Ronco sopra Ascona is a municipality near Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.

[3] Viticulture and animal husbandry were the main sources of income in the village.

Many inhabitants emigrated to Tuscany, where they had a monopoly on customs duties for goods coming from Florence and Livorno.

Since the mid-20th century Ronco sopra Ascona is a popular resort, with many vacation homes.

[3] Ronco sopra Ascona has an area, as of 1997[update], of 5.02 square kilometers (1.94 sq mi).

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Vert St. Marin armoured argent riding a horse sable cutting his cloak gules with a sword of the second giving it to a beggar of the same kneeling in the base.

[citation needed] German writer Erich Maria Remarque lived in Porto Ronco in the Casa Monte Tabor together with his wife, American actress Paulette Goddard, until he died in 1970.

Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks Italian (61.5%), with German being second most common (33.7%) and Portuguese being third (1.7%).

[8] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Ronco sopra Ascona is; 36 children or 5.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 43 teenagers or 6.4% are between 10 and 19.

[9] The historical population is given in the following table:[3][14] In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 24.48% of the vote.

In the federal election, a total of 212 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 43.5%.

[15] In the 2007[update] Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 482 registered voters in Ronco sopra Ascona, of which 241 or 50.0% voted.

[9] There were 285 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 40.0% of the workforce.

[9] As of 2009[update], there were 5 hotels in Ronco sopra Ascona with a total of 69 rooms and 128 beds.

[18] From the 2000 census[update], 407 or 61.8% were Roman Catholic, while 151 or 22.9% 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 will be prepared to enter a trade or to continue on 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.