Versoix
Encyclopedia
Versoix is a municipality
in the Canton of Geneva
, Switzerland
, which sits on the right bank of Lac Léman. It is the last town of the Canton of Geneva on the road northeast towards Lausanne
, before the Canton of Vaud starts. It is a train stop on the SBB-CFF-FFS
railway line running between Coppet
and Geneva
. On the Vaud side, the next village is called Mies
.
The distance from the centre of Geneva is about 10 km, and it takes around 15 minutes by train or car to get into downtown.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 19.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 8.7%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.8%. Out of the forested land, 36.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 23.1% is used for growing crops and 3.5% is pastures, while 2.5% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 0.4% is in lakes and 0.4% is in rivers and streams.
The municipality of Versoix consists of the sub-sections or villages of Richelien, Creuson, Sauverny, Petit-Saint-Loup, Ecogia, Versoix-la-Ville, Pont-Céard, Port-Choiseul, Versoix-Bourg, Versoix - lac, Crève-Cœur.
Most of the population speaks French
(7,611 or 73.8%), with English
being second most common (738 or 7.2%) and German
being third (415 or 4.0%). There are 281 people who speak Italian
and 3 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 48.3% male and 51.7% female. The population was made up of 3,465 Swiss men (26.6% of the population) and 2,831 (21.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 4,013 Swiss women (30.8%) and 2,713 (20.8%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 1,979 or about 19.2% were born in Versoix and lived there in 2000. There were 1,978 or 19.2% who were born in the same canton, while 1,603 or 15.5% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 4,052 or 39.3% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 75 live births to Swiss citizens and 54 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 57 deaths of Swiss citizens and 10 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 18 while the foreign population increased by 44. There were 39 Swiss men and 40 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 124 non-Swiss men and 94 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 56 and the non-Swiss population increased by 211 people. This represents a population growth rate of 2.2%.
The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 28.3% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 11.2%.
, there were 4,482 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 4,717 married individuals, 421 widows or widowers and 689 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.63 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.64 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 24.8% 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 3,977 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 1,282 households that consist of only one person and 296 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 4,089 households that answered this question, 31.4% were households made up of just one person and there were 28 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 906 married couples without children, 1,323 married couples with children There were 384 single parents with a child or children. There were 54 households that were made up of unrelated people and 112 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 671 single family homes (or 56.9% of the total) out of a total of 1,179 inhabited buildings. There were 243 multi-family buildings (20.6%), along with 201 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (17.0%) and 64 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (5.4%). Of the single family homes 113 were built before 1919, while 90 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (138) were built between 1981 and 1990. The most multi-family homes (46) were built before 1919 and the next most (39) were built between 1991 and 1995. There were 19 multi-family houses built between 1996 and 2000.
there were 4,536 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 1,406. There were 293 single room apartments and 991 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 3,734 apartments (82.3% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 676 apartments (14.9%) were seasonally occupied and 126 apartments (2.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 6.1 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.12%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
littoral
settlement, and the Villa Bartholony (Sans Souci) are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance
. The Bourg settlement is part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
a UNESCO
World Heritage Site.
(or stilt house) settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
UNESCO
World Heritage Site.
It is the hub for many humanitarian organizations and other organizations within the environmental, science and technology fields. The university of Geneva
has part of its campus, in particular the department of astronomy
and its observatory
, in Versoix, while the International Committee of the Red Cross
maintains a training center there. Versoix has its official music band, the "Musique Municipale de Versoix", which also provides a music school. Versoix is also known for the impressive ice formations, or icicles, which can be seen mainly in the coast line during the winter.
manufacturer Favarger
has its headquarters and factory in Versoix.
For three years now Versoix has organized a chocolate festival. At this festival you can eat chocolate and visit the chocolate factory Favarger. But there are other fun activities to do, like a treasure hunt.
There is one sports center in Versoix, La Bécassière. It has two pools, soccer fields, basketball courts and a beach-volleyball court. The pool in Versoix consists 2 outdoor pools, a little snack-bar, a restaurant with a terrace and a playground.
Versoix has a Parcours VITA-FUITE of 2.4 km (1.5 mi), in the Versoix woods.
the most popular party was the SVP
which received 22.27% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Green Party
(18.16%), the SP
(17.05%) and the LPS Party
(13.65%). In the federal election, a total of 2,338 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 42.7%.
In the 2009 Grand Conseil
election, there were a total of 5,631 registered voters of which 1,919 (34.1%) voted. The most popular party in the municipality for this election was the Libéral
with 16.1% of the ballots. In the canton-wide election they received the highest proportion of votes. The second most popular party was the Les Verts
(with 15.9%), they were also second in the canton-wide election, while the third most popular party was the Les Socialistes
(with 11.9%), they were fourth in the canton-wide election.
