Sense District facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sense District Sensebezirk
District
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Fribourg
Capital	Tafers
Area
• Total	265.3 km2 (102.4 sq mi)
Population  (31 December 2020)
• Total	44,594
• Density	168.09/km2 (435.35/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Municipalities	15
Website	http://www.fr.ch/pref/de/pub/psi/index.cfm

The Sense District (also known as German: Sensebezirk or French: District de la Singine) is one of the seven administrative areas in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. It is special because it's the only district in Fribourg where everyone speaks German. The district gets its name from the Sense River, which forms most of its eastern border with the canton of Bern.

A Look Back: History of Sense

The Sense region was first mentioned in history way back in 1076. It was called Sensuna then. In 1848, the canton of Fribourg changed its organization, and Sense became one of its seven districts. Before that, most of the Sense area was part of the Republic of Fribourg until the old system of government ended. People in the Sense District even have their own special way of speaking German, called Sensler German.

Towns and Villages: Municipalities

The Sense District is made up of 15 different towns and villages, which are called municipalities. Here is a list of them:

Coat of Arms	Municipality name	Population (31 December 2020)	Area in km²
	Bösingen	3,421	14.33
	Brünisried	670	3.25
	Düdingen	8,300	30.76
	Giffers	1,664	5.22
	Heitenried	1,395	9.13
	Plaffeien	3,613	66.53
	Plasselb	1,010	18.16
	Rechthalten	1,106	7.31
	Schmitten	4,166	13.5
	St. Silvester	952	7.04
	St. Ursen	1,365	15.72
	Tafers	3,532	41.3
	Tentlingen	1,348	3.61
	Ueberstorf	2,382	16.11
	Wünnewil-Flamatt	5,559	13.27
	Total	44,594	265.35

District Symbol: Coat of Arms

The blazon (official description) of the Sense District's coat of arms is: Azure, a Guard statant afrontee clad Azure and Sable ensigned with a Cross on sinister, holding in dexter a Halberd Argent. This means it shows a guard standing, dressed in blue and black, with a cross on the left side, holding a silver halberd (a type of axe-like weapon).

Who Lives Here: Demographics

The Sense District has a population of about 44,594 people. Most people (about 92.1%) speak German as their main language. French is the second most common language, spoken by about 3.2% of the people. About 1.6% of the population speaks Albanian.

In 2008, about 50.1% of the population was male and 49.9% was female. Most people in the district were born there or in the same canton. About 8% of the people were born outside of Switzerland.

Population Changes Over Time

The chart below shows how the population of the Sense District has changed over many years:

Changes to Municipalities

Over the years, some municipalities in the Sense District have changed their names or merged with others:

• On January 1, 1962, Grossbösingen became Bösingen.
• On January 1, 1971, Neuhaus joined Plasselb.
• On January 1, 1974, Wünnewil changed its name to Wünnewil-Flamatt.
• On January 1, 2017, Zumholz and Oberschrot merged into Plaffeien.
• On January 1, 2021, St. Antoni and Alterswil merged into Tafers.

How People Vote: Politics

In the 2011 Swiss federal election, the most popular political party in Sense was the SVP. They received 23.0% of the votes. The next most popular parties were the CVP (22.4%) and the SPS (18.1%).

Beliefs and Faith: Religion

Based on a census from 2000, most people in Sense are Christian. About 70.1% were Roman Catholic, and 18.1% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. A smaller number of people belonged to other Christian churches, or to other religions like Islam, Buddhism, or Hinduism. Some people did not belong to any church or did not answer the question.

Learning and Schools: Education

In Sense, many adults have completed higher education. About 36.1% have finished non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 10.5% have gone on to university or a specialized college.

The Canton of Fribourg has a school system that starts with one year of optional Kindergarten. After that, children attend six years of Primary school. Then, they go to three years of mandatory lower Secondary school, where students are grouped by their abilities. After lower Secondary, students can choose to go to a three or four-year optional 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 Tertiary school or continue with an apprenticeship.

During the 2010-2011 school year, there were almost 5,000 students in Sense. Many students from the district also attended schools outside of Sense.

See also

In Spanish: Distrito de Sense para niños