Nax
Encyclopedia
Nax is a former municipality
in the district of Hérens
in the canton
of Valais
in Switzerland
. On 1 January 2011, the former municipalities of Vernamiège
, Nax and Mase
merged in the new municipality of Mont-Noble
.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.9%. Out of the forested land, 29.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.1% is used for growing crops and 5.4% is pastures and 27.1% is used for alpine pastures. Of the water in the village, 0.2% is in lakes and 0.2% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 12.4% is unproductive vegetation and 19.0% is too rocky for vegetation.
Nax is situated at the entrance to the Hérens valley near a rocky promontory which may provided its name, from the , nose.
of the village coat of arms
is Azure, issuant from Coupeaux Vert between two Bucks rampant respectant Argent a Pine Tree Vert trunked proper topped with a Bird volant Or, in chief two Mullets of Five of the last.
Most of the population speaks French
(362 or 94.5%) as their first language, German
is the second most common (14 or 3.7%) and Italian
is the third (3 or 0.8%).
, the gender distribution of the population was 45.6% male and 54.4% female. The population was made up of 181 Swiss men (40.0% of the population) and 25 (5.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 231 Swiss women (51.1%) and 15 (3.3%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the village 212 or about 55.4% were born in Nax and lived there in 2000. There were 66 or 17.2% who were born in the same canton, while 57 or 14.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 33 or 8.6% were born outside of Switzerland.
, there were 135 people who were single and never married in the village. There were 193 married individuals, 37 widows or widowers and 18 individuals who are divorced.
There were 55 households that consist of only one person and 7 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 174 households that answered this question, 31.6% were households made up of just one person and there were 7 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 50 married couples without children, 45 married couples with children There were 9 single parents with a child or children. There were 2 households that were made up of unrelated people and 6 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 291 single family homes (or 71.9% of the total) out of a total of 405 inhabited buildings. There were 75 multi-family buildings (18.5%), along with 28 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (6.9%) and 11 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.7%).
, a total of 167 apartments (28.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 359 apartments (62.2%) were seasonally occupied and 51 apartments (8.8%) were empty.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
the most popular party was the CVP
which received 35.92% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
(25.32%), the FDP
(16.05%) and the SVP
(13.99%). In the federal election, a total of 248 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 67.2%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat
election a total of 227 votes were cast, of which 8 or about 3.5% were invalid. The voter participation was 63.6%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election
election a total of 244 votes were cast, of which 14 or about 5.7% were invalid. The voter participation was 68.5%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 65. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 7, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 9 of which 4 or (44.4%) were in manufacturing and 4 (44.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 49. In the tertiary sector; 11 or 22.4% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 4 or 8.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 10 or 20.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 14 or 28.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 3 or 6.1% were in education.
, there were 29 workers who commuted into the village and 103 workers who commuted away. The village is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.6 workers leaving the village for every one entering. Of the working population, % used public transportation to get to work, and % used a private car.
. There were 1 individual who belonged to another church. 20 (or about 5.22% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 15 individuals (or about 3.92% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 40 who completed tertiary schooling, 50.0% were Swiss men, 25.0% were Swiss women, 12.5% were non-Swiss men and 12.5% were non-Swiss women.
, there were 14 students in Nax who came from another village, while 25 residents attended schools outside the village.
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 Hérens
Hérens (district)
The district of Hérens is a district in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a population of .-Geography:Except for the municipality of Ayent, which lies on the north bank of the Rhône, the municipalities of Hérens are located in the Val d'Hérens on the south bank of the...
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 Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
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....
. On 1 January 2011, the former municipalities of Vernamiège
Vernamiège
Vernamiège is a former municipality in the district of Hérens in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. On 1 January 2011, the former municipalities of Vernamiège, Nax and Mase merged in the new municipality of Mont-Noble.-Geography:...
, Nax and Mase
Mase
Mason Durell Betha , better known by stage name Mase who was previously known as Murda Ma$e, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor and inspirational speaker...
merged in the new municipality of Mont-Noble
Mont-Noble
Mont-Noble is a municipality in the district of Hérens in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2011 through the merger of the municipalities of Mase, Vernamiège and Nax.-History:...
.
