Sembrancher () is a municipality in the district of Entremont in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
History
Sembrancher is first mentioned in 1177 as Sancti Pancratii de Branchi. Its German name St Branschier is no longer used.
Demographics
Sembrancher has a population () of . , 9.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009) the population has changed at a rate of 3%. It has changed at a rate of 3% due to migration and at a rate of -0.4% due to births and deaths.
Most of the population () speaks French (778 or 98.2%) as their first language, German is the second most common (6 or 0.8%) and Italian is the third (4 or 0.5%). Of the population in the municipality 491 or about 62.0% were born in Sembrancher and lived there in 2000. There were 190 or 24.0% who were born in the same canton, while 73 or 9.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 36 or 4.5% were born outside of Switzerland.
, there were 299 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household.
, a total of 279 apartments (74.4% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 75 apartments (20.0%) were seasonally occupied and 21 apartments (5.6%) were empty.
Sights
The entire small city of Sembrancher is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 47.64% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (21.05%), the SVP (17.15%) and the SP (9.05%). In the federal election, a total of 390 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 62.7%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'État/Staatsrat election a total of 390 votes were cast, of which 14 or about 3.6% were invalid. The voter participation was 64.8%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 382 votes were cast, of which 29 or about 7.6% were invalid. The voter participation was 63.3%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 59.88%.
Economy
Its spring water has a high fluorine content and is sold as 'Sembrancher'.
, Sembrancher had an unemployment rate of 5.3%. , there were 36 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 18 businesses involved in this sector. 138 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 19 businesses in this sector. 129 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 26 businesses in this sector.
, there were 163 workers who commuted into the municipality and 220 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.3 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 10.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 72.8% used a private car.