Kloten facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kloten
Kloten
Coat of arms
Kloten Location in Switzerland Show map of Switzerland Kloten Location in Canton of Zürich Show map of Canton of Zürich
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Zürich
District	Bülach
Area
• Total	19.27 km2 (7.44 sq mi)
Elevation	446 m (1,463 ft)
Population  (Dec 2020 )
• Total	20,429
• Density	1,060.15/km2 (2,745.8/sq mi)
Postal code	8302
Surrounded by	Bassersdorf, Dietlikon, Lufingen, Nürensdorf, Oberembrach, Opfikon, Rümlang, Wallisellen, Winkel
Twin towns	Cape Canaveral (USA)

Kloten is a lively town in Switzerland, located in the canton of Zürich. It's part of the Bülach District and sits in the beautiful Glatt Valley. Kloten is especially known for being home to Zurich Airport, one of Switzerland's busiest airports.

A Look Back: Kloten's History

Kloten is quite old! The first time it was ever written about was in the year 1155. Back then, it was called Chlotun.

Exploring Kloten: Geography and Land Use

Aerial view of Kloten from 100 meters up, taken in 1919 by Walter Mittelholzer

Kloten is located in the Glatt Valley, which is about 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of the big city of Zürich. It's super close to Zurich Airport. In fact, the airport's main building and a lot of its runways are right inside Kloten's town limits!

The town covers an area of about 19.3 square kilometers (7.5 square miles). A big part of this land, about 34%, is used for farming. Forests cover another 26.7% of the area. The rest, about 38%, is where buildings and roads are, and a tiny bit (1%) is made up of rivers or other natural areas.

Who Lives in Kloten: Population and People

Kloten has a population of about 20,909 people (as of 2022). About 26.8% of the people living in Kloten are from other countries. Over the last 10 years, the town's population has grown by about 6.4%.

Languages Spoken in Kloten

Most people in Kloten speak German, about 78.8% of the population. Italian is the second most common language, spoken by 4.2% of residents. Serbo-Croatian is the third most common, spoken by 3.1%.

Politics and Elections

In the 2007 election, the most popular political party was the SVP. They received 46.1% of the votes. Other popular parties included the SPS (16.3%), the CSP (9.5%), and the FDP (8.7%).

Age Groups and Education

Looking at the age of people in Kloten (as of 2000):

• Children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 19.2% of the population.
• Adults (20–64 years old) make up 68.3%.
• Seniors (over 64 years old) make up 12.5%.

Many adults in Kloten have a good education. About 70.3% of people aged 25–64 have finished either upper secondary education (like high school) or even higher education, such as university.

Jobs and Businesses

Kloten has a low unemployment rate of 3.12%. As of 2005, many people work in different types of jobs:

• Primary sector: 91 people work in jobs like farming, with 28 businesses.
• Secondary sector: 4,545 people work in manufacturing and industry, with 109 businesses.
• Tertiary sector: 23,154 people work in services (like shops, offices, and the airport), with 888 businesses.

Historical Population Growth

Here's how Kloten's population has changed over many years:

Local Services

Kloten has a public library where you can find books, DVDs, newspapers, and more!

Getting Around: Transportation in Kloten

Kloten is a major transportation hub, mainly because of Zurich Airport.

Zurich Airport

The main passenger building of Zurich Airport is in the western part of Kloten. Most of the airport's land is also within the town's borders. This means there are lots of roads and train lines that serve the airport and, of course, the rest of Kloten.

Roads and Motorways

Kloten is connected to Zürich by the A51 motorway. The same motorway also links Kloten to Bülach. You can also find roads that lead to many other places, like Winterthur to the east.

Train and Tram Services

There are three train stations in Kloten:

• Zürich Flughafen (Zurich Airport) station is right under the airport terminal. You can catch long-distance trains to cities all over Switzerland from here. It's also served by local Zürich S-Bahn lines like S2, S16, and S24.
• Kloten station and Balsberg station are served by S-Bahn line S7.

The western part of Kloten also has tram services. Zürich tram routes 10 and 12 run through the Stadtbahn Glattal light rail system. These trams stop at Zurich Airport and Balsberg station.

There's even a special little train called the Parkbahn that runs in the park area of The Circle at Zurich Airport.

Kloten's Economy: Businesses and Jobs

Many important companies have offices in Kloten, especially those related to the airport.

• Swiss International Air Lines (often called SWISS) has its offices in the Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie buildings at Zurich Airport in Kloten.
• Swiss World Cargo, which handles air freight, has its main office in the Alpha and Bravo buildings.
• Swiss Private Aviation also has its main office in the SWISS complex.
• The main offices for Swissôtel, a hotel chain, are located in the Prioria Business Center at Zurich Airport in Kloten.

When Swissair was still around, its main office was also at Zurich Airport in Kloten.

Sports in Kloten

Kloten is home to EHC Kloten, a professional ice hockey team that plays in the National League (NL). The team plays their home games at the Swiss Arena, which can hold 7,800 fans!

Learning in Kloten: Education

The Schule Kloten is the town's school system. It has primary school classes at four different locations and secondary school classes at two locations.

The primary school campuses are Dorf/Feld Primar, Hinterwelden Primar, Nägelimoos Primar, and Spitz Primar. The two secondary campuses are Nägelimoos Sekundar and Spitz Sekundar. Kloten also has a Berufswahlschule (a school to help students choose a career) and a Musikschule (music school).

Famous People from Kloten

• Alexander Rückstuhl (born 1971) – A rower who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics.
• Damien Brunner (born 1986) – A professional ice hockey player.
• Charyl Chappuis (born 1992) – A professional footballer who has played for the Thailand national team.
• Peter Nielsen (1967 – 2004) – A former air traffic controller.

Kloten's Weather: Climate

Kloten has an oceanic climate (which means it's influenced by the ocean), but it also has some continental influences. This is because of its elevation and distance from large bodies of water. It rains quite a lot throughout the year. In winter, it often snows because of the cold nights, but the snow usually doesn't stay for very long because the afternoons are often mild. Summers are warm with frequent thunderstorms. The skies can be quite cloudy, but it tends to be sunnier in the summer.

See also

In Spanish: Kloten para niños