Täsch

Täsch is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is located about north of Zermatt. The local language is Swiss German. Täsch is first mentioned in 1302 as Tech. In Latin it was known as Pera. Täsch has an area, , of . Of this area, 11.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and 78.1% is unproductive land. The municipality is located in the Visp district, in the Mattertal valley, which contains almost all the highest peaks in the Alps such as Monte Rosa, Dom and Weisshorn. The high Täschhorn lies directly above the village. It consists of the village of Täsch and the hamlets of Zermettjen and Täschberg as well as the Täschalp hiking region. Zermatt is a car-free town at the end of the valley, so the only connection is the frequent train shuttle from Täsch railway station. Car drivers can park their cars at Täsch and continue to Zermatt by train. The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a Fess Argent, in chief a Mullet [of Six] of the same. Täsch has a population () of . , 45.8% of the population are resident foreign nationals. From 2000 to 2010, the population has changed at a rate of 27.6%. It has changed at a rate of 21% due to migration and at a rate of 4.7% due to births and deaths. Most of the population () speaks German (710 or 85.4%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian is the second most common (36 or 4.3%) and Portuguese is the third (32 or 3.9%). There are 7 people who speak French, 7 people who speak Italian and 1 person who speaks Romansh. the population was 51.0% male and 49.0% female. The population was made up of 282 Swiss men (26.1% of the population) and 270 (25.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 283 Swiss women (26.2%) and 247 (22.8%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 435 or about 52.3% were born in Täsch and lived there in 2000. There were 137 or 16.5% who were born in the same canton, while 49 or 5.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 197 or 23.