Moleno is a former municipality in the district of Bellinzona in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.

On 2 April 2017 the former municipalities of Camorino, Claro, Giubiasco, Gnosca, Gorduno, Gudo, Monte Carasso, Pianezzo, Preonzo, Sant'Antonio and Sementina merged into the municipality of Bellinzona.

In 1396, its territory was combined with Preonzo, to form a single village community.

During these years, the confederation officers recognized, the rights and customary law of Moleno and Preonzo.

Moleno, Gnosca and Preonzo were the three municipalities in the district of Bellinzona where the Ambrosian Rite was followed in the churches.

[2] Moleno has an area, as of 1997[update], of 7.49 square kilometers (2.89 sq mi).

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure in chief a maize cob fesswise Or and in base a Millstone Argent with Fer-de-Moline of the first.

Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks Italian(90.5%), with German being second most common ( 6.7%) and French being third ( 1.9%).

[6] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Moleno is; 4 children or 3.4% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 14 teenagers or 12.1% are between 10 and 19.

[7] The historical population is given in the following table:[2][12] The entire village of Moleno is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites[13] In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 41.82% of the vote.

In the federal election, a total of 45 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 57.7%.

[14] In the 2007[update] Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 73 registered voters in Moleno, of which 54 or 74.0% voted.

[7] There were 41 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 34.1% of the workforce.

[7] From the 2000 census[update], 90 or 85.7% were Roman Catholic, while 7 or 6.7% 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 will be prepared to enter a trade or to continue on to a university or college.