Cortaillod - Geography

Geography

Cortaillod has an area, as of 2009, of 3.7 square kilometers (1.4 sq mi). Of this area, 1.73 km2 (0.67 sq mi) or 46.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.42 km2 (0.16 sq mi) or 11.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.48 km2 (0.57 sq mi) or 40.1% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.02 km2 (4.9 acres) or 0.5% is either rivers or lakes and 0.01 km2 (2.5 acres) or 0.3% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 4.9% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 20.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 6.8%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 6.0% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.4%. Out of the forested land, 9.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 23.0% is used for growing crops and 4.6% is pastures, while 19.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

The municipality is located in the Boudry district, above a steep drop into Lake Neuchatel. It consists of the village of Cortaillod above the lake, a residential development on the lake shore at Petit Cortaillod harbor and the largest forest on the Boudry hills.

The proposed merger of the municipalities of Bevaix, Boudry and Cortaillod was rejected by the residents.