Orpund

Sister cities

• Brtnice

History

Orpund is first mentioned in 1255 as Orpunt. The municipality was formerly known by its unknown name er Orpondes, however, that name is no longer used. The Jura water correction projects of 1868-75 diverted the Aare river into Lake Biel and built the Nidau-Büren Canal through Orpund. The canal drained the Orpundmoos marsh and reduced flooding in the village. However, the changed river course also changed the border between Orpund and the neighboring municipality of Schwadernau. Orpund was generally rural and agrarian until the 1950s when it became a suburb of Biel/Bienne. Both the population and industry increased rapidly in the municipality after the 1950s. A number of new housing developments sprang up around Orpund in the 1960s. A municipal school opened in 1970, with students coming from several surrounding municipalities. Today, many of the residents commute to jobs in Biel or other nearby cities. In 2005, industry still provides about 60% of all jobs in Orpund, while the services sector makes up 37%.

Geography

Orpund has an area of . As of 2012, a total of or 39.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 37.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 20.7% is settled (buildings or roads), or 2.3% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.3% is unproductive land. During the same year, industrial buildings made up 1.8% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 14.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.0%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 30.6% is used for growing crops and 7.1% is pastures, while 1.5% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.