Rheintal constituency

Rheintal constituency
Basic data
Country:	Switzerland Switzerland
Canton :	Canton of St. Gallen St. Gallen (SG)
Main town :
FSO number :	1723
Area :	138.94 km²
Height range :	395–1794 m above sea level M.
Residents:	73,094 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	526 inhabitants per km²
map

The Rheintal constituency is a sub-unit of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland , which was formed from January 1, 2003 according to the new cantonal constitution of June 10, 2001. It consists of the former districts of the Upper Rhine Valley and the Lower Rhine Valley (excluding Thal SG ).

politic and economy

The border location characterizes the St. Gallen Rhine Valley. Au in the Rheintal constituency, in the background Austrian mountains.

With the high-tech companies Leica , Jansen and SFS, the Rhine Valley is economically cosmopolitan like no other region in St. Gallen, but politically the constituency is one of the most conservative . For the industry, this is location marketing center, it is nevertheless rely on professionals. It is in competition with the Zurich area and Vorarlberg . The economy in the neighboring Austrian state has grown strongly and wage levels are converging .

Although regional pride and conservatism are less pronounced in the lower Rhine Valley than in the village-like upper part, in 2007 the voters of the congregations of Widnau, Au, Berneck, Balgach and Diepoldsau rejected the merger to form a town in the Middle Rhine Valley .

Seats in the Cantonal Council (2020-2024)
1 2 1 4th 3 6th 1 2 1 4th 3 6th A total of 17 seats GPS : 1 SP : 2 glp : 1 CVP : 4 FDP : 3 SVP : 6

Distribution of seats
Election year	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020
GPS	1	1	1	1	1
SP	3	1	2	2	2
glp					1
CVP	9	5	5	4th	4th
FDP	5	3	3	3	3
SVP	7th	7th	6th	7th	6th
all in all	25th	17th	17th	17th	17th

The Christian Democrats (CVP) lost their power to the Swiss People's Party (SVP), which in the Rhine Valley achieved one of the highest proportions in the entire canton with around a third of the votes. The proximity of the border with the population's need for security is likely to play a certain role in the political mood. The share of the FDP has remained constant at 20 percent since 2004, the Social Democrats (SP) fluctuate between 10 and 15 percent and the Greens are between five and eight percent. The Green Liberals first appeared on the political stage in the Rhine Valley in 2012 and at that time achieved around 5 percent of the vote, which corresponded pretty much to the decline in the SVP. In 2016, the SVP caught up again at the expense of the CVP. In 2020, the Green Liberals obtained a seat for the first time at the expense of the SVP.

Political structure

The Rheintal constituency includes the following communities:

coat of arms	Name of the parish	Population (December 31, 2018)	Area in km²	Inhabitant per km²
	Altstätten	11,733	39.46	297
	Au (SG)	7789	4.65	1675
	Balgach	4798	6.52	736
	Berneck	3963	5.62	705
	Diepoldsau	6471	11.25	575
	Eichberg	1535	5.44	282
	Marbach (SG)	2105	4.38	481
	Oberriet	8879	34.60	257
	Rebstein	4494	4.39	1024
	Rheineck	3419	2.21	1547
	Rüthi	2399	9.33	257
	St. Margrethen	5890	6.87	857
	Widnau	9619	4.22	2279
Total (13)		73,094	138.94	526