Les Clées
Encyclopedia
Les Clées is a 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 Jura-Nord Vaudois 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

Les Clées is first mentioned in 1134 as Clees.

Above the village are the remains of the castle
Les Clées Castle
Les Clées Castle is a castle in the municipality of Les Clées of the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.-References:...

. The keep
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...

 was restored in the 19th Century, but the rest of castle remained in ruins. During the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 was a city that was granted numerous freedoms in 1272 by the Count of Savoy. It owed its prosperity to the traffic through the Jougne Pass and the tolls that the castle collected on the pass road. Starting in 1536 in belonged to the bailiwick
Bailiwick
A bailiwick is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and may also apply to a territory in which the sheriff's functions were exercised by a privately appointed bailiff under a royal or imperial writ. The word is now more generally used in a metaphorical sense, to indicate a sphere of...

 of Yverdon.

The city was the center of the Les Clées district or bailiwick, which also included another eight villages. From the 15th Century until 1566, the Vallée de Joux also belonged to the district. In 1134, Pope Innocent II
Pope Innocent II
Pope Innocent II , born Gregorio Papareschi, was pope from 1130 to 1143, and was probably one of the clergy in personal attendance on the antipope Clement III .-Early years:...

 tried in vain to prohibit the reconstruction of the castle. In 1232, Hugo IV, the Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...

 granted the district to Guillaume II, the Count of Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

. The Duke of Burgundy also transferred the feudal rights over the district to Jean Chalon in 1237, who was unable to maintain these rights. renounced the feudal rule and transferred them to, who could not be sustained. The Count of Geneva then held these rights until he was forced to give them up in 1260, following his defeat by Peter of Savoy. In 1272, Count Philip I of Savoy and the dean of Romainmôtier
Romainmôtier
Romainmôtier is a village and former municipality in the district of Orbe in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland.In 1970 the municipality was merged with the neighboring municipality Envy to form a new and larger municipality Romainmôtier-Envy.-References:...

 entered into a contract, which granted the protection of the monastery and its lands to the castle of Les Clées. The subjects of the provost
Provost (religion)
A provost is a senior official in a number of Christian churches.-Historical Development:The word praepositus was originally applied to any ecclesiastical ruler or dignitary...

 had to pay for a tax for this privilege, which continued until 1798. During the Burgundian War, on 22 October 1475, Swiss Confederation
Old Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy was the precursor of modern-day Switzerland....

 troops seized and destroyed the city and castle and killed the castle garrison. Under Bernese rule there were three courts in the Les Clées district, one of which was held in the city. Nevertheless, the city gradually lost importance.

The chapel of Les Clées was built before the 14th Century. It was a filial church
Filial church
A filial church, in the Roman Catholic Church, is a church to which is annexed the cure of souls, but which remains dependent on another church. The term comes from the Latin filialis, from filia, daughter....

 of the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 of Lignerolle
Lignerolle
Lignerolle is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.-Geography:Lignerolle has an area, , of . Of this area, or 48.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 46.3% is forested...

 and remained under it even after the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

. The chapel was rebuilt in 1738-1740.

From the end of the 15th Century until the beginning of the 18th Century there was a furnace and a pig iron
Pig iron
Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...

 smelting operation in the village. The construction of the Vallorbe
Vallorbe
Vallorbe is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.-History:Vallorbe is first mentioned in 1139 as de valle urbanensi. In 1148 it was mentioned as de valle urbe.-Geography:...

-Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...

 highway in 1990 divided the community in two.

Geography

Les Clées has an area, , of 7 square kilometre. Of this area, 1.69 square kilometre or 24.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 4.93 square kilometre or 70.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.38 square kilometre or 5.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.07 km² (17.3 acre) or 1.0% is either rivers or lakes.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 0.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.8%. Out of the forested land, 67.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 8.7% is used for growing crops and 15.3% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

The municipality was part of the Orbe District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Les Clées became part of the new district of Jura-Nord Vaudois.

The municipality consists of the village of Les Clées and the hamlet
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 La Russille.

Demographics

Les Clées has a population of . , 7.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 3.9%. It has changed at a rate of 7.7% due to migration and at a rate of -3.9% 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...

 (145 or 94.2%), 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 (6 or 3.9%) and Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...

 being third (2 or 1.3%).

The age distribution, , in Les Clées is; 15 children or 9.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 18 teenagers or 11.2% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 17 people or 10.6% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 19 people or 11.8% are between 30 and 39, 23 people or 14.3% are between 40 and 49, and 36 people or 22.4% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 23 people or 14.3% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 2 people or 1.2% are between 70 and 79, there are 7 people or 4.3% who are between 80 and 89, and there is 1 person who is 90 and older.

, there were 64 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 71 married individuals, 10 widows or widowers and 9 individuals who are divorced.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.55 which is less people per room than 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 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 63.3% 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 60 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. There were 15 households that consist of only one person and 6 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 60 households that answered this question, 25.0% were households made up of just one person and there was 1 adult who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 21 married couples without children, 20 married couples with children There were 2 single parents with a child or children. There was 1 household that was made up of unrelated people.

there were 28 single family homes (or 57.1% of the total) out of a total of 49 inhabited buildings. There were 9 multi-family buildings (18.4%), along with 10 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (20.4%) and 2 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (4.1%).

, a total of 60 apartments (93.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 1 apartment was seasonally occupied and 3 apartments (4.7%) 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:

Heritage sites of national significance

Les Clées Castle
Les Clées Castle
Les Clées Castle is a castle in the municipality of Les Clées of the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.-References:...

 with the surrounding ruins and village is listed as a 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 hamlet of La Russille and the Les Clées region are 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 election
Swiss 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 25.31% 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....

 (21.62%), 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....

 (20.49%) and the LPS Party
Liberal Party of Switzerland
The Liberal Party of Switzerland was a party with economically liberal policies. It was known as a party of the upper class. On 1 January 2009 it merged with the larger Free Democratic Party to establish FDP.The Liberals....

 (10.35%). In the federal election, a total of 58 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 48.3%.

Economy

, Les Clées had an unemployment rate of 4.5%. , there were 8 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 4 businesses involved in this sector. 9 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 2 businesses in this sector. 10 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 3 businesses in this sector. There were 76 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 36.8% 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 22. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 6, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 8 of which 1 was in manufacturing and 7 (87.5%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 8. In the tertiary sector; 6 or 75.0% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 1 was in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 25.0% were in education.

, there were 6 workers who commuted into the municipality and 55 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 9.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 6.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 68.4% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 19 or 12.3% were Roman Catholic, while 107 or 69.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
Swiss 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 20 individuals (or about 12.99% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 2 (or about 1.30% 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. 16 (or about 10.39% 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...

.

Education

In Les Clées about 62 or (40.3%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 18 or (11.7%) have completed additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule
Fachhochschule
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 18 who completed tertiary schooling, 83.3% were Swiss men, 11.1% were Swiss women.

In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 17 students in the Les Clées 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 578 children of which 359 children (62.1%) received subsidized pre-school care. The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years. There were 8 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 9 students in those schools.

, there were 14 students in Les Clées who came from another municipality, while 31 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
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