Courtelary District

The Courtelary district is one of the former twenty-six districts of the canton of Bern (Switzerland), located in the northwest of the canton with an area of 266 km². The district capital was Courtelary.

Geography

The district of Courtelary was one of the three French-speaking districts of the canton of Bern, together with La Neuveville and Moutier, which form the Bernese Jura region (Jura bernois in French). It borders to the northeast with the district of Moutier, to the southeast with Büren, to the south with the districts of Biel-Bienne and La Neuveville, to the southwest with the Val-de-Ruz (NE), to the west with La Chaux-de-Fonds (NE), to the northwest with the district of Franches-Montagnes (JU), and to the east with the district of Lebern (SO).

History

Annexed to the canton of Bern in 1815 as a bailiwick, the "district" de Courtelary succeeded to the lordship of Erguel, former bailiwick of the Bishopric of Basel. It gained the status of a district of the Bernese Jura only in 1831. Since then the district has undergone two territorial rectifications: the communes of the former parish of Perles (Meinisberg, Perles, Reiben and Romont) were annexed to the bailiwick of Büren, while The commune of Orvin becomes part of the bailiwick of Courtelary. Thanks to several petitions from the Romontese and the decrees of 1839 and 1840, Romont returned to the Courtelary district in 1841.

In 1890, the Pré de Macolin was amputated to the district, passing from the hands of the commune of Orvin, to that of Evilard in the district of Biel-Bienne. Since then, the largest of the Bernese Jura districts has not undergone any further territorial modification. The eighteen communes that make it up chose to stay in the canton of Bern in the plebiscites of 1974 and 1975.

Communes

Communes	Population (31.12.2007)	Acre surface
Corgémont	1514	17.60
Cormoret	512	13,43
Cortébert	723	14.75
Courtelary	1185	22,24
La Ferrière	542	14,23
The Heutte	506	8,00
Mont Tramelan	120	4.64
Orvin	1198	21,43
Péry	1348	15,57
Plagne	378	7.55
Renan	828	12,62
Romont	193	7.07
Saint-Imier	4740	20,86
Sonceboz-Sombeval	1740	15,03
Sonvilier	1134	23,78
Tramelan	4242	24,88
Vauffelin	433	5,92
Villeret	926	16,22
Total (18)	22.262	265,82