Mühlbach (German: [ˈmyːlbax]; Italian: Rio di Pusteria [ˈriːo di pusteˈriːa]) is a comune (municipality) and a village on the Rienz in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) northeast of Bolzano.

Geography

As of 30 November 2010, it had a population of 2,955 and an area of 84.1 square kilometres (32.5 sq mi).

The municipality of Mühlbach contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets): Meransen (Maranza), Spinges (Spinga), Vals (Valles).

Mühlbach borders the following municipalities: Freienfeld, Franzensfeste, Natz-Schabs, Rodeneck, Pfitsch, and Vintl.

History

Coat-of-arms

The emblem is crossed diagonally by an argent wavy stream on vert; at the top a water wheel and an argent donkey at bottom. The water wheel symbolizes the water mill once numerous in the area for the grinding; the donkey represents the pack animals used for the transport. The emblem was adopted in 1971.

Society

Linguistic distribution

According to the 2011 census, 95.34% of the population speak German, 3.93% Italian and 0.73% Ladin as first language.

Demographic evolution