Untersteckholz

Untersteckholz was a municipality in the district of Aarwangen in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010, Untersteckholz merged into Langenthal.^[1]

Untersteckholz
Former municipality
Coat of arms
Location of Untersteckholz
Untersteckholz Show map of Switzerland Untersteckholz Show map of Canton of Bern
Coordinates: 47°13′N 7°51′E
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Bern
District	Aarwangen
Area
• Total	2.83 km2 (1.09 sq mi)
Elevation	492 m (1,614 ft)
Population  (December 2020)
• Total	166
• Density	59/km2 (150/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)	4916
SFOS number	0343
ISO 3166 code	CH-BE
Surrounded by	Busswil bei Melchnau, Langenthal, Melchnau, Obersteckholz, Pfaffnau (LU), Roggwil
Website	SFSO statistics

Geography

Before the merger, Untersteckholz had an area, as of 2009^[update], of 2.83 km² (1.09 sq mi). This area uses 2.09 km² (0.81 sq mi) or 73.9% for agricultural purposes, while 0.59 km² (0.23 sq mi) or 20.8% is forested. Of the remaining land, 0.16 km² (0.062 sq mi) or 5.7% is settled (buildings or roads).^[2]

Housing and buildings comprised 2.1% of the built-up area, and transportation infrastructure comprised 3.2%. 17.7% of the land area is heavily forested, and 3.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 56.5% is used for growing crops and 14.1% is pastures, while 3.2% is used for orchards or vine crops.^[2]

Demographics

Untersteckholz has a population of 166 (as of 31 December 2020).^[3] As of 2007^[update], 1.2% of the population comprised foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years, the population has grown at a rate of 5.8%. Most of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks German (97.6%), with Rhaeto-romance being the second most common (0.6%) and Russian being third (0.6%).

In the 2007 election, the most popular party was the SVP, which received 65.3% of the vote. The following three most popular parties were the FDP (11.3%), the Green Party (11.1%) and the local small left-wing parties (5.9%).

The age distribution of the population (as of 2000^[update]) is that children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 18.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61.7%, and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 19.8%. In Untersteckholz, about 79.7% of the population (between the ages of 25 and 64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either a University or a Fachhochschule).

Untersteckholz has an unemployment rate of 0.17%. As of 2005^[update], 58 people were employed in the primary economic sector, and about 14 businesses were involved in this sector. 16 people are employed in the secondary sector, and there are 5 businesses in this sector. 11 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 2 businesses in this sector.^[4]