Riaz

History

Riaz is first mentioned in 900 as Villa Roda. The municipality was formerly known by its German name Zum Rad, however, that name is no longer used.

Geography

Riaz has an area, , of . Of this area, or 62.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 25.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 12.2% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 7.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.3%. Out of the forested land, 23.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 16.2% is used for growing crops and 35.1% is pastures and 10.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is located in the Gruyère district and neighbors the district capital of Bulle. The village of Riaz is located along the Bulle-Fribourg road.

Most-observed species

• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  4,689
• common frog

  Rana temporaria Linnaeus, 1758 · Amphibia
  2,827
• Eurasian beaver

  Castor fiber Linnaeus, 1758 · Mammalia
  2,509
• Ringlet

  Aphantopus hyperantus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,331
• Marbled White

  Melanargia galathea Linnaeus, 1758 · Insecta
  2,227
• Small Tortoiseshell

  Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  2,060
• Common Blue

  Polyommatus icarus (von Rottemburg, 1775) · Insecta
  1,921
• Japanese Knotweed

  Reynoutria japonica Houtt. · Magnoliopsida
  1,889

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2026-01-12
  4 km SSW of Les Houches, France
• M 4.1 — 2025-07-21
  4 km E of Frutigen, Switzerland
• M 3.2 — 2024-05-09
  9 km SW of Evolène, Switzerland
• M 4.4 — 2023-03-22
  1 km NW of Pont-de-Roide, France
• M 3.3 — 2022-09-25
  7 km ESE of Ar?ches-la-Frasse, France
• M 2.7 — 2022-08-23
  4 km S of Turtmann, Switzerland