From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 47°3′N 6°53′E

Les Hauts-Geneveys
Canton	Neuchâtel
District	Val-de-Ruz
Coordinates	47°3′N 6°53′E
Population	826   (December 2005)
Area	7.95 km²
Elevation	986 m
Postal code	2208
SFOS number	6481
Les Hauts-Geneveys

Les Hauts-Geneveys is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Population 3 References 4 External links

Les Hauts-Geneveys lies at an altitude of 986 meters, 8 km directly northwest of the canton capital, Neuchâtel. This high-altitude village in the Val-de-Ruz lies on the eastern slope of the Tête de Ran peak in the Jura mountains. This location provides a view of the basin of the Val de Ruz, of the Swiss plateau and a clear view up to the Alps.

The municipality with an area of 8.0 km² covers a small portion of the northwest part of the Val de Ruz syncline, and extends west up and over the wooded slope, called Forêt de la Baume, of the Tête de Ran anticline and down the slope of Tête de Ran peak to the heights known as Derrière Tête de Ran. On these Jura highlands are expansive meadows and isolated stands of spruce (Picea abies). In the far western part of the municipality there are two small basins at the northeastern edge of the Vallée des Ponts. The highest point of Les Hauts-Geneveys is 1430 m. on the southwest part of the Tête de Ran ridge on the Rochers Bruns.

As of 1997, 45% of the land of the municipality was in forest, 48% was agricultural, 6% was built up, and somewhat less than 1% was unproductive land. Neighboring municipalities of Les Hauts-Geneveys are Boudevilliers to the south, Fontaines and Fontainemelon to the east and north, and La Sagne, of the La Chaux-de-Fonds District, to the west.

With 826 inhabitants (at the end of 2005) Les Hauts-Geneveys is one of the smaller municipalities of the Canton of Neuchâtel. The first language of the inhabitants are 92.3 % French, 3.5 % German and 1.7 % Italian (as of 2000). Recorded in 1531 as having a population of 27 families (hearths), the population grew to 127 families by 1750.^[1] The total population of Les Hauts-Geneveys generally oscillated from 1850 to 1970 within the range of 400 to 600 inhabitants, but in the last two decades of the Twentieth Century was clearly increasing.

1. ^ Evard, Maurice "Hauts-Geneveys, Les" Dizionario storico della Svizzera (DSS)

This article is based in part on material from the German Wikipedia.

• Les Hauts-Geneveys in German, French or Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
• "Portail du Canton de Neuchatel, district du Val-de-Ruz, commune des Hauts-Geneveys", general information about Les Hauts-Geneveys in French;
• "Administration communale: Les Hauts-Geneveys";
• Les Hauts-Geneveys Statistics 2000 in French;
• aerial photos of Les Hauts-Geneveys;