Sant'Antonino is a municipality in the district of Bellinzona in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
History
Sant'Antonino is first mentioned in 1219 as Sancto Antorino. In the al Sasso area, some late-Roman graves were discovered. During the Middle Ages, the Church of S. Pietro in Bellinzona (early 13th century), the hospital in Contone (1337) and the cathedral of Como (1397) all owned land in Sant'Antonino. Until 1442, it was part of the Bellinzona parish. Then it formed a parish with Cadenazzo, which remained until it dissolved in 1830. The first church in the village is mentioned in 1291. It was rebuilt in the 16th and 17th centuries, in the Baroque style.
The local economy was dominated by livestock farming and agriculture. By the end of the 19th century, reclamation of land along the Magadino river allowed additional agricultural land. Beginning in the 1960s and 70s, it grew into a residential community, due to it close proximity to Bellinzona. At the beginning of the 21st century, the municipality was home to a growing number of commercial and industrial enterprises.
Geography
Sant'Antonino has an area, , of . Of this area, or 43.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 44.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 16.8% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.8% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.6% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.7% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 8.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.6%. Out of the forested land, 40.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.1% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 29.6% is used for growing crops, while 5.3% is used for orchards or vine crops and 8.3% is used for alpine pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 0.5% is in lakes and 1.4% is in rivers and streams.
The municipality is located in the Bellinzona district, in Magadino river valley along the northern slope of the Monte Ceneri. It consists of the village of Sant'Antonino and the hamlets of Paiardi and Vigana.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules an Eagle displayed Argent holding with both talons a Sword fesswise Argent handled and pommed Or.
Demographics
Sant'Antonino has a population () of . , 29.7% of the population are foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 8.3%.
Most of the population () speaks Italian (86.7%), with German being second most common (5.6%) and Portuguese being third (2.5%). Of the Swiss national languages (), 116 speak German, 11 people speak French, 1,792 people speak Italian, and 5 people speak Romansh. The remainder (142 people) speak another language.
, the gender distribution of the population was 51.2% male and 48.8% female. The population was made up of 796 Swiss men (35.2% of the population), and 363 (16.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 819 Swiss women (36.2%), and 284 (12.6%) non-Swiss women.
In there were 20 live births to Swiss citizens and 5 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 5 deaths of Swiss citizens and 2 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 15 while the foreign population increased by 3. There was 1 Swiss man who immigrated back to Switzerland and 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 4 non-Swiss men and 10 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources) was an increase of 8 and the non-Swiss population change was a decrease of 3 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.2%.
The age distribution, , in Sant'Antonino is; 217 children or 9.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 265 teenagers or 11.7% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 256 people or 11.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 343 people or 15.2% are between 30 and 39, 410 people or 18.1% are between 40 and 49, and 275 people or 12.2% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 292 people or 12.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 132 people or 5.8% are between 70 and 79, there are 72 people or 3.2% who are over 80.