Versam is a former municipality in the district of Surselva in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. The municipalities of Valendas, Versam, Safien and Tenna merged on 1 January 2013 into the new municipality of Safiental.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 2 January 2013
History Versam is first mentioned in 1050 as a valle Versamia.
Geography Versam had an area, , of . Of this area, 16.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 70.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (10.6%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).
The former municipality is located in the Ilanz sub-district of the Surselva district. It is located above the Vorderrhein canyon at the entrance to the Safien Valley. It consists of the linear village of Versam and the hamlets of Versam-Station, Arezen, Calörtsch and Sculms.
Demographics
, Versam had a population of 226.Swiss Federal Statistics Office – STAT-TAB Ständige und Nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Region, Geschlecht, Nationalität und Alter accessed 3 October 2012 The historical population is as follows:
year population 2000 255 1950 354 1900 316 1850 396 1803 357
, 4.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.
most of the population speaks Swiss German (98.0%), with Romansh being second most common ( 1.6%) and Spanish being third ( 0.4%).Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 20-Nov-2009 the gender distribution was 48.6% male and 51.4% female.Graubunden in Numbers accessed 21 September 2009 the age distribution was as follows:Graubunden Population Statistics accessed 21 September 2009
Age group Population % of total Children (0-9yrs) 35 13.7% Teenagers (10-19yrs) 33 12.9% Adults (20-29yrs) 12 4.7% Adults (30-39yrs) 41 16.1% Adults (40-49yrs) 36 14.1% Adults (50-59yrs) 25 9.8% Seniors (60-69yrs) 29 11.4% Seniors (70-79yrs) 25 9.8% Seniors (80-89yrs) 15 5.9% Seniors (90-99yrs) 4 1.6%
Education
In Versam about 78.9% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). The nearest fachhochschules to Versam are in Chur, such as the Chur University of Applied Sciences and Fachhochschule Graubünden.
Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 42.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (30.7%), the FDP (16.7%) and the CVP (9.1%).
Economy
, Versam has an unemployment rate of 0.52%. Employment and businesses were organized as follows:
Sector People Employed Businesses Involved Primary (raw materials) 41 17 Secondary (manufacturing) 7 3 Tertiary (service) 52 9
Transportation Versam-Safien station, on the line of the Rhaetian Railway that links Chur and Disentis, is located and some lower than the village of Versam, and about to the north. To solve this, a PostAuto bus service provides a direct connection between the railway station and the village, as well as to Thalkirch and Tenna.
Versam was connected to Tenna in 1994 with the completion of the Aclatobel Tunnel.
Gallery
References
External links Official website