Stansstad is a municipality in the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland.
Geography
thumb|left|Stansstad and [[Lake Lucerne]]
thumb|Aerial view by [[Walter Mittelholzer (1919)]]
Stansstad has an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey) of . Of this area, about 32.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 49.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 15.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and 2.4% is unproductive land. In the 2004/09 survey a total of or about 8.8% of the total area was covered with buildings, an increase of over the 1981/82 amount. Over the same time period, the amount of recreational space in the municipality increased by and is now about 0.99% of the total area. Of the agricultural land, is used for orchards and vineyards and is fields and grasslands. Since 1981/82 the amount of agricultural land has decreased by . Rivers and lakes cover in the municipality.
Demographics
Stansstad has a population () of . , 15.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals. In 2015 a small minority (234 or 5.3% of the population) was born in Germany. Over the last 4 years (2010-2014) the population has changed at a rate of -1.44%. The birth rate in the municipality, in 2014, was 9.1, while the death rate was 8.0 per thousand residents.
In 2014 there were 2,131 private households in Stansstad with an average household size of 2.03 persons. Of the 629 inhabited buildings in the municipality, in 2000, about 34.5% were single family homes and 39.6% were multiple family buildings. Additionally, about 13.7% of the buildings were built before 1919, while 14.8% were built between 1991 and 2000. In 2013 the rate of construction of new housing units per 1000 residents was 1.36. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 2.7%.
Historical population
The historical population is given in the following chart:
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bar:1850 from:start till:778 text:"778"
bar:1860 from:start till:752 text:"752"
bar:1870 from:start till:755 text:"755"
bar:1880 from:start till:760 text:"760"
bar:1888 from:start till:836 text:"836"
bar:1900 from:start till:851 text:"851"
bar:1910 from:start till:925 text:"925"
bar:1920 from:start till:859 text:"859"
bar:1930 from:start till:1032 text:"1,032"
bar:1941 from:start till:1174 text:"1,174"
bar:1950 from:start till:1318 text:"1,318"
bar:1960 from:start till:1738 text:"1,738"
bar:1970 from:start till:2469 text:"2,469"
bar:1980 from:start till:3104 text:"3,104"
bar:1990 from:start till:3785 text:"3,785"
bar:2000 from:start till:4325 text:"4,325"
bar:2010 from:start till:4440 text:"4,440"
bar:2014 from:start till:4381 text:"4,381"
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Politics
In the 2015 federal election the most popular party was the SVP with 83.8% of the vote, followed by local parties with the remaining 16.2%. In the federal election, a total of 1,805 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 55.0%.
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 88.6% of the vote. Most of the rest of the votes were given to local, small right-wing parties (10.8%).
, there were a total of 2,163 people employed in the municipality. Of these, a total of 74 people worked in 26 businesses in the primary economic sector. The secondary sector employed 525 workers in 63 separate businesses. A minority (26.1%) of the secondary sector employees worked in very small businesses. There were 10 small businesses with a total of 198 employees and two mid sized businesses with a total of 190 employees. Finally, the tertiary sector provided 1,564 jobs in 355 businesses. There were 20 small businesses with a total of 495 employees and two mid sized businesses with a total of 222 employees.
In 2014 a total of 1.4% of the population received social assistance.
Transport
Stansstad is served by Stansstad station on the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg line, on which the Lucerne S-Bahn S4 service provides two trains per hour. The village is also served by post bus services, including services to Bürgenstock, Stans and Büren, and by shipping services of the Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees on Lake Lucerne.
Fürigenbahn was a funicular that led from Harissenbucht to the hotel at Fürigen (1924-2005).
Sights
thumb|Stansstad waterfront
The main sights of Stansstad are a museum of the fortifications, a tower (Schnitzturm), and the chapel Marie Linden in Kehrsiten.
Heritage sites of national significance
The prehistoric lakeside settlement at Kehrsiten and the Teller/Palisaden and Schnitzturm, all part of the medieval fortifications are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The prehistoric settlement is part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps a UNESCO World Heritage Site.