Busswil bei Melchnau

Busswil bei Melchnau is a municipality in the Oberaargau administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Busswil bei Melchnau is first mentioned in 1194 as Bouswillare. During the Middle Ages parts of the village were owned by local nobles and the Abbey of St. Gallen. In 1480, the Herrschaft of Grünenberg, which included Busswil, was acquired by Bern. Under Bernese control it was part of the court of Melchnau in the bailiwick of Aarwangen until 1798. Until the Protestant Reformation it was part of the parish of Grossdietwil in the Canton of Lucerne. It then became part of the parish of Melchnau. In the 19th century, straw plaiting joined agriculture as a source of income for the villagers. In 1917 the Langenthal-Melchnau narrow gauge railway opened a station in Busswil. However, the village remained primarily agricultural until the 1970s when it started changing into a bedroom community for commuters to the businesses and industry in the Langenthal. Busswil bei Melchnau has an area of . Of this area, or 52.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 40.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.9% is settled (buildings or roads). Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.8%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 19.9% is used for growing crops and 29.6% is pastures, while 2.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. The municipality consists of the village of Busswil bei Melchnau and farm houses at Breitacker, Bützberg, Guger and Hohlen. On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Aarwangen, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Oberaargau. The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent a Fir Tree growing from a Mount Vert. Busswil bei Melchnau has a population () of . , 7.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000-2010) the population has changed at a rate of 5.