# Buch, Schaffhausen

Buch is a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland.

## History

Buch is first mentioned in 1080 when Gerolt von Buch appears as a witness in a document.

## Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules an Orb Argent banded Or and crossed of the second.

## Geography

Buch has an area, as of 2006, of 3.8 km$^2$ (1.5 sq mi). Of this area, 74.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 19.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 5.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.3%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).
The municipality is located in the Stein district. It is a farm village on the Biber river which empties into the Rhine.

## Demographics

Buch has a population (as of 2008) of 296, of which 20.3% are foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, (as of 2008), 83.3% are from Germany, and 16.7% are from another country. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 6.8%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (74.8%), with Turkish being second most common ( 5.3%) and Arabic being third ( 2.3%).
The age distribution of the population (as of 2008) is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 22% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 62.8% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15.2%.
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 65.4% of the vote. The next two most popular parties were the SP (27.6%), and the FDP (7%) .
The entire Swiss population is generally well educated. In Buch about 64% of the population (between age 25–64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). In Buch, as of 2007, 0.66% of the population is attending kindergarten or another pre-school, 4.32% are attending a Primary School, 4.65% attend a lower level Secondary School, and 4.98% attend a higher level Secondary School.
As of 2000, 15% of the population belonged to the Roman Catholic Church and 51.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.
The historical population is given in the following table:
| year | population |
| 1836 | 288 |
| 1850 | 399 |
| 1900 | 389 |
| 1910 | 348 |
| 1950 | 329 |
| 1980 | 259 |
| 2000 | 341 |

## Economy and Infrastructure

Buch has an unemployment rate of 0.71%. As of 2005, there were 28 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 11 businesses involved in this sector. 6 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 4 businesses in this sector. 60 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 7 businesses in this sector.
As of 2008 the mid year average unemployment rate was 0.9%. There were 9 non-agrarian businesses in the municipality and 21.1% of the (non-agrarian) population was involved in the secondary sector of the economy while 78.9% were involved in the third. At the same time, 78.9% of the working population was employed full-time, and 21.1% was employed part-time. There were 19 residents of the municipality were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 26.3% of the workforce. As of 2000 there were 43 residents who worked in the municipality, while 85 residents worked outside Buch and 9 people commuted into the municipality for work.
As of 2008, there is 1 restaurant in Buch and the hospitality industry employs 2 people.