Bex
Encyclopedia
Bex is a municipality
in the canton of Vaud
, Switzerland
, located in the district of Aigle
. It is a few miles south of its sister town municipality of Aigle.
Bex is the site of a famous salt mine.
The salt deposits in Bex were the first that were discovered in Switzerland. In the 15th Century a salt source is mentioned in the area, but it was not until 1554 that a large deposit was discovered in Panex. Production of the salt began shortly thereafter. In 1582 a salt works was built in Roche
. Initially the salt works were run by Bernese patricians and then foreign nobles. In 1685 the salt mines came under the direct control of the Bernese state. At the beginning of the 18th Century it was entrusted to a General Director, the most famous of which was Albrecht von Haller
.
To provide wood for the salt works in Roche, in 1695 a forest was planted in the Joux Verte gorge. Starting in the 16th Century, they began to replace natural evaporation with boiling to speed up salt production. The first underground tunnels were dug in 1684 to find new salt sources. Salt deposits were discovered in Le Bévieux and Les Devens (both part of the municipality of Bex) and Aigle. The mine at Le Bévieux was still in operation at the beginning of the 21st Century.
Bex has an area, , of 96.56 square kilometres (37.3 sq mi). Of this area, 25.85 km² (10 sq mi) or 26.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 32.42 km² (12.5 sq mi) or 33.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 4.48 km² (1.7 sq mi) or 4.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.84 km² (0.324325813217729 sq mi) or 0.9% is either rivers or lakes and 33.01 km² (12.7 sq mi) or 34.2% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.6%. Out of the forested land, 28.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 4.3% is used for growing crops and 5.8% is pastures, while 2.0% is used for orchards or vine crops and 14.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 9.4% is unproductive vegetation, 23.1% is too rocky for vegetation and 1.7% of the land is covered by glaciers.
The municipality is located in the Aigle district, along the Avançon river. It is the third largest municipality and stretches from the banks of the Rhone river (395 m (1,295.9 ft)) to the Les Diablerets peak (3210 m (10,531.5 ft)). It consists of the village of Bex and the hamlets
of Le Châtel, Les Dévens, Le Chêne, Fenalet, Les Posses, Le Bévieux, Frenières and Les Plans.
Bex sits on the east side of the Rhone River in a wide valley surrounded on the east by the Bernese Alps and west by the Chablais Alps. Famous Swiss and French ski resorts are nearby. It is on Swiss National Route 9. Bex is connected to Les Diablerets by the mountain pass Col de la Croix
of the municipal coat of arms
is Azure, a ram Argent rampant, in chief dexter a mullet of eight Or.
Most of the population speaks French
(5,008 or 83.8%), with Albanian
being second most common (232 or 3.9%) and German
being third (203 or 3.4%). There are 149 people who speak Italian
and 2 people who speak Romansh.
Of the population in the municipality 1,937 or about 32.4% were born in Bex and lived there in 2000. There were 1,187 or 19.9% who were born in the same canton, while 1,063 or 17.8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,414 or 23.7% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 46 live births to Swiss citizens and 18 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 54 deaths of Swiss citizens and 5 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 8 while the foreign population increased by 13. There were 5 Swiss men and 1 Swiss woman who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 70 non-Swiss men and 65 non-Swiss women 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 92 and the non-Swiss population increased by 43 people. This represents a population growth rate of 2.2%.
The age distribution, , in Bex is; 646 children or 10.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 810 teenagers or 12.9% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 713 people or 11.4% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 731 people or 11.7% are between 30 and 39, 1,000 people or 16.0% are between 40 and 49, and 815 people or 13.0% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 710 people or 11.3% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 534 people or 8.5% are between 70 and 79,there are 249 people or 4.0% who are 80 and 89, and there are 59 people or 0.9% who are 90 and older.
, there were 2,346 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,868 married individuals, 409 widows or widowers and 350 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.6 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 41.3% 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 2,403 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 820 households that consist of only one person and 177 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 2,468 households that answered this question, 33.2% were households made up of just one person and there were 14 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 678 married couples without children, 721 married couples with children There were 137 single parents with a child or children. There were 33 households that were made up of unrelated people and 65 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 1,062 single family homes (or 59.5% of the total) out of a total of 1,785 inhabited buildings. There were 372 multi-family buildings (20.8%), along with 208 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (11.7%) and 143 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (8.0%). Of the single family homes 303 were built before 1919, while 93 were built between 1990 and 2000. The most multi-family homes (173) were built before 1919 and the next most (44) were built between 1919 and 1945. There were 6 multi-family houses built between 1996 and 2000.
there were 3,346 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 1,068. There were 176 single room apartments and 716 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 2,334 apartments (69.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 675 apartments (20.2%) were seasonally occupied and 337 apartments (10.1%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.9 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.43%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
River (which is shared with St-Maurice in Valais) are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance
. The entire village of Les Posses and the Le Bévieux area are both part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
.