For the 2009 Conseil d'Etat election, there were a total of 5,635 registered voters of which 2,286 (40.6%) voted.
In 2011, all the municipalities held local elections, and in Versoix there were 27 spots open on the municipal council. There were a total of 7,640 registered voters of which 2,857 (37.4%) voted. Out of the 2,857 votes, there were 14 blank votes, 30 null or unreadable votes and 269 votes with a name that was not on the list.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 2,146. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 34, of which 20 were in agriculture, 11 were in forestry or lumber production and 2 were in fishing or fisheries. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 405 of which 248 or (61.2%) were in manufacturing, 8 or (2.0%) were in mining and 135 (33.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,707. In the tertiary sector; 249 or 14.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 40 or 2.3% were in the movement and storage of goods, 135 or 7.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 12 or 0.7% were in the information industry, 51 or 3.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 77 or 4.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 665 or 39.0% were in education and 278 or 16.3% were in health care.
, there were 1,534 workers who commuted into the municipality and 3,669 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 10.7% of the workforce coming into Versoix are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.3% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 18.5% used public transportation to get to work, and 63.9% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 191 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 1.85% of the population), there were 13 individuals (or about 0.13% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
, and there were 265 individuals (or about 2.57% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 45 individuals (or about 0.44% of the population) who were Jewish
, and 554 (or about 5.37% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There were 46 individuals who were Buddhist
, 54 individuals who were Hindu
and 23 individuals who belonged to another church. 2,311 (or about 22.42% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 1,177 individuals (or about 11.42% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 2,132 who completed tertiary schooling, 31.4% were Swiss men, 26.9% were Swiss women, 22.2% were non-Swiss men and 19.5% were non-Swiss women.
During the 2009-2010 school year there were a total of 3,061 students in the Versoix school system. The education system
in the Canton of Geneva allows young children to attend two years of non-obligatory Kindergarten
. During that school year, there were 200 children who were in a pre-kindergarten class. The canton's school system provides two years of non-mandatory kindergarten and requires students to attend six years of primary school, with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In Versoix there were 413 students in kindergarten or primary school and 65 students were in the special, smaller classes. The secondary school
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. There were 413 lower secondary students who attended school in Versoix. There were 605 upper secondary students from the municipality along with 90 students who were in a professional, non-university track program. An additional 596 students attended a private school.
, there were 1,082 students in Versoix who came from another municipality, while 688 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Versoix is home to the Bibliothèque Communale de Versoix library.
In Versoix there are four primary public schools:Ami-Argand, Bon Séjour, École Lachenal and Monfleury. These schools go from Kindergarten to 6th grade. There is one public Middle school, the Collège des Colombières. This school goes from 7th to 9th grade. Students from Versoix, Genthod, Bellevue, Céligny, Chavannes-des-Bois and Crassier go to this school. There are no High Schools in Versoix, so the students have to go to Geneva. There is one private school Collège du Léman.
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 Geneva
Canton of Geneva
The Republic and Canton of Geneva is the French speaking westernmost canton or state of Switzerland, surrounded on almost all sides by France. As is the case in several other Swiss cantons The Republic and Canton of Geneva is the French speaking westernmost canton or state of Switzerland,...
, 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....
, which sits on the right bank of Lac Léman. It is the last town of the Canton of Geneva on the road northeast towards 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...
, before the Canton of Vaud starts. It is a train stop on the SBB-CFF-FFS
SBB-CFF-FFS
Swiss Federal Railways and SFR are not in official use) is the national railway company of Switzerland headquartered in Bern. Formerly a government institution, it is since 1999 a special stock corporation with all shares held by the Swiss Confederation or the Swiss cantons...
railway line running between Coppet
Coppet
Coppet is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.-History:Coppet is first mentioned in 1294 as Copetum. In 1347 it was mentioned as Copet.-Geography:...
and 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...
. On the Vaud side, the next village is called Mies
Mies
Mies is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.It is approximately half-way between Geneva and Nyon. Mies sits on Lake Geneva , which lies to the southeast and is 410m above sea-level. The highest point of Mies is 455m above sea level. The part of Mies touching...
.
The distance from the centre of Geneva is about 10 km, and it takes around 15 minutes by train or car to get into downtown.
