Morbio Inferiore is a municipality in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland in the hills above Chiasso.

Between 1467 and 1468 the town of Mendrisio fought the Duke of Milan for the possession of Morbio.

In 1473 it was pawned by the Duke of Milan to Pietro da Oli and again in 1482 to Roberto Sanseverino.

[3] On the castle's foundations, the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli was built some time after 1595.

The church of San Giorgio, which was part of the vice parish until 1713, was built in 1309 and restored in 1975–78.

[3] Traditionally, the municipal economy was based on viticulture, the cultivation of mulberry trees and maize.

In the 20th century, the population and economy changed when large bakery, brewery, cement factory and later the textile and watchmaking industries moved into the municipality.

In 2001, the Parco delle Gole della naturale (Natural Park) was inaugurated along the Breggia river.

[3] Morbio Inferiore has an area, as of 1997[update], of 2.29 square kilometers (0.88 sq mi).

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per pale gules and argent overall a castle with two towers counterchanged.

[8] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks Italian language (3,714 or 90.5%), with German being second most common (210 or 5.1%) and French being third (49 or 1.2%).

[7] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Morbio Inferiore is; 423 children or 9.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 489 teenagers or 10.8% are between 10 and 19.

[9] The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][12] The Sanctuary of S. Maria Dei Miracoli, the Secondary School and Villa Valsangiacomo are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.

[13] In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 25.78% of the vote.

In the federal election, a total of 1,309 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 46.6%.

[14] In the 2007[update] Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 2,794 registered voters in Morbio Inferiore, of which 1,703 or 61.0% voted.

[8] There were 1,841 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 41.2% of the workforce.

In the tertiary sector; 407 or 44.7% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 24 or 2.6% were in the movement and storage of goods, 72 or 7.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 13 or 1.4% were in the information industry, 21 or 2.3% were the insurance or financial industry, 55 or 6.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 104 or 11.4% were in education and 134 or 14.7% were in health care.

[8] From the 2000 census[update], 3,460 or 84.3% were Roman Catholic, while 132 or 3.2% 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 professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields.

In Journey to the East[20] it is while crossing the gorge of Morbio Inferiore that "servant" Leo suddenly disappears[21] allegorically taking with him Hesse's previous faith in the whole Journey (i.e. in spiritual development).

In The Glass Bead Game, Hesse mentions a supposed concert hall featuring a perfect (i.e. allegorical) Bach organ as being sited between Morbio and Bremgarten.