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 30.69% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
(27.02%), the FDP
(12.65%) and the Green Party
(11.75%). In the federal election, a total of 1,565 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 43.1%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 1,794. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 137, of which 128 were in agriculture and 9 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 706 of which 361 or (51.1%) were in manufacturing, 51 or (7.2%) were in mining and 178 (25.2%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 951. In the tertiary sector; 201 or 21.1% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 56 or 5.9% were in the movement and storage of goods, 137 or 14.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 8 or 0.8% were in the information industry, 5 or 0.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 86 or 9.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 82 or 8.6% were in education and 146 or 15.4% were in health care.
, there were 1,077 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,294 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 4.5% of the workforce coming into Bex are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.0% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 13.5% used public transportation to get to work, and 61.6% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 44 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 0.74% of the population), there were 5 individuals (or about 0.08% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 60 individuals (or about 1.00% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 462 (or about 7.73% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 12 individuals who were Buddhist
, 41 individuals who were Hindu
and 21 individuals who belonged to another church. 554 (or about 9.28% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 432 individuals (or about 7.23% of the population) did not answer the question.
. The wettest month is August during which time Bex receives an average of 119 mm (4.7 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.5 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is June, with an average of 12.4, but with only 109 mm (4.3 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 69 mm (2.7 in) of precipitation over 9.4 days.
). Of the 523 who completed tertiary schooling, 52.6% were Swiss men, 29.1% were Swiss women, 11.5% were non-Swiss men and 6.9% were non-Swiss women.
In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 790 students in the Bex 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 district provided pre-school care for a total of 205 children of which 96 children (46.8%) received subsidized pre-school care. There were 378 students in the primary school program, which lasts four years. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 356 students in those schools. There were also 56 students who were home schooled or attended another non-traditional school.
, there were 105 students in Bex who came from another municipality, while 189 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
railway which is one of four railways of the local TPC company, the Transports Publics du Chablais. The BVB runs east from Bex to Villars and Bretaye. At nearby Aigle, connections are available at the Aigle SBB/CFF depot to the other three very scenic narrow gauge railways of TPC.
Transports Publics du Chablais uses the motto "Depuis plus de cent ans et contre toute attente, des lignes des TPC réunissent plaine et montagne, Vaud et Valais, ville et campagne, terres catholiques et protestantes." Translated roughly: "For over 100 years and contrary to all expectations, the railways of TPC have joined plain and mountain, town and country, of the Vaud and Valais districts of Switzerland, land of both Catholics and Protestants." The ASD, the AL, and the BVB railways operate within the Canton of Vaud. The AOMC also operates into the Canton of Valais when it leaves Aigle and crosses the Rhone river to reach Monthey and Champéry
. The TPC "motto" refers to the religious composition and history of the region historically known as the Chablais. In 1846-7 the Valais canton attempted to secede from Switzerland with the intention of joining a Catholic confederation of cantons called the Sonderbund, but this was put down by Swiss Federal troops in the brief and relatively bloodles Sonderbund civil war.
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 canton 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,...
, 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....
, located in the district of Aigle
Aigle (district)
Aigle District is a district of the canton of Vaud, Switzerland.-Geography:Aigle has an area, , of . Of this area, or 34.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 41.3% is forested...
. It is a few miles south of its sister town municipality of Aigle.
The Bex Salt Mine
The salt deposits in Bex were the first that were discovered in Switzerland. In the 15th Century a salt source is mentioned in the area, but it was not until 1554 that a large deposit was discovered in Panex. Production of the salt began shortly thereafter. In 1582 a salt works was built in Roche
Roche, Vaud
Roche is a municipality in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, located in the district of Aigle.-Geography:Roche has an area, , of . Of this area, or 50.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 29.8% is forested...
