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Coat of arms of Boécourt
Coat of arms
Boécourt is located in Switzerland
Location of Boécourt
Karte Gemeinde Boécourt 2013.png
Boécourt is located in Canton of Jura
Boécourt (Canton of Jura)
Coordinates: 47°21′N 7°13′E﻿ / ﻿47.350°N 7.217°E﻿ / 47.350; 7.217Coordinates: 47°21′N 7°13′E﻿ / ﻿47.350°N 7.217°E﻿ / 47.350; 7.217
Country Switzerland
Canton Jura
District Delémont
 • Mayor Maire
 • Total 12.35 km2 (4.77 sq mi)
Elevation 516 m (1,693 ft)
Population (Dec 2016[2])
 • Total 916
 • Density 74/km2 (190/sq mi)
Postal code 2856
SFOS number 6702
Surrounded by Asuel, Bassecourt, Bourrignon, Develier, Glovelier, Montmelon
Twin towns Périgny-sur-Yerres (France)
SFSO statistics

Boécourt is a municipality in the district of Delémont in the canton of Jura in Switzerland.


Boécourt is first mentioned in 1141 as Boescort. The municipality was formerly known by its German name Biestingen, however, that name is no longer used.[3]


Boécourt has an area of 12.35 km2 (4.77 sq mi).[1] Of this area, 6.09 km2 (2.35 sq mi) or 49.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 5.09 km2 (1.97 sq mi) or 41.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.06 km2 (0.41 sq mi) or 8.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.04 km2 (9.9 acres) or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes and 0.03 km2 (7.4 acres) or 0.2% is unproductive land.[4]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.9%. Out of the forested land, 38.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 18.0% is used for growing crops and 17.4% is pastures and 13.2% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in lakes.[4]

The municipality is located in the Delemont district, south of the Les Rangiers junction on the Glovelier-Porrentruy road. It consists of the villages of Boécourt, Séprais and Montavon.

The municipalities of Bassecourt, Boécourt, Courfaivre, Glovelier, Saulcy, Soulce and Undervelier are considering a merger on at a date in the future into the new municipality of Haute-Sorne.[5]

Coat of arms[edit]

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure, a Garb Or ribboned and arched with three Mullets [of Six] of the same.[6]


Boécourt has a population (as of December 2016) of 916.[2] As of 2008, 9.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals.[7] Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 1.4%. Migration accounted for 1.8%, while births and deaths accounted for -0.4%.[8]

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks French (744 or 91.4%) as their first language, German is the second most common (32 or 3.9%) and Italian is the third (16 or 2.0%). There are 3 people who speak Romansh.[9]

As of 2008, the population was 49.9% male and 50.1% female. The population was made up of 387 Swiss men (45.2% of the population) and 40 (4.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 390 Swiss women (45.6%) and 39 (4.6%) non-Swiss women.[10] Of the population in the municipality, 330 or about 40.5% were born in Boécourt and lived there in 2000. There were 264 or 32.4% who were born in the same canton, while 107 or 13.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 94 or 11.5% were born outside of Switzerland.[9]

As of 2000, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 27.1% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 14.4%.[8]

As of 2000, there were 328 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 425 married individuals, 34 widows or widowers and 27 individuals who are divorced.[9]

As of 2000, there were 308 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household.[8] There were 66 households that consist of only one person and 29 households with five or more people. In 2000, a total of 303 apartments (86.3% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 36 apartments (10.3%) were seasonally occupied and 12 apartments (3.4%) were empty.[11] As of 2009, the construction rate of new housing units was 4.7 new units per 1000 residents.[8] The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2010, was 2.07%.[8]



In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SPS which received 29.12% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (24.83%), the SVP (17.61%) and the FDP (17.38%). In the federal election, a total of 227 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 38.0%.[13]


Areal view of Boécourt, 1955, from the archives of ETH Zurich

As of  2010, Boécourt had an unemployment rate of 3.9%. As of 2008, there were 38 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 15 businesses involved in this sector. 337 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 13 businesses in this sector. 59 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 17 businesses in this sector.[8] There were 403 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 40.0% of the workforce.

In 2008 the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 383. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 26, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 324 of which 290 or (89.5%) were in manufacturing and 32 (9.9%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 33. In the tertiary sector; 5 or 15.2% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 2 or 6.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 7 or 21.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 6.1% were technical professionals or scientists, 7 or 21.2% were in education.[14]

In 2000, there were 309 workers who commuted into the municipality and 249 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.2 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 19.4% of the workforce coming into Boécourt are coming from outside Switzerland.[15] Of the working population, 7.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 63% used a private car.[8]


From the 2000 census, 641 or 78.7% were Roman Catholic, while 61 or 7.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 33 individuals (or about 4.05% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Islamic. 72 (or about 8.85% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 22 individuals (or about 2.70% of the population) did not answer the question.[9]


In Boécourt about 242 or (29.7%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 69 or (8.5%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 69 who completed tertiary schooling, 60.9% were Swiss men, 29.0% were Swiss women.[9]


During the 2009-10 school year, there were no students attending school in Boécourt.[17] As of 2000, there were 71 students from Boécourt who attended schools outside the municipality.[15]


  1. ^ a b Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeindedaten nach 4 Hauptbereichen
  3. ^ a b Boécourt in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  5. ^ Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz Archived May 13, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (in German) accessed 17 February 2011
  6. ^ Flags of the Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. accessed 20-December-2011
  10. ^ Canton Jura Statistics- Population résidante permanente au 1er janvier 2010, canton du Jura et communes Archived April 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. (in French) accessed 2 March 2011
  15. ^ a b Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb[permanent dead link][permanent dead link] (in German) accessed 24 June 2010
  17. ^ Population résidante permanente des communes, selon le sexe et la nationalité, au 31 décembre 2010, canton du Jura Archived April 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. pdf document from the Canton of Jura Statistical Office Archived April 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. accessed 19 December 2011

External links[edit]