Brione (Verzasca) is a village and former municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.

As one of the main towns of the upper valley, it and Vogorno alternately presented the candidates for the offices of Podestà and governor.

Since the 14th century many of the residents have spent their winters with their cattle in the Magadino valley.

[4] Brione had an area, as of 1997[update], of 48.56 square kilometers (18.75 sq mi).

Out of the forested land, 28.9% of the total land area is heavily forested, while 14.6% is covered in small trees and shrubbery and 4.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees.

[5] The village is located in the Locarno district in the upper Verzasca valley.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent a lion rampant coward or holding in his front paws a castle gules.

Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks Italian (86.7%), with German being second most common (7.9%) and French being third (4.4%).

[7] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Brione is; 21 children or 10.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 19 teenagers or 9.1% are between 10 and 19.

[8] The historical population is given in the following table:[4] The entire village of Brione (Verzasca) is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

[13] In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 40.41% of the vote.

In the federal election, a total of 63 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 36.8%.

[14] In the 2007[update] Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 163 registered voters in Brione, of which 91 or 55.8% voted.

[8] There were 81 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 39.5% of the workforce.

[17] From the 2000 census[update], 157 or 77.3% were Roman Catholic, while 12 or 5.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two-year middle school followed by a two-year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four-year program to prepare for higher education.

The upper secondary school includes several options, but at the end of the upper secondary program, a student should be prepared to enter a trade or to continue to a university or college.

The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields.