Assens, Switzerland
Encyclopedia
Assens is a municipality
in the district of Gros-de-Vaud in the canton
of Vaud
in Switzerland
.
The community decided to merge their commune with Malapalud
, with effect from 1 January 2009.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.2%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 66.5% is used for growing crops and 11.0% is pastures, while 1.5% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality was part of the Echallens District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Assens became part of the new district of Gros-de-Vaud.
The municipality is located on the Lausanne-Echallens street. On 1 January 2009 the former municipality of Malapalud merged into the municipality of Assens, which kept the name Assens.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Vert, in base a Garb, in chief two Crosses bottony, all of Or.
Most of the population speaks French
(707 or 91.8%), with German
being second most common (36 or 4.7%) and Italian
being third (8 or 1.0%).
Of the population in the municipality 215 or about 27.9% were born in Assens and lived there in 2000. There were 319 or 41.4% who were born in the same canton, while 135 or 17.5% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 88 or 11.4% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 9 live births to Swiss citizens and were 4 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 5 while the foreign population remained the same. There were 2 Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 4 non-Swiss men who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 7 and the non-Swiss population remained the same. This represents a population growth rate of 0.8%.
The age distribution, , in Assens is; 130 children or 13.0% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 132 teenagers or 13.2% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 114 people or 11.4% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 141 people or 14.1% are between 30 and 39, 166 people or 16.6% are between 40 and 49, and 127 people or 12.7% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 104 people or 10.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 61 people or 6.1% are between 70 and 79, there are 21 people or 2.1% who are between 80 and 89, and there is 1 person who is 90 and older.
, there were 319 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 395 married individuals, 24 widows or widowers and 32 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.59 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.61 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 58% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
or a rent-to-own agreement).
, there were 303 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household. There were 51 households that consist of only one person and 29 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 291 households that answered this question, 17.5% were households made up of just one person. Of the rest of the households, there are 100 married couples without children, 111 married couples with children There were 16 single parents with a child or children. There were 3 households that were made up of unrelated people and 10 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 121 single family homes (or 65.4% of the total) out of a total of 185 inhabited buildings. There were 29 multi-family buildings (15.7%), along with 25 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (13.5%) and 10 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (5.4%). Of the single family homes 16 were built before 1919, while 17 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (36) were built between 1971 and 1980. The most multi-family homes (7) were built between 1991 and 1995 and the next most (5) were built before 1919. There were 4 multi-family houses built between 1996 and 2000.
there were 297 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 85. There were 12 single room apartments and 126 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 271 apartments (91.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 21 apartments (7.1%) were seasonally occupied and 5 apartments (1.7%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
the most popular party was the CVP
which received 21.18% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
(20.72%), the SP
(16.27%) and the FDP
(13.04%). In the federal election, a total of 271 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 46.3%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 202. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 17, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 42 of which 8 or (19.0%) were in manufacturing and 34 (81.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 143. In the tertiary sector; 45 or 31.5% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 4 or 2.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 24 or 16.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 8 or 5.6% were in the information industry, 19 or 13.3% were the insurance or financial industry, 19 or 13.3% were technical professionals or scientists, and 3 or 2.1% were in health care.
, there were 107 workers who commuted into the municipality and 337 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 12.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 66% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 3 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 0.39% of the population), there were 3 individuals (or about 0.39% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 48 individuals (or about 6.23% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 2 (or about 0.26% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There was 1 person who was Buddhist
and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 82 (or about 10.65% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 19 individuals (or about 2.47% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 105 who completed tertiary schooling, 63.8% were Swiss men, 22.9% were Swiss women, 7.6% were non-Swiss men and 5.7% were non-Swiss women.
In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 142 students in the Assens school district. In the Vaud cantonal school system, two years of non-obligatory pre-school are provided by the political districts. During the school year, the political district provided pre-school care for a total of 296 children of which 96 children (32.4%) received subsidized pre-school care. The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years. There were 82 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 59 students in those schools. There were also 1 students who were home schooled or attended another non-traditional school.
, there were 73 students in Assens who came from another municipality, while 102 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
in the district of Gros-de-Vaud in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of Vaud
Vaud
Vaud is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and is located in Romandy, the French-speaking southwestern part of the country. The capital is Lausanne. The name of the Canton in Switzerland's other languages are Vaud in Italian , Waadt in German , and Vad in Romansh.-History:Along the lakes,...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
History
Assens is first mentioned in 1228 as Ascens.The community decided to merge their commune with Malapalud
Malapalud
Malapalud was a former municipality in the district of Echallens in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. On 1 January 2009, it was merged with the municipality of Assens.-Coat of arms:...
, with effect from 1 January 2009.
Geography
Assens has an area, , of 5.35 square kilometres (2.1 sq mi). Of this area, 4.23 km² (1.6 sq mi) or 79.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.59 km² (0.227800273569596 sq mi) or 11.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.48 km² (0.185329036124417 sq mi) or 9.0% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.01 km² (2.5 acre) or 0.2% is either rivers or lakes.Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.2%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 66.5% is used for growing crops and 11.0% is pastures, while 1.5% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality was part of the Echallens District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Assens became part of the new district of Gros-de-Vaud.
The municipality is located on the Lausanne-Echallens street. On 1 January 2009 the former municipality of Malapalud merged into the municipality of Assens, which kept the name Assens.
Coat of arms
The blazonBlazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
of the municipal coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
is Vert, in base a Garb, in chief two Crosses bottony, all of Or.
Demographics
Assens has a population of . , 10.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 25.4%. It has changed at a rate of 16.7% due to migration and at a rate of 8.7% due to births and deaths.Most of the population speaks French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
(707 or 91.8%), with German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
being second most common (36 or 4.7%) and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
being third (8 or 1.0%).
Of the population in the municipality 215 or about 27.9% were born in Assens and lived there in 2000. There were 319 or 41.4% who were born in the same canton, while 135 or 17.5% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 88 or 11.4% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 9 live births to Swiss citizens and were 4 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 5 while the foreign population remained the same. There were 2 Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 4 non-Swiss men who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 7 and the non-Swiss population remained the same. This represents a population growth rate of 0.8%.
The age distribution, , in Assens is; 130 children or 13.0% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 132 teenagers or 13.2% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 114 people or 11.4% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 141 people or 14.1% are between 30 and 39, 166 people or 16.6% are between 40 and 49, and 127 people or 12.7% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 104 people or 10.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 61 people or 6.1% are between 70 and 79, there are 21 people or 2.1% who are between 80 and 89, and there is 1 person who is 90 and older.
, there were 319 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 395 married individuals, 24 widows or widowers and 32 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.59 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.61 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 58% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
or a rent-to-own agreement).
, there were 303 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.7 persons per household. There were 51 households that consist of only one person and 29 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 291 households that answered this question, 17.5% were households made up of just one person. Of the rest of the households, there are 100 married couples without children, 111 married couples with children There were 16 single parents with a child or children. There were 3 households that were made up of unrelated people and 10 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 121 single family homes (or 65.4% of the total) out of a total of 185 inhabited buildings. There were 29 multi-family buildings (15.7%), along with 25 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (13.5%) and 10 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (5.4%). Of the single family homes 16 were built before 1919, while 17 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (36) were built between 1971 and 1980. The most multi-family homes (7) were built between 1991 and 1995 and the next most (5) were built before 1919. There were 4 multi-family houses built between 1996 and 2000.
there were 297 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 85. There were 12 single room apartments and 126 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 271 apartments (91.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 21 apartments (7.1%) were seasonally occupied and 5 apartments (1.7%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Politics
In the 2007 federal electionSwiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...
the most popular party was the CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...
which received 21.18% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
(20.72%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(16.27%) and the FDP
FDP.The Liberals
FDP.The Liberals is a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It is the joint-largest party in the Federal Council, third-largest party in the National Council, and second-largest in the Council of States....
(13.04%). In the federal election, a total of 271 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
was 46.3%.
Economy
, Assens had an unemployment rate of 2.4%. , there were 45 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 15 businesses involved in this sector. 48 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 8 businesses in this sector. 169 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 28 businesses in this sector. There were 426 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 44.1% of the workforce.the total number of full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent , is a unit to measure employed persons or students in a way that makes them comparable although they may work or study a different number of hours per week. FTE is often used to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization...
jobs was 202. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 17, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 42 of which 8 or (19.0%) were in manufacturing and 34 (81.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 143. In the tertiary sector; 45 or 31.5% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 4 or 2.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 24 or 16.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 8 or 5.6% were in the information industry, 19 or 13.3% were the insurance or financial industry, 19 or 13.3% were technical professionals or scientists, and 3 or 2.1% were in health care.
, there were 107 workers who commuted into the municipality and 337 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 12.9% used public transportation to get to work, and 66% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 353 or 45.8% were Roman Catholic, while 279 or 36.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed ChurchSwiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 3 members of an Orthodox church
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
(or about 0.39% of the population), there were 3 individuals (or about 0.39% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...
, and there were 48 individuals (or about 6.23% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 2 (or about 0.26% of the population) who were Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic. There was 1 person who was Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 82 (or about 10.65% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
or atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, and 19 individuals (or about 2.47% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Assens about 318 or (41.3%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 105 or (13.6%) have completed additional higher education (either University or a FachhochschuleFachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...
). Of the 105 who completed tertiary schooling, 63.8% were Swiss men, 22.9% were Swiss women, 7.6% were non-Swiss men and 5.7% were non-Swiss women.
In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 142 students in the Assens school district. In the Vaud cantonal school system, two years of non-obligatory pre-school are provided by the political districts. During the school year, the political district provided pre-school care for a total of 296 children of which 96 children (32.4%) received subsidized pre-school care. The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years. There were 82 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 59 students in those schools. There were also 1 students who were home schooled or attended another non-traditional school.
, there were 73 students in Assens who came from another municipality, while 102 residents attended schools outside the municipality.