Ponte Capriasca is a municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.

Under the rule of the Duchy of Milan as well as the Swiss Confederation, the village was an independent municipality with its own statutes and rights.

Early in the 16th century, the village was involved in the fierce fighting between the Guelphs and Ghibellines.

The parish church of S. Ambrogio is first mentioned in 1356 but is built on a Roman era foundation.

Its present form dates from a rebuilding of 1835, in which the old bell tower and the nave were incorporated.

[3] The local economy of the village was based on agriculture and the income from the seasonal migration, especially to northern Italy.

From the 1970s the village experienced a building boom and its population increased fivefold.

In 2005 slightly over half of the jobs are in the service sector and over three-quarters of the population are commuters.

[3] Ponte Capriasca has an area, as of 1997[update], of 6.2 square kilometers (2.4 sq mi).

Out of the forested land, 44.5% of the total land area is heavily forested, while 17.3% is covered in small trees and shrubbery and 2.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per pale gules and argent two he-goats rampant combatant on a bridge counterchanged.

Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks Italian (81.3%), with German being second most common (13.4%) and French being third (2.2%).

[7] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Ponte Capriasca is; 208 children or 12.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 202 teenagers or 12.3% are between 10 and 19.

[8] The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][13] The Parish Church of S. Ambrogio is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

[15] In the 2007[update] Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 1,114 registered voters in Ponte Capriasca, of which 689 or 61.8% voted.

[8] From the 2000 census[update], 1,095 or 74.1% were Roman Catholic, while 186 or 12.6% 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.