List of localities in Switzerland

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The official local directory is the local directory of the localities in Switzerland - defined by postcodes . It is managed by the Federal Office of Topography and is based on geo. admin.ch published.

On the concept of locality

The terms “place” and “locality” have different and sometimes even contradicting meanings depending on the area of ​​application and the point of view of the user. While the words generally describe a settlement in a geographical sense, the term locality is specifically defined:

"Geographically delimitable, contiguous settlement areas of national importance, which can also include subordinate settlements, must be identified with a unique place name and a unique postcode."

- Art. 20 Principles No. 1 Ordinance on Geographical Names (GeoNV)

The creation of the localities is the responsibility of the political communities together with the Swiss Post (Art. 21 1 GeoNV), the setting of boundaries is carried out by the agency responsible for cantonal land surveying (Art. 21 2 GeoNV), and the federal office maintains the national directory of these localities for Topography (Art. 24 GeoNV).

The relationship between parishes, place and zip code is often complicated. This is because a municipality can consist of one or more important districts and the municipality name is not always the name of a place within the municipality. Postal codes are used to distribute mail and form a separate structure that is not congruent with the political one. Addresses with the same postcode do not necessarily have to be in the same place or in the same municipality. Conversely, there can be addresses with different postcodes in a municipality or a place.

The definition of the localities is based on the small-scale supply needs of the municipalities or the universal service of the post office. The extent to which the municipalities then use the official localities as an administrative structure for further aspects can vary from place to place. Some municipalities have their own local structure that differs from the official local register.

In any case, due to the exact measurement of the local boundaries ( perimeter ), the national territory of Switzerland is filled with localities across the board, so that each point belongs to a locality, even in unpopulated areas.

Development of the location directory

In Switzerland there were two different lists of localities:

  • Official directory of localities - Federal Office of Topography  (swisstopo)
    • According to Art. 20 Ordinance on Geographical Names (GeoNV), the place is understood in the postal sense.
    • The official list of localities within the meaning of Article 24 of the Ordinance on Geographical Names (GeoNV) includes around 4,100 localities.
  • List of localities in Switzerland 2006 edition - Federal Statistical Office  (BfS)
    • The place was understood in the colloquial sense of settlement / larger place (colloquial place).
    • The list of localities in Switzerland comprised around 6,000 localities.

The Federal Office of Topography is currently responsible for maintaining the locality directory, based on Article 24 Localities: Official directory of the GeoNV.

Official list of localities - Federal Office of Topography

The official local directory of the Federal Office of Topography is a data set. In addition to the postcodes, it also includes the associated perimeter (boundary lines). The Federal Office of Topography creates, administers and publishes the official list of localities, including the data for postcode and perimeter.

This directory is based on the postal codes introduced in 1964 for the delivery service of the Swiss Post.

The data record ("PLZO_CH") is managed centrally and is available across the whole of Switzerland. According to reports from the cantons' surveying offices, the data record is updated continuously.

The official local register is published by swisstopo's geographic information service , which provides the data set and processes it in cartography. This is accessible via the federal administration's web portal, admin.ch .

List of localities in Switzerland - Federal Statistical Office

The list of localities in Switzerland is a publication by the Federal Statistical Office . In the 2006 edition, it includes around 6,000 place names with the name of the municipality to which they belong and the postcodes used for them . The directory enables an assignment between postal place names and the political communities .

The directory continued the series of publications of the same name by the Federal Statistical Office, which are based on data from the censuses of 1910 and 1960 and based on other sources, e.g. a. the Swiss Ortlexikon of 1984, the postal code directory , the list of places in the telephone books and the name database of the Swiss national topography ( Swissnames ) have been repeatedly adapted.

After 2006, the BfS no longer published a list of localities and handed over the tour to swisstopo. However, the BfS continues to keep the official register of Swiss municipalities , the register of district boundaries of Swiss cities and the GWR correspondence table between postcode and municipality for the building and housing register .

Use of the directory and case studies of localities

The directory is valuable in cases where significant localities do not correspond to political parishes. The directory is required, for example, if the signature sheets for nationwide initiatives and referendums are provided with the place of residence and zip code and not the name and zip code of the political community. These forms must be assigned by the organizers to the relevant municipality so that they can be certified by it. A clear automatic assignment is necessary in geographic information systems if statements for the community level are to be made from data referenced with postal addresses using evaluation functions.

Examples of special cases:

  • Municipality with several localities: Kirchberg SG (11 localities)
  • Locations that extend over the area of ​​several political communities: Heerbrugg , Sihlbrugg , Siebnen , Forch
  • Assignment between town and postcode is not clear: St. Peter GR and Pagig , both zip codes . 7028 (therefore, since the incorporation of the short-term unification community St. Peter-Pagig to Arosa in 2013, partly this, partly the two places given as locality, internal six-digit zip codes 702800 and 702801)

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Ordinance on Geographical Names (GeoNV) (as amended online, admin.ch ).
  2. ↑ Weblink Official list of localities. Federal Office of Topography: cadastre.ch (last accessed December 4, 2017).
  3. ↑ List of localities in Switzerland (2006 edition). ( Memento of the original from September 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bfs.admin.ch archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Federal Statistical Office, bfs.admin.ch > Infothek> Nomenclatures (link no longer available 2017).
  4. ↑ List of localities. bfs.admin.ch > Basics and surveys> Official register of municipalities in Switzerland (accessed December 4, 2017).
  5. ^ Official register of Swiss municipalities.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.bfs.admin.ch   bfs.admin.ch (accessed December 4, 2017).
  6. ^ Localities of Arosa. gemeindearosa.ch, accessed December 4, 2017.
  7. ↑ 7028 (00) St. Peter and 7028 (01) Pagig. map.geo.admin.ch, both accessed December 4, 2017.