History
Nax is first mentioned around 1001-1100 as Nas. Its village church collapsed in 1909 during a service, killing 31 and injuring 50.Geography
Nax has an area, , of 24.5 square kilometre. Of this area, 8.13 square kilometre or 33.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 7.77 square kilometre or 31.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.78 square kilometre or 3.2% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.11 km² (27.2 acre) or 0.4% is either rivers or lakes and 7.71 square kilometre or 31.4% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.9%. Out of the forested land, 29.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.1% is used for growing crops and 5.4% is pastures and 27.1% is used for alpine pastures. Of the water in the village, 0.2% is in lakes and 0.2% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 12.4% is unproductive vegetation and 19.0% is too rocky for vegetation.
Nax is situated at the entrance to the Hérens valley near a rocky promontory which may provided its name, from the , nose.
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 village 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, issuant from Coupeaux Vert between two Bucks rampant respectant Argent a Pine Tree Vert trunked proper topped with a Bird volant Or, in chief two Mullets of Five of the last.
Demographics
Nax has a population of 403.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...
(362 or 94.5%) as their first language, 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....
is the second most common (14 or 3.7%) 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...
is the third (3 or 0.8%).
, the gender distribution of the population was 45.6% male and 54.4% female. The population was made up of 181 Swiss men (40.0% of the population) and 25 (5.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 231 Swiss women (51.1%) and 15 (3.3%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the village 212 or about 55.4% were born in Nax and lived there in 2000. There were 66 or 17.2% who were born in the same canton, while 57 or 14.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 33 or 8.6% were born outside of Switzerland.
, there were 135 people who were single and never married in the village. There were 193 married individuals, 37 widows or widowers and 18 individuals who are divorced.
There were 55 households that consist of only one person and 7 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 174 households that answered this question, 31.6% were households made up of just one person and there were 7 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 50 married couples without children, 45 married couples with children There were 9 single parents with a child or children. There were 2 households that were made up of unrelated people and 6 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 291 single family homes (or 71.9% of the total) out of a total of 405 inhabited buildings. There were 75 multi-family buildings (18.5%), along with 28 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (6.9%) and 11 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.7%).
, a total of 167 apartments (28.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 359 apartments (62.2%) were seasonally occupied and 51 apartments (8.8%) were empty.
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 35.92% 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....
(25.32%), 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....
(16.05%) and 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...
(13.99%). In the federal election, a total of 248 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 67.2%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat
Conseil d'Etat (Switzerland)
In Switzerland, Conseil d'Etat is the name of the council constituting the cantonal government of French-speaking cantons. It is not to be confused with the Conseil des États which is a chamber of the Swiss parliament....
election a total of 227 votes were cast, of which 8 or about 3.5% were invalid. The voter participation was 63.6%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election
Swiss Council of States election, 2007
Elections were held to the Council of States of Switzerland in October and November 2007 as part of the 2007 federal election. All 46 members of the Council of States were elected from all cantons of Switzerland. The first round was held on 21 October...
election a total of 244 votes were cast, of which 14 or about 5.7% were invalid. The voter participation was 68.5%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.
Economy
, Nax had an unemployment rate of 0%. , there were people employed in the primary economic sector and about businesses involved in this sector. No one was employed in the secondary sector or the tertiary sector. There were 169 residents of the village who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.2% 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 65. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 7, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 9 of which 4 or (44.4%) were in manufacturing and 4 (44.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 49. In the tertiary sector; 11 or 22.4% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 4 or 8.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 10 or 20.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 14 or 28.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 3 or 6.1% were in education.
, there were 29 workers who commuted into the village and 103 workers who commuted away. The village is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.6 workers leaving the village for every one entering. Of the working population, % used public transportation to get to work, and % used a private car.
Religion
From the , 330 or 86.2% were Roman Catholic, while 17 or 4.4% 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...
. There were 1 individual who belonged to another church. 20 (or about 5.22% 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 15 individuals (or about 3.92% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Nax about 134 or (35.0%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 40 or (10.4%) 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 40 who completed tertiary schooling, 50.0% were Swiss men, 25.0% were Swiss women, 12.5% were non-Swiss men and 12.5% were non-Swiss women.
, there were 14 students in Nax who came from another village, while 25 residents attended schools outside the village.