page_title: Oberwil im Simmental
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Oberwil im Simmental / Geography
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Westhang
context_page_description: Oberwil im Simmental is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
context_section_description: Oberwil im Simmental has an area of 46.06 km² (17.78 sq mi).  As of 2012, a total of 23.69 km² (9.15 sq mi) or 51.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 15.57 km² (6.01 sq mi) or 33.8% is forested.   The rest of the municipality is 1.16 km² (0.45 sq mi) or 2.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.28 km² (0.11 sq mi) or 0.6% is either rivers or lakes and 5.3 km² (2.0 sq mi) or 11.5% is unproductive land.
  During the same year, housing and buildings made up 1.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.3%.  A total of 27.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 5.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees.  Of the agricultural land, 18.8% is pasturage and 32.5% is used for alpine pastures.  All the water in the municipality is flowing water.  Of the unproductive areas, 7.3% is unproductive vegetation and 4.2% is too rocky for vegetation.
  The large municipality spreads across much of the Simmental (Simmen valley) and the meadows and forests of the surrounding mountains.  It consists of the Bäuerten (farming collectives) of Oberwil, Hintereggen, Pfaffenried, Bunschen and Waldried.
  On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Niedersimmental, the municipality's former district, was dissolved.  On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Frutigen-Niedersimmental.
caption: Märe peak on the border of Canton Bern and Canton Fribourg, in the municipality of Oberwil
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