Barbian is a comune (municipality) and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about 15 km northeast of Bolzano.

Geography

As of 30 November 2010, it had a population of 1,601 and an area of 24.4 km2. Barbian borders the following municipalities: Kastelruth, Lajen, Waidbruck, Ritten, and Villanders.

Frazioni

The municipality of Barbian contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Kollmann (Colma), St. Gertraud (Santa Gertrude), Saubach.

History

Place-name

The dwelling is mentioned for the first time in 994 as Parpian, the name deriving probably from the Latin personal name Barbius, a name also attested in Venetic inscriptions from the Roman era.

Coat-of-arms

The shield is tierced per fess in argent, vert and sable. In the second level are represented three churches: St. Nicholas, St. Gertrude and St. Magdalene, which are located in the mountains above the village. The sable bottom is crossed by a thin band of argent and gules, symbolizing the customs bar of the village of Kollmann sited in the municipality. The arms were granted in 1970.

Society

Linguistic distribution

According to the 2011 census, 97.53% of the population speak German, 1.87% Italian and 0.60% Ladin as first language.

Demographic evolution