Geography
Versoix has an area, , of 10.51 square kilometres (4.1 sq mi). Of this area, 3.06 km² (1.2 sq mi) or 29.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 4 km² (1.5 sq mi) or 38.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 3.4 km² (1.3 sq mi) or 32.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.08 km² (19.8 acre) or 0.8% is either rivers or lakes and 0.01 km² (2.5 acre) or 0.1% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 19.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 8.7%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.8%. Out of the forested land, 36.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 23.1% is used for growing crops and 3.5% is pastures, while 2.5% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 0.4% is in lakes and 0.4% is in rivers and streams.
The municipality of Versoix consists of the sub-sections or villages of Richelien, Creuson, Sauverny, Petit-Saint-Loup, Ecogia, Versoix-la-Ville, Pont-Céard, Port-Choiseul, Versoix-Bourg, Versoix - lac, Crève-Cœur.
Demographics
Versoix has a population of . , 41.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 23.3%. It has changed at a rate of 19% due to migration and at a rate of 5.8% 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...
(7,611 or 73.8%), with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
being second most common (738 or 7.2%) 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 (415 or 4.0%). There are 281 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 3 people who speak Romansh.
, the gender distribution of the population was 48.3% male and 51.7% female. The population was made up of 3,465 Swiss men (26.6% of the population) and 2,831 (21.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 4,013 Swiss women (30.8%) and 2,713 (20.8%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 1,979 or about 19.2% were born in Versoix and lived there in 2000. There were 1,978 or 19.2% who were born in the same canton, while 1,603 or 15.5% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 4,052 or 39.3% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 75 live births to Swiss citizens and 54 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 57 deaths of Swiss citizens and 10 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 18 while the foreign population increased by 44. There were 39 Swiss men and 40 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 124 non-Swiss men and 94 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 56 and the non-Swiss population increased by 211 people. This represents a population growth rate of 2.2%.
The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 28.3% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 11.2%.
, there were 4,482 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 4,717 married individuals, 421 widows or widowers and 689 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.63 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.64 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 24.8% 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 3,977 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 1,282 households that consist of only one person and 296 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 4,089 households that answered this question, 31.4% were households made up of just one person and there were 28 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 906 married couples without children, 1,323 married couples with children There were 384 single parents with a child or children. There were 54 households that were made up of unrelated people and 112 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 671 single family homes (or 56.9% of the total) out of a total of 1,179 inhabited buildings. There were 243 multi-family buildings (20.6%), along with 201 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (17.0%) and 64 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (5.4%). Of the single family homes 113 were built before 1919, while 90 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (138) were built between 1981 and 1990. The most multi-family homes (46) were built before 1919 and the next most (39) were built between 1991 and 1995. There were 19 multi-family houses built between 1996 and 2000.
there were 4,536 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 1,406. There were 293 single room apartments and 991 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 3,734 apartments (82.3% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 676 apartments (14.9%) were seasonally occupied and 126 apartments (2.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 6.1 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.12%.
Heritage sites of national significance
The Bourg, a Bronze AgeBronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
littoral
Littoral
The littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...
settlement, and the Villa Bartholony (Sans Souci) 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 Bourg settlement is part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps is a series of prehistoric pile-dwelling settlements in and around the Alps built from around 5000 to 500 B.C. on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands...
a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site.
World heritage site
It is home to one or more prehistoric pile-dwellingStilt house
Stilt houses or pile dwellings or palafitte are houses raised on piles over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding, but also serve to keep out vermin...
(or stilt house) settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps is a series of prehistoric pile-dwelling settlements in and around the Alps built from around 5000 to 500 B.C. on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands...
UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site.
Sights
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland.It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin, as a theological seminary and law school. It remained focused on theology until the 17th century, when it became a center for Enlightenment scholarship. In 1873, it...
has part of its campus, in particular the department of astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
and its observatory
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
, in Versoix, while the International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
maintains a training center there. Versoix has its official music band, the "Musique Municipale de Versoix", which also provides a music school. Versoix is also known for the impressive ice formations, or icicles, which can be seen mainly in the coast line during the winter.
Chocolate
The Swiss chocolateSwiss chocolate
Switzerland's chocolates have earned an international reputation for high quality.The famous Toblerone came from Switzerland; a man named Jean Tobler started the business in 1867.-History:The 17th century saw the start of chocolate processed in Switzerland...
manufacturer Favarger
Favarger
Favarger is a Swiss chocolate maker founded in 1826 and located in Versoix, in the Canton of Geneva.In 2003, the majority of shares of Favarger were acquired by Mr. Luka Rajic. His intention is to ally the traditional know-how of this chocolate specialist with new managerial competences in order to...
has its headquarters and factory in Versoix.
For three years now Versoix has organized a chocolate festival. At this festival you can eat chocolate and visit the chocolate factory Favarger. But there are other fun activities to do, like a treasure hunt.
