Sarine District Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Sarine District

District

Flag	Coat of arms

Capital

Area

• Total

217.6 km² (84.0 sq mi)

Population

(31 December 2020)

• Total

107,158

• Density

492.45/km² (1,275.45/sq mi)

Time zone

UTC+1 (CET)

• Summer (DST)

UTC+2 (CEST)

Municipalities

Website

Sarine

The Sarine District (called District de la Sarine in French and Saanebezirk in German) is one of the seven districts in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. Most people here speak French, but there is also a group of people who speak German.

The district gets its name from the Sarine River, which flows through it. Another river, the Glâne, also drains the area. As of 31 December 2020, about 107,158 people live in the Sarine District.

Towns and Villages in Sarine
Who Lives in Sarine?
Changes to Towns and Villages
Politics and Elections
Religions in Sarine
Education and Schools
See also

Towns and Villages in Sarine

The Sarine District has 26 different towns and villages, which are called municipalities. The main city and capital of the canton, Fribourg, is also located here.

Municipality	Population (31 December 2020)	Area in km²
Autigny	782	6.22
Avry	1,911	5.84
Belfaux	3,342	8.88
Bois-d'Amont	2,273	12.28
Chénens	843	3.94
Corminboeuf	2,794	7.23
Cottens	1,482	4.97
Ferpicloz	267	1.02
Fribourg	38,039	9.28
Gibloux	7,622	36.06
Givisiez	3,143	3.46
Granges-Paccot	3,839	3.99
Grolley	2,084	5.34
Hauterive	2,597	11.97
La Brillaz	2,080	10.3
La Sonnaz	1,233	6.96
Le Mouret	3,148	18.56
Marly	8,222	7.72
Matran	1,620	2.91
Neyruz	2,757	5.53
Pierrafortscha	157	5.06
Ponthaux	779	5.91
Prez	2,345	12.61
Treyvaux	1,466	11.4
Villarsel-sur-Marly	75	1.39
Villars-sur-Glâne	12,219	5.48
Total	107,158	217.60

Who Lives in Sarine?

As of as of December 2020^[update], the Sarine District has a population of 107,158 people. Most of them (about 75.3%) speak French as their main language. About 14.5% speak German, and 2.3% speak Italian. A very small number of people, 80, speak Romansh.

In 2008, about 49.5% of the people living in Sarine were male, and 50.5% were female. Many people were born in the Sarine District (27.8%) or in the same canton (31.7%). About 17.1% were born in other parts of Switzerland, and 19.4% were born outside of Switzerland.

In 2000, about 40,123 people in the district had never been married. There were also 37,194 married people, 4,156 widows or widowers, and 3,992 divorced people. Many households (11,990) had only one person living in them.

The chart below shows how the population of Sarine has changed over time:

Changes to Towns and Villages

Over the years, some towns and villages in the Sarine District have joined together or changed their names. This is called a "merger." Here are some of the changes:

On March 14, 1970, Marly-le-Grand and Marly-le-Petit became one town called Marly.
On June 1, 1972, Illens joined Rossens (FR).
On January 1, 1976, Chésalles joined Marly.
On January 1, 1977, Sales (Sarine) joined Ependes (FR). Also, Belfaux and Cutterwil joined to form Belfaux.
On January 1, 1981, Nierlet-les-Bois joined Ponthaux.
On January 1, 1982, Lossy and Formangueires merged to become Lossy-Formangueires.
On January 1, 1989, Bonnefontaine and Montécu merged into Bonnefontaine.
On January 1, 1996, Grenilles, Farvagny-le-Grand, Farvagny-le-Petit, and Posat merged to form Farvagny.
On January 1, 1999, Corpataux and Magnedens merged to form Corpataux-Magnedens.
On January 1, 2001, Onnens (FR), Lentigny, and Lovens merged to form La Brillaz. Ecuvillens and Posieux merged to form Hauterive (FR). Corjolens and Avry-sur-Matran merged to form Avry.
On January 1, 2003, Zénauva, Essert (FR), Montévraz, Oberried (FR), Praroman, and Bonnefontaine merged to form Le Mouret. Villarsel-le-Gibloux, Villarlod, Estavayer-le-Gibloux, and Rueyres-Saint-Laurent merged to form Le Glèbe.
On January 1, 2004, Cormagens, La Corbaz, and Lossy-Formangueires merged to form La Sonnaz.
On January 1, 2016, Autafond merged into Belfaux. Also, five towns: Corpataux-Magnedens, Farvagny, Le Glèbe, Rossens, and Vuisternens-en-Ogoz merged to form the new town of Gibloux.
On January 1, 2017, Chésopelloz merged into Corminboeuf.
On January 1, 2020, Corserey, Noréaz, and Prez-vers-Noréaz merged to form Prez.
On January 1, 2021, Arconciel, Ependes, and Senèdes merged to form Bois-d'Amont.

Politics and Elections

In Switzerland, people vote for their representatives in the government. This is called an election. In the 2011 federal election, the most popular political party in Sarine was the SP. They received 32.2% of all the votes.

Other popular parties were:

The CVP with 19.8% of the votes.
The SVP with 16.3% of the votes.
The FDP with 9.4% of the votes.

These results were similar to the previous election in 2007.

Religions in Sarine

Based on information from the year 2000, many people in Sarine are Christian.

About 74.9% of the population are Roman Catholic.
About 7.5% belong to the Swiss Reformed Church.
About 1% are members of an Orthodox church.
About 1.72% belong to other Christian churches.

There are also people of other faiths:

About 3.34% of the population are Islamic.
A small number of people are Jewish (0.11%), Buddhist, or Hindu.
About 6.71% of the people do not belong to any church or religion.

Education and Schools

In Sarine, many people have a good education. About 32.8% of the population have finished upper secondary education, which is like high school. Also, 15.5% have gone on to higher education, like a university or a specialized college.

The school system in the Canton of Fribourg works like this:

Kids start with one year of optional Kindergarten.
Then, they go to six years of Primary school.
After that, they have three years of lower Secondary school. Students are grouped based on their skills.
Next, students can choose to go to an optional three or four-year upper Secondary school. This can be a gymnasium (which prepares them for university) or a vocational program (which teaches job skills).
After upper Secondary, students can go to a higher education school or start an apprenticeship (learning a trade on the job).

During the 2010-2011 school year, there were 23,288 students in Sarine. This included 1,620 kindergarten students, 6,471 primary students, and 3,819 lower secondary students. Many students were also in upper secondary schools (4,042) and vocational programs (6,123). Some students (1,213) were in different types of higher education.

Sarine District facts for kids

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