Lachen (High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lache'') is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in March District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland.
History
Lachen is first mentioned around 1217–22 as ''de Lachun''.
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Geography
Lachen has an area of , as of 2006. Of this area, 26.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 5.8% is forested. Of the remaining land, 62.1% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (5.4%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).[
The municipality is located on a delta of the Wägi river in the upper section of Lake Zurich. It is the smallest municipality in the Canton of Schwyz.
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Demographics
Lachen has a population of . , 27.2% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.[ Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 14.1%. The majority of the population speaks German (84.9%), followed by Italian (5.1%) and Albanian (2.4%).][Swiss Federal Statistical Office]
accessed 02-Sep-2009
the gender distribution of the population was 49.1% male and 50.9% female. 1293 people or 20.6% of the population is under 19. 1950 people or 31.1% are 20 to 39, and 2,055 people or 32.8% are 40 to 64. 489 people or 7.8% are 65 to 74. There are 347 people or 5.5% who are 70 to 79 and 138 people or 2.20% of the population who are over 80. There is one person in Lachen who is over 100 years old.[Canton Schwyz Statistics]
accessed 27 August 2009
there are 2,817 households, of which 1,039 households (or about 36.9%) contain only one person. 115 or about 4.1% are large households, with at least five occupants.[
In the 2007 election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party, SVP which received 43.2% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland, FDP (19.4%), the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, SPS (19.1%) and the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland, CVP (13.9%).][
In Lachen about 69.2% of the adult population (between 25 and 64) have completed either non-mandatory Education in Switzerland#Secondary, upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a ''Fachhochschule'').][
Lachen has an unemployment rate of 1.98%. , there were 61 people employed in the Primary sector of the economy, primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 859 people are employed in the Secondary sector of the economy, secondary sector and there are 84 businesses in this sector. 2,686 people are employed in the Tertiary sector of the economy, tertiary sector, with 370 businesses in this sector.][
According to the , 4,141 or 66.0% of the population are Roman Catholic, while 984 or 15.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there are 179 individuals (or about 2.85% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are less than 5 individuals who belong to another Christian church. There are less than 5 individuals who are Judaism, Jewish, and 413 (or about 6.58% of the population) who are Muslim. There are 38 individuals (or about 0.61% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 336 (or about 5.36% of the population) are Agnosticism, agnostic or Atheism, atheist, and 178 individuals (or about 2.84% of the population) did not answer the question.][
The historic population is given in the following table:]
Weather
Lachen has an average of 149.1 days of rain per year and receives on average of Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. The wettest month is August during which time Lachen receives an average of of precipitation. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 14.2 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 14.7, but with only of precipitation. The driest month of the year is January with an average of of precipitation over 14.2 days.[, the weather station elevation is 426 meters above sea level.]
Transportation
The municipality is located on the A3 motorway (Switzerland), A3 motorway.
Lachen railway station is a stop on the Zürich S-Bahn services S2 (ZVV), S2, which runs every half-hour between Zürich and Ziegelbrücke, and S25 (ZVV), S25, which runs hourly between Zürich and Linthal, Glarus, Linthal. The journey time to Zürich is between 30 and 40 minutes.
Famous citizens
* Joachim Raff (1822 in Lachen – 1882) a German-Swiss composer, teacher and pianist
* Alessandro Spezialetti (born 1975 in Lachen) an Italian former professional road bicycle racer
* Maya Bamert (born 1979 in Lachen) a Swiss bobsledder, competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics
* Josip Drmić (born 1992 in Lachen) a Swiss professional footballer
* Colin Grob (born 2002 in Lachen) a famous Swiss-Canadian programmer, created Fortnite Creative Finder
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Municipalities of the canton of Schwyz
Cities in Switzerland
Populated places on Lake Zurich