Hobbies and sports
Versoix has a Parcours VITA-FUITE of 2.4 km (1.5 mi), in the Versoix woods.
Sports clubs
- Le football club Versoix (FC Versoix)
- Le club de basket Versoix (Versoix Basket)
- Le badminton club Versoix ( BCV)
- Le judo, ju-justu club Versoix (JCV)
- Le tennis club Versoix (TCV)
- Le club nautique de Versoix
- Plastic colorful sabre training school
- Le Bushido Club Versoix Genève (jujutsu) (BCVG)
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 22.27% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were 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:...
(18.16%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(17.05%) 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....
(13.65%). In the federal election, a total of 2,338 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 42.7%.
In the 2009 Grand Conseil
Grand Council of Geneva
The Grand Council of Geneva is the legislature of the canton of Geneva, in Switzerland. Geneva, styled as a 'Republic and Canton', has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council has 100 seats, with members elected every four years...
election, there were a total of 5,631 registered voters of which 1,919 (34.1%) voted. The most popular party in the municipality for this election was the Libéral
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....
with 16.1% of the ballots. In the canton-wide election they received the highest proportion of votes. The second most popular party was the Les Verts
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:...
(with 15.9%), they were also second in the canton-wide election, while the third most popular party was the Les Socialistes
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(with 11.9%), they were fourth in the canton-wide election.
For the 2009 Conseil d'Etat election, there were a total of 5,635 registered voters of which 2,286 (40.6%) voted.
In 2011, all the municipalities held local elections, and in Versoix there were 27 spots open on the municipal council. There were a total of 7,640 registered voters of which 2,857 (37.4%) voted. Out of the 2,857 votes, there were 14 blank votes, 30 null or unreadable votes and 269 votes with a name that was not on the list.
Economy
, Versoix had an unemployment rate of 7.2%. , there were 44 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 13 businesses involved in this sector. 421 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 66 businesses in this sector. 2,060 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 277 businesses in this sector. There were 4,864 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 46.1% 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 2,146. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 34, of which 20 were in agriculture, 11 were in forestry or lumber production and 2 were in fishing or fisheries. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 405 of which 248 or (61.2%) were in manufacturing, 8 or (2.0%) were in mining and 135 (33.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,707. In the tertiary sector; 249 or 14.6% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 40 or 2.3% were in the movement and storage of goods, 135 or 7.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 12 or 0.7% were in the information industry, 51 or 3.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 77 or 4.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 665 or 39.0% were in education and 278 or 16.3% were in health care.
, there were 1,534 workers who commuted into the municipality and 3,669 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 10.7% of the workforce coming into Versoix are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.3% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 18.5% used public transportation to get to work, and 63.9% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 3,667 or 35.6% were Roman Catholic, while 1,963 or 19.0% 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 191 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 1.85% of the population), there were 13 individuals (or about 0.13% 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 265 individuals (or about 2.57% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 45 individuals (or about 0.44% of the population) who were Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and 554 (or about 5.37% 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 46 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...
, 54 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 23 individuals who belonged to another church. 2,311 (or about 22.42% 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 1,177 individuals (or about 11.42% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Versoix about 2,774 or (26.9%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 2,132 or (20.7%) 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 2,132 who completed tertiary schooling, 31.4% were Swiss men, 26.9% were Swiss women, 22.2% were non-Swiss men and 19.5% were non-Swiss women.
During the 2009-2010 school year there were a total of 3,061 students in the Versoix school system. The education system
Education in Switzerland
The education system in Switzerland is very diverse, because the constitution of Switzerland delegates the authority for the school system mainly to the cantons...
in the Canton of Geneva allows young children to attend two years of non-obligatory Kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
. During that school year, there were 200 children who were in a pre-kindergarten class. The canton's school system provides two years of non-mandatory kindergarten and requires students to attend six years of primary school, with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In Versoix there were 413 students in kindergarten or primary school and 65 students were in the special, smaller classes. The secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. There were 413 lower secondary students who attended school in Versoix. There were 605 upper secondary students from the municipality along with 90 students who were in a professional, non-university track program. An additional 596 students attended a private school.
, there were 1,082 students in Versoix who came from another municipality, while 688 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Versoix is home to the Bibliothèque Communale de Versoix library.
In Versoix there are four primary public schools:Ami-Argand, Bon Séjour, École Lachenal and Monfleury. These schools go from Kindergarten to 6th grade. There is one public Middle school, the Collège des Colombières. This school goes from 7th to 9th grade. Students from Versoix, Genthod, Bellevue, Céligny, Chavannes-des-Bois and Crassier go to this school. There are no High Schools in Versoix, so the students have to go to Geneva. There is one private school Collège du Léman.