Porrentruy

Porrentruy (Franc-Comtois: Poérreintru, German: Pruntrut) is a Swiss municipality and seat of the district of the same name located in the canton of Jura.

History

The first trace of human presence in Porrentruy is a mesolithic tool that was found in the back yard of the Hôtel-Dieu. Scattered, individual objects have also been found from the neolithic, the late Bronze Age and the Iron Age. The first known settlement in what became Porrentruy goes back to the Roman era. In 1983, the ruins of a Gallo-Roman temple were discovered in the cemetery on the north of town, and Roman coins were found there. Near the town, a kilometer long (0.6 mile) section of the Augst-Epomanduodurum (now Mandeure) Roman road was discovered.

In the back yard of the Hôtel-Dieu the charred remains of a building from the 10th or 11th century were discovered. However, the first historical mention of the name occurs in 1136 as Purrentru. The name presumably comes from the Latin pons Ragentrudis (Ragentrud bridge). Ragentrud was the wife of the Frankish King Dagobert I. The German form of the name, Pruntrut may have a separate etymology from Bruntrutum, which means an abundant spring.

Porrentruy District

Porrentruy District (German: Pruntrut) is one of the three districts of the canton of Jura, Switzerland. Its capital is the town of Porrentruy. The French-speaking district has a population of 24,488 (as of 31 December 2014).

Municipalities

Porrentruy is divided into a total of 23 municipalities:

Coat of arms

The blazon of the district coat of arms is Gules a Fess Argent, overall a Cockatrice Or volant holding in legs and beak a Crosier of the same.

Demographics

Porrentruy has a population (as of December 2014) of 24,488. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks French (22,008 or 91.8%) as their first language, German is the second most common (1,001 or 4.2%) and Italian is the third (306 or 1.3%). There are 8 people who speak Romansh.

As of 2008, the population was 48.8% male and 51.2% female. The population was made up of 10,585 Swiss men (43.7% of the population) and 1,243 (5.1%) non-Swiss men. There were 11,322 Swiss women (46.7%) and 1,083 (4.5%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the district, 9,552 or about 39.8% were born in Porrentruy and lived there in 2000. There were 7,448 or 31.1% who were born in the same canton, while 2,708 or 11.3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 3,388 or 14.1% were born outside of Switzerland.

List of minor planets: 84001–85000