. Initially the salt works were run by Bernese patricians and then foreign nobles. In 1685 the salt mines came under the direct control of the Bernese state. At the beginning of the 18th Century it was entrusted to a General Director, the most famous of which was Albrecht von Haller
Albrecht von Haller
Albrecht von Haller was a Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalist and poet.-Early life:He was born of an old Swiss family at Bern. Prevented by long-continued ill-health from taking part in boyish sports, he had the more opportunity for the development of his precocious mind...
.
To provide wood for the salt works in Roche, in 1695 a forest was planted in the Joux Verte gorge. Starting in the 16th Century, they began to replace natural evaporation with boiling to speed up salt production. The first underground tunnels were dug in 1684 to find new salt sources. Salt deposits were discovered in Le Bévieux and Les Devens (both part of the municipality of Bex) and Aigle. The mine at Le Bévieux was still in operation at the beginning of the 21st Century.
Geography
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.6%. Out of the forested land, 28.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 4.3% is used for growing crops and 5.8% is pastures, while 2.0% is used for orchards or vine crops and 14.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 9.4% is unproductive vegetation, 23.1% is too rocky for vegetation and 1.7% of the land is covered by glaciers.
The municipality is located in the Aigle district, along the Avançon river. It is the third largest municipality and stretches from the banks of the Rhone river (395 m (1,295.9 ft)) to the Les Diablerets peak (3210 m (10,531.5 ft)). It consists of the village of Bex and the hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Le Châtel, Les Dévens, Le Chêne, Fenalet, Les Posses, Le Bévieux, Frenières and Les Plans.
Bex sits on the east side of the Rhone River in a wide valley surrounded on the east by the Bernese Alps and west by the Chablais Alps. Famous Swiss and French ski resorts are nearby. It is on Swiss National Route 9. Bex is connected to Les Diablerets by the mountain pass Col de la Croix
Col de la Croix (Vaud)
Col de la Croix is an Alpine pass in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.It connects Bex and Villars-sur-Ollon with Les Diablerets.-See also:* List of highest paved roads in Europe* List of mountain passes*List of the highest Swiss passes...
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 Azure, a ram Argent rampant, in chief dexter a mullet of eight Or.
Demographics
Bex has a population of . , 26.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 12.8%. It has changed at a rate of 13.7% due to migration and at a rate of 0.5% 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...
(5,008 or 83.8%), with Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
being second most common (232 or 3.9%) and 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 third (203 or 3.4%). There are 149 people who speak 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...
and 2 people who speak Romansh.
Of the population in the municipality 1,937 or about 32.4% were born in Bex and lived there in 2000. There were 1,187 or 19.9% who were born in the same canton, while 1,063 or 17.8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,414 or 23.7% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 46 live births to Swiss citizens and 18 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 54 deaths of Swiss citizens and 5 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 8 while the foreign population increased by 13. There were 5 Swiss men and 1 Swiss woman who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 70 non-Swiss men and 65 non-Swiss women 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 92 and the non-Swiss population increased by 43 people. This represents a population growth rate of 2.2%.
The age distribution, , in Bex is; 646 children or 10.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 810 teenagers or 12.9% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 713 people or 11.4% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 731 people or 11.7% are between 30 and 39, 1,000 people or 16.0% are between 40 and 49, and 815 people or 13.0% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 710 people or 11.3% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 534 people or 8.5% are between 70 and 79,there are 249 people or 4.0% who are 80 and 89, and there are 59 people or 0.9% who are 90 and older.
, there were 2,346 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,868 married individuals, 409 widows or widowers and 350 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.6 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 41.3% 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 2,403 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 820 households that consist of only one person and 177 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 2,468 households that answered this question, 33.2% were households made up of just one person and there were 14 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 678 married couples without children, 721 married couples with children There were 137 single parents with a child or children. There were 33 households that were made up of unrelated people and 65 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 1,062 single family homes (or 59.5% of the total) out of a total of 1,785 inhabited buildings. There were 372 multi-family buildings (20.8%), along with 208 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (11.7%) and 143 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (8.0%). Of the single family homes 303 were built before 1919, while 93 were built between 1990 and 2000. The most multi-family homes (173) were built before 1919 and the next most (44) were built between 1919 and 1945. There were 6 multi-family houses built between 1996 and 2000.
there were 3,346 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 1,068. There were 176 single room apartments and 716 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 2,334 apartments (69.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 675 apartments (20.2%) were seasonally occupied and 337 apartments (10.1%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.9 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.43%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
The Church Bell Tower, the Salt Mining Complex, the Fortifications de l’Arzillier and the Bridge over the RhoneRhône
Rhone can refer to:* Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France* Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
River (which is shared with St-Maurice in Valais) are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance
Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...
