Ferden

Ferden is a municipality in the district of Raron in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Besides the village of Ferden itself, the municipality includes the hamlet of Goppenstein, and the alpine settlements of Faldum, Resti and Kummen.

History

Ferden is first mentioned in 1380 as Verdan.

Geography

Ferden has an area, as of 2009, of 27.9 square kilometers (10.8 sq mi). Of this area, 4.93 km² (1.90 sq mi) or 17.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 5.38 km² (2.08 sq mi) or 19.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.22 km² (0.085 sq mi) or 0.8% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.32 km² (0.12 sq mi) or 1.1% is either rivers or lakes and 17.05 km² (6.58 sq mi) or 61.1% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 0.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.5%. Out of the forested land, 14.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 1.3% is pastures and 16.4% is used for alpine pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 0.4% is in lakes and 0.8% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 17.5% is unproductive vegetation, 41.8% is too rocky for vegetation and 1.8% of the land is covered by glaciers.