Stabio

Stabio is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.

[3] Excavations in the area around S. Pietro have found evidence of continuous settlements from about 400 BC to the 7th century AD.

There are burial grounds from the Iron Age followed by a burial ground and patrician residential structures from the Roman era, traces of the cult of Mercury and numerous Lombards graves.

[3] In 1181, the Orelli family of Locarno gained the tithe rights in the region from the Bishop of Como.

In 1275, both the monastery of S. Abbondio in Como and the Benedictine abbey of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan owned property and rights in Stabio.

[3] On 22 October 1876 a serious clash between conservatives and liberals in Stabio claimed three lives, which led to a Federal mediation between the two sides.

The hot springs were discovered in 1850 and led to the establishment of mineral baths in Stabio.

Since the 1960s, the municipality has experienced a boom in the food, engineering, textiles and clothing as well as electric and hybrid vehicle industries.

[3] Since 1981, Stabio is home to the Museum of the Agricultural Culture of Mendrisio Valley.

Stabio has an area, as of 1997[update], of 6.15 square kilometers (2.37 sq mi).

It consists of the village of Stabio with the settlements of San Pietro and Gaggiolo.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per fess gules on a bend argent inscription STAB sable and azure a castle or issuant from coupeaux vert.

[8] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks Italian language (3,204 or 88.3%), with German being second most common (184 or 5.1%) and French being third (44 or 1.2%).

[7] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Stabio is; 492 children or 11.5% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 515 teenagers or 12.0% are between 10 and 19.

[8] The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][12] The entire town of Stabio 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 25.81% of the vote.

[14] In the 2007[update] Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 2,600 registered voters in Stabio, of which 1,634 or 62.8% voted.

[8] There were 1,796 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 39.9% of the workforce.

In the tertiary sector; 568 or 51.9% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 131 or 12.0% were in the movement and storage of goods, 39 or 3.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 10 or 0.9% were in the information industry, 21 or 1.9% were the insurance or financial industry, 53 or 4.8% were technical professionals or scientists, 67 or 6.1% were in education and 85 or 7.8% were in health care.

[8] From the 2000 census[update], 3,015 or 83.1% were Roman Catholic, while 106 or 2.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

The wettest month was May during which time Stabio received an average of 186 mm (7.3 in) of rain or snow.

The driest month of the year was December with an average of 66 mm (2.6 in) of precipitation over 5.5 days.

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.

It has regular service to Malpensa Aeroporto Terminal 2, Varese, Bellinzona, and Como San Giovanni.

Aerial view (1946)