. The entire village of Les Posses and the Le Bévieux area are both part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
The Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage.-Sites of national importance:-Types:...
.
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 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...
which received 30.69% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(27.02%), 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....
(12.65%) and the Green Party
Green Party of Switzerland
The Green Party of Switzerland is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland, and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council.-History:...
(11.75%). In the federal election, a total of 1,565 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 43.1%.
Economy
, Bex had an unemployment rate of 6.9%. , there were 234 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 66 businesses involved in this sector. 746 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 72 businesses in this sector. 1,157 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 196 businesses in this sector. There were 2,608 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.5% 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 1,794. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 137, of which 128 were in agriculture and 9 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 706 of which 361 or (51.1%) were in manufacturing, 51 or (7.2%) were in mining and 178 (25.2%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 951. In the tertiary sector; 201 or 21.1% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 56 or 5.9% were in the movement and storage of goods, 137 or 14.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 8 or 0.8% were in the information industry, 5 or 0.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 86 or 9.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 82 or 8.6% were in education and 146 or 15.4% were in health care.
, there were 1,077 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,294 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 4.5% of the workforce coming into Bex are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.0% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 13.5% used public transportation to get to work, and 61.6% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 1,986 or 33.2% were Roman Catholic, while 2,356 or 39.4% 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 44 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 0.74% of the population), there were 5 individuals (or about 0.08% 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 60 individuals (or about 1.00% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 462 (or about 7.73% 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 were 12 individuals who were 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...
, 41 individuals who were Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and 21 individuals who belonged to another church. 554 (or about 9.28% 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 432 individuals (or about 7.23% of the population) did not answer the question.
Weather
Bex has an average of 123.3 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 1055 mm (41.5 in) of precipitationPrecipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
. The wettest month is August during which time Bex receives an average of 119 mm (4.7 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.5 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is June, with an average of 12.4, but with only 109 mm (4.3 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 69 mm (2.7 in) of precipitation over 9.4 days.
Education
In Bex about 1,897 or (31.8%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 523 or (8.8%) 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 523 who completed tertiary schooling, 52.6% were Swiss men, 29.1% were Swiss women, 11.5% were non-Swiss men and 6.9% were non-Swiss women.
In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 790 students in the Bex 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 district provided pre-school care for a total of 205 children of which 96 children (46.8%) received subsidized pre-school care. There were 378 students in the primary school program, which lasts four years. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 356 students in those schools. There were also 56 students who were home schooled or attended another non-traditional school.
, there were 105 students in Bex who came from another municipality, while 189 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Transportation and Railroads
Bex is a stop on the Swiss Federal Railway SBB/CFF high speed Simplon route from Italy (Domodossola) and southern Switzerland to Lausanne then on to Geneva and Bern. Bex is also the terminus of the BVB Chemin de fer Bex-Villars-BretayeChemin de fer Bex-Villars-Bretaye
The Bex–Villars–Bretaye Railway, abbreviated BVB, French Chemin de fer Bex-Villars-Bretaye, is a metre gauge railway line operating between the towns in its title, situated in the Chablais region of south west Switzerland...
railway which is one of four railways of the local TPC company, the Transports Publics du Chablais. The BVB runs east from Bex to Villars and Bretaye. At nearby Aigle, connections are available at the Aigle SBB/CFF depot to the other three very scenic narrow gauge railways of TPC.
Transports Publics du Chablais uses the motto "Depuis plus de cent ans et contre toute attente, des lignes des TPC réunissent plaine et montagne, Vaud et Valais, ville et campagne, terres catholiques et protestantes." Translated roughly: "For over 100 years and contrary to all expectations, the railways of TPC have joined plain and mountain, town and country, of the Vaud and Valais districts of Switzerland, land of both Catholics and Protestants." The ASD, the AL, and the BVB railways operate within the Canton of Vaud. The AOMC also operates into the Canton of Valais when it leaves Aigle and crosses the Rhone river to reach Monthey and Champéry
Champéry
Champéry is a municipality in the district of Monthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.-History:Champéry is first mentioned in 1286 as Champery...
. The TPC "motto" refers to the religious composition and history of the region historically known as the Chablais. In 1846-7 the Valais canton attempted to secede from Switzerland with the intention of joining a Catholic confederation of cantons called the Sonderbund, but this was put down by Swiss Federal troops in the brief and relatively bloodles Sonderbund civil war.