Penthalaz is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the district of Gros-de-Vaud in the canton of

Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

History

Penthalaz is first mentioned in 1182 as ''Pentala''.

Geography

Penthalaz has an area, , of . Of this area, or 55.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 16.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 25.3% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.6% is either rivers or lakes.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010 Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 3.4% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 12.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 7.0%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.3%. Out of the forested land, 15.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 47.0% is used for growing crops and 7.2% is pastures, while 1.6% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality was part of the

Cossonay District Cossonay District was a district of the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. The seat of the district was the town of Cossonay. It was dissolved on 31 August 2006.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
accessed 4 April 2011 The municipality is located along the left bank of the Venoge river. It consists of the village of Penthalaz, the working-class neighborhood Sous la Ville, the residential neighborhood Bellevue and the industrial zone Cossonay-Gare.

Coat of arms

The

blazon 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. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

of the municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

is ''Per pale Azure and Or, overall a Bend wavy Argent, two Mining-wheels counterchanged.''

Demographics

Penthalaz has a population () of . , 20.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008
accessed 19 June 2010 Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 25.7%. It has changed at a rate of 27.4% due to migration and at a rate of -1.1% due to births and deaths.
accessed 25-May-2011 Most of the population () speaks French (2,000 or 87.6%), with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

being second most common (64 or 2.8%) and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

being third (53 or 2.3%). There are 47 people who speak

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

. Of the population in the municipality 465 or about 20.4% were born in Penthalaz and lived there in 2000. There were 993 or 43.5% who were born in the same canton, while 319 or 14.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 445 or 19.5% were born outside of Switzerland. In there were 22 live births to Swiss citizens and 8 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 17 deaths of Swiss citizens and 2 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 5 while the foreign population increased by 6. There was 1 Swiss man and 1 Swiss woman who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 26 non-Swiss men and 25 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 66 and the non-Swiss population increased by 89 people. This represents a

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...

of 6.4%. The age distribution, , in Penthalaz is; 285 children or 10.0% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 312 teenagers or 10.9% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 415 people or 14.5% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 488 people or 17.1% are between 30 and 39, 460 people or 16.1% are between 40 and 49, and 340 people or 11.9% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 269 people or 9.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 171 people or 6.0% are between 70 and 79, there are 94 people or 3.3% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 24 people or 0.8% who are 90 and older.Canton of Vaud Statistical Office
accessed 29 April 2011 , there were 853 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,160 married individuals, 155 widows or widowers and 115 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011 , there were 979 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 314 households that consist of only one person and 42 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 994 households that answered this question, 31.6% were households made up of just one person and there were 3 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 292 married couples without children, 314 married couples with children There were 43 single parents with a child or children. There were 13 households that were made up of unrelated people and 15 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing. there were 212 single family homes (or 52.9% of the total) out of a total of 401 inhabited buildings. There were 129 multi-family buildings (32.2%), along with 41 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (10.2%) and 19 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (4.7%). Of the single family homes 13 were built before 1919, while 32 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (47) were built between 1946 and 1960. The most multi-family homes (33) were built between 1946 and 1960 and the next most (32) were built before 1919. There were 2 multi-family houses built between 1996 and 2000.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen
accessed 28 January 2011 there were 1,035 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 419. There were 34 single room apartments and 196 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 969 apartments (93.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 51 apartments (4.9%) were seasonally occupied and 15 apartments (1.4%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 35.6 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.67%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1260 height:210 PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:2300 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:500 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:100 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1416 from:start till:104 bar:1416 at:200 fontsize:S text: " 26 Hearths" shift:(8,5) bar:1474 from:start till:68 bar:1474 at:80 fontsize:S text: "17 Hearths" shift:(8,5) bar:1550 from:start till:116 bar:1550 at:250 fontsize:S text: "29 Hearths" shift:(8,5) bar:1574 from:start till:88 bar:1574 at:120 fontsize:S text: "22 Hearths" shift:(8,5) bar:1764 from:start till:242 text:"242" bar:1798 from:start till:273 text:"273" bar:1850 from:start till:296 text:"296" bar:1860 from:start till:297 text:"297" bar:1870 from:start till:342 text:"342" bar:1880 from:start till:353 text:"353" bar:1888 from:start till:343 text:"343" bar:1900 from:start till:372 text:"372" bar:1910 from:start till:492 text:"492" bar:1920 from:start till:485 text:"485" bar:1930 from:start till:555 text:"555" bar:1941 from:start till:740 text:"740" bar:1950 from:start till:905 text:"905" bar:1960 from:start till:1260 text:"1,260" bar:1970 from:start till:1701 text:"1,701" bar:1980 from:start till:1939 text:"1,939" bar:1990 from:start till:2133 text:"2,133" bar:2000 from:start till:2283 text:"2,283"

Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 28.91% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (22.11%), the FDP (15.42%) and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

(11.46%). In the federal election, a total of 626 votes were cast, and the

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...

was 40.3%.

Economy

, Penthalaz had an unemployment rate of 6.3%. , there were 16 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 547 people were employed in the

secondary sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructi ...

and there were 29 businesses in this sector. 457 people were employed in the

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

, with 64 businesses in this sector. There were 1,169 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 44.1% of the workforce. the total number of

full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit that indicates the workload of an employee, employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often used to me ...

jobs was 887. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 8, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 520 of which 486 or (93.5%) were in manufacturing and 35 (6.7%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 359. In the tertiary sector; 112 or 31.2% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 9 or 2.5% were in the movement and storage of goods, 27 or 7.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 26 or 7.2% were in the information industry, 4 or 1.1% were the insurance or financial industry, 33 or 9.2% were technical professionals or scientists, 17 or 4.7% were in education and 46 or 12.8% were in health care. , there were 554 workers who commuted into the municipality and 885 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 1.6% of the workforce coming into Penthalaz are coming from outside Switzerland.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 15.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 66.9% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 590 or 25.8% were

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, while 1,181 or 51.7% belonged to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...

. Of the rest of the population, there were 46 members of an Orthodox church (or about 2.01% of the population), and there were 97 individuals (or about 4.25% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were58 (or about 2.54% of the population) who were

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic. There were 2 individuals who were

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and 8 individuals who belonged to another church. 256 (or about 11.21% of the population) belonged to no church, are

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, and 87 individuals (or about 3.81% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Penthalaz about 915 or (40.1%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 233 or (10.2%) have completed additional higher education (either

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

or a ''

Fachhochschule A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...

''). Of the 233 who completed tertiary schooling, 56.2% were Swiss men, 27.0% were Swiss women, 12.0% were non-Swiss men and 4.7% were non-Swiss women. In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 312 students in the Penthalaz school district. In the Vaud cantonal school system, two years of non-obligatory pre-school are provided by the political districts.Organigramme de l'école vaudoise, année scolaire 2009-2010
accessed 2 May 2011 During the school year, the political district provided pre-school care for a total of 296 children of which 96 children (32.4%) received subsidized pre-school care. The canton's

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

program requires students to attend for four years. There were 156 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 156 students in those schools.Canton of Vaud Statistical Office - Scol. obligatoire/filières de transition
accessed 2 May 2011 , there were 336 students in Penthalaz who came from another municipality, while 166 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

Transportation

The municipality has a railway station, , on the Jura Foot and

Simplon line The Simplon Railway is a line that links Lausanne in Switzerland and Domodossola in Italy, via Brig. The -long Simplon Tunnel (opened in 1906) is a major part of it. The line between Lausanne and Vallorbe is sometimes considered to form part of th ...

s. It has regular service to , , , and . In front of the railway station, there is a funicular station connecting the town of Cossonay. The lower funicular station is called Cossonay-Gare, but is in the village of Penthalaz.

References

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