Berneck

Berneck
Coat of arms
Berneck Show map of Switzerland Berneck Show map of Canton of St. Gallen
Location of Berneck
Coordinates: 47°26′N 9°37′E / 47.433°N 9.617°E / 47.433; 9.617Coordinates: 47°26′N 9°37′E / 47.433°N 9.617°E / 47.433; 9.617
Country	Switzerland
Canton	St. Gallen
District	Rheintal
Government
• Mayor	Bruno Seelos
Area
• Total	5.63 km2 (2.17 sq mi)
Elevation	404 m (1,325 ft)
Population (Dec 2015)
• Total	3,937
• Density	700/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Postal code	9442
SFOS number	3233
Surrounded by	Au, Balgach, Oberegg (AI), Walzenhausen (AR)
Website	www.berneck.ch SFSO statistics

Berneck is a municipality in the Wahlkreis (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

Berneck is first mentioned in 892 as Farniwang. In 1210 it was mentioned as Bernanc.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Or a Vine Vert fructed Azure issuant from base of the second and twined around a stake Gules that is held by a Bear rampant Sable langued armed and in his virility of the third. The presence of a bear (German: Bär and also the root of Bern) is a weak example of canting, where a symbol on the coat of arms forms a visual pun or rebus.

Berneck has an area, as of 2006^[update], of 5.6 km² (2.2 sq mi). Of this area, 49.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 29.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 20.3% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.5%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).

The municipality is located in the former Unterrheintal district of the Rheintal Wahlkreis. It is between a line of hills and a side channel of the Rhine valley. It consists of the village of Berneck and the hamlets of Kobel, Rüden, Taa, Husen, Hinterburg and Buechholz.

Berneck has a population (as of 31 December 2015) of 3,937. As of 2007^[update], about 16.8% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, (as of 2000^[update]), 60 are from Germany, 114 are from Italy, 190 are from ex-Yugoslavia, 72 are from Austria, 15 are from Turkey, and 38 are from another country. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 3.7%. Most of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks German (93.3%), with Italian being second most common ( 1.9%) and Albanian being third ( 1.6%). Of the Swiss national languages (as of 2000^[update]), 3,068 speak German, 5 people speak French, 61 people speak Italian, and 1 person speaks Romansh.