Geography
Oberwil im Simmental has an area, as of 2009, of 46.09 square kilometers (17.80 sq mi). Of this area, 23.69 km2 (9.15 sq mi) or 51.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 15.57 km2 (6.01 sq mi) or 33.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.16 km2 (0.45 sq mi) or 2.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.28 km2 (0.11 sq mi) or 0.6% is either rivers or lakes and 5.3 km2 (2.0 sq mi) or 11.5% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.3%. Out of the forested land, 27.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 5.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 18.8% is pastures and 32.5% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 7.3% is unproductive vegetation and 4.2% is too rocky for vegetation.
Oberwil is a very large and undeveloped area. It includes large patchs of alpine and forested regions on both sides of the valley. The main settlements are the farming settlements (Bäuerten) of Oberwil, Hintereggen, Pfaffenried, Bunschen and Waldried.
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