acres) or 0.1% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.6%. Out of the forested land, 60.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.1% is used for growing crops and 16.4% is pastures, while 1.3% is used for orchards or vine crops and 13.6% is used for alpine pastures.

Coat of arms

The municipal coat of arms was introduced in 1926; it is that of the counts of Frohburg, who owned the village at the time of its first mention (1244); its blazon is Or, an Eagle displayed Vair, langued, beaked and membered Gules.

Demographics

Waldenburg has a population (as of June 2021) of 1,124. As of 2008, 27.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals.