Thal District facts for kids

Thal District, canton of Solothurn

Municipalities of Thal District

Thal

Thal District is a special area in Switzerland. It's one of ten districts in the Solothurn canton. You can find it right in the middle of the canton.

Thal District teams up with the Gäu District. Together, they form an "Amtei" called Thal-Gäu. An Amtei is like a larger area used for elections. As of 31 December 2020, about 14,752 people live in Thal District.

Towns and Villages in Thal District

Thal District is made up of several towns and villages. These are called municipalities. Here's a list of them:

Coat of arms	Municipality	Population (31 December 2020)	Area, km²
	Aedermannsdorf	581	12.88
	Balsthal	6,210	15.69
	Herbetswil	568	16.35
	Holderbank	705	7.79
	Laupersdorf	1,810	15.52
	Matzendorf	1,321	11.29
	Mümliswil-Ramiswil	2,386	35.48
	Welschenrohr-Gänsbrunnen	1,158	24.46
	Total	14,752	139.33

Understanding the Land in Thal District

Thal District covers an area of about 139.34 square kilometers (53.80 sq mi). This is how the land is used:

• About 41.6% of the land is used for farming. This includes fields for crops and pastures for animals.
• A large part, 52.2%, is covered by forests.
• About 5.8% of the land has buildings or roads. This is where people live and travel.
• A small amount, 0.2%, is rivers or lakes.
• The remaining 0.3% is land that isn't used for anything, like rocky areas.

Most of the built-up areas are homes and other buildings (2.9%). Roads and other transport areas make up 1.9%. In the forests, almost half (49.6%) is dense forest. Another 2.6% has orchards or small groups of trees. For farming, 27.6% is for growing crops. About 13.3% is used for grazing animals in the mountains. All the water in the district is flowing water, like rivers.

Changes to Municipalities

Sometimes, smaller towns or villages decide to join together. This happened in Thal District on January 1, 2021. The former municipalities of Gänsbrunnen and Welschenrohr merged. They are now one new municipality called Welschenrohr-Gänsbrunnen.

Thal District's Coat of Arms

Coat of Arms

Every district has a special symbol called a coat of arms. It's like a logo for the area. The coat of arms for Thal District shows a silver falcon. It's standing on a rock against a red background. This design is called a "blazon."

Who Lives in Thal District?

Thal District has a population of 14,752 people. Most people in the district speak German. About 90.7% of the population speaks German. Other languages spoken include Serbo-Croatian (2.0%) and Albanian (1.9%). A small number of people also speak French or Romansh.

In 2008, there were slightly more men (51.2%) than women (48.8%). Most people living in Thal District were born there (46.2%). Others were born in the same canton (20.6%) or elsewhere in Switzerland (17.1%). About 13.3% of the people were born outside of Switzerland.

The population changes over time. In 2008, more people were born than died. Also, more people moved into the district from other countries than moved out. This caused the total population to grow slightly by 0.1%.

Many people in the district are married (6,828 individuals). There are also many single people (5,757). Some people are widowed (903) or divorced (550).

There are different types of homes. About 1,530 homes have only one person living in them. There are also many families with children (1,968 married couples with children). Some homes have single parents (249).

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

Understanding Politics in Thal District

In Switzerland, people vote for their leaders in federal elections. In the 2007 election, the most popular political party in Thal District was the CVP. They received 34.6% of the votes. The next most popular parties were the SVP (30.2%), the FDP (19.55%), and the SP (9.45%).

Many people in Thal District voted. Out of all the people who could vote, 56.4% cast their ballots.

Religions in Thal District

People in Thal District follow different religions. According to a survey in 2000:

• Most people, about 64.0%, are Roman Catholic.
• About 18.0% belong to the Swiss Reformed Church.
• Some people are Orthodox Christian (1.66%) or belong to other Christian churches (1.34%).
• About 5.81% of the population is Islamic.
• Smaller numbers of people are Buddhist or Hindu.
• About 6.33% of the people said they did not belong to any church.

Education in Thal District

Education is important in Thal District. About 36.4% of the people have finished high school (called "upper secondary education"). Also, 7.3% have gone on to higher education, like a university or a specialized college (a Fachhochschule).

The school system in Solothurn canton has different levels:

• Kindergarten: Young children can go for two years, but it's not required. In 2010-2011, there were no children in kindergarten in the district.
• Primary School: Students must attend for six years. In 2010-2011, there were no students in regular primary school, but 26 students were in special, smaller classes.
• Secondary School: This has two parts. The first part is three years of required schooling. After that, students can choose to go to advanced schools for three to five more years. In 2010-2011, 506 students were in the lower secondary schools in Thal District.

See also

In Spanish: Distrito de Thal para niños