Uzwil

Uzwil is a municipality in the Wahlkreis (constituency) of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

History

Uzwil was first mentioned in 819 as Uzzinwilare. The village of Henau was first mentioned 754 as Villa Aninauva at the Monastery of St. Gallen in the "Henau document" (Henauer Urkunde).

Geography

Uzwil has an area, as of 2006, of 14.5 km² (5.6 sq mi). Of this area, 53.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 17.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 26.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.7%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).

The municipality consists of the villages Niederuzwil, Uzwil, Henau, Algetshausen, Niederstetten, Oberstetten and Stolzenberg. It is located in the northern Toggenburg between Wil and Gossau.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure a lower semi Mill Wheel and above it Ears of Wheat Or.

Demographics

Uzwil has a population (as of 31 December 2014) of 12,695.As of 2007, about 25.1% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, (as of 2000), 198 are from Germany, 400 are from Italy, 1,587 are from ex-Yugoslavia, 74 are from Austria, 202 are from Turkey, and 270 are from another country. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 7.7%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (86.2%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 4.3%) and Albanian being third ( 3.0%). Of the Swiss national languages (as of 2000), 10,321 speak German, 45 people speak French, 310 people speak Italian, and 21 people speak Romansh.