Rances () 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
Jura-Nord Vaudois of 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 ...
in
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
Rances is first mentioned around 972-73 as ''Rancias''.
[
The name of Rances is apparently derived from a ]Roman
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 letter ...
family name, but the exact form of the name has been forgotten. The most dramatic event of its history occurred in 1548, when the village was almost entirely destroyed by an accidental fire.
It has been the site of extensive archeological excavations, notably by the University of Geneva
The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centu ...
.
Geography
Rances has an area, , of . Of this area, or 60.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 34.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 5.0% is settled (buildings or roads) and or 0.4% is unproductive land.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics]
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.1%. Out of the forested land, 32.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 35.7% is used for growing crops and 8.3% is pastures, while 2.8% is used for orchards or vine crops and 13.1% is used for alpine pastures.[
The municipality was part of the ]Orbe District Orbe District was a district of the canton of Vaud, Switzerland.
Mergers and name changes
* On 1 January 1970 the former municipalities of Envy and Romainmôtier merged to form the new municipality of Romainmôtier-Envy.
* On 1 September 2006 the ...
until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Rances became part of the new district of Jura-Nord Vaudois.[Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz]
accessed 4 April 2011
The municipality is located on a high plateau above the Mujon river valley, a tributary of the Zihl
The river Thielle (french: La Thielle, or La Thièle, german: Zihl), is a tributary to the Aare, in the Swiss Seeland.
The Thielle results from the merging of the Orbe and Talent, northeast of the little city of Orbe in the Swiss canton of Vaud ...
river.
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 ''Argent, a Column Or encircled with a Vine Vert fructed Purpure.''
Demographics
Rances has a population () of . , 6.2% 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 8%. It has changed at a rate of 3.6% due to migration and at a rate of 4.6% due to births and deaths.
accessed 29-July-2011
Most of the population () speaks French (405 or 96.7%), 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
**Ger ...
being second most common (5 or 1.2%) and 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 ...
being third (3 or 0.7%).[
The age distribution, , in Rances is; 52 children or 11.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 57 teenagers or 12.8% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 43 people or 9.6% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 66 people or 14.8% are between 30 and 39, 72 people or 16.1% are between 40 and 49, and 71 people or 15.9% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 41 people or 9.2% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 28 people or 6.3% are between 70 and 79, there are 16 people or 3.6% who are between 80 and 89, and there is 1 person who is 90 and older.][Canton of Vaud Statistical Office]
accessed 29 April 2011
, there were 167 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 218 married individuals, 16 widows or widowers and 18 individuals who are divorced.[STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 166 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household.[ There were 39 households that consist of only one person and 17 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 167 households that answered this question, 23.4% were households made up of just one person and there were 2 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 58 married couples without children, 57 married couples with children There were 7 single parents with a child or children. There were 3 households that were made up of unrelated people and 1 household that was made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.][
there were 70 single family homes (or 57.4% of the total) out of a total of 122 inhabited buildings. There were 22 multi-family buildings (18.0%), along with 25 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (20.5%) and 5 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (4.1%).][Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen]
accessed 28 January 2011
, a total of 161 apartments (93.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 3 apartments (1.7%) were seasonally occupied and 9 apartments (5.2%) were empty.[ , the construction rate of new housing units was 0 new units per 1000 residents.][ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.6%.][
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
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bar:1850 from:start till:518 text:"518"
bar:1860 from:start till:484 text:"484"
bar:1870 from:start till:536 text:"536"
bar:1880 from:start till:524 text:"524"
bar:1888 from:start till:480 text:"480"
bar:1900 from:start till:493 text:"493"
bar:1910 from:start till:486 text:"486"
bar:1920 from:start till:454 text:"454"
bar:1930 from:start till:463 text:"463"
bar:1941 from:start till:455 text:"455"
bar:1950 from:start till:412 text:"412"
bar:1960 from:start till:361 text:"361"
bar:1970 from:start till:314 text:"314"
bar:1980 from:start till:331 text:"331"
bar:1990 from:start till:409 text:"409"
bar:2000 from:start till:419 text:"419"
Sights
The entire village of Rances is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) 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
The types are based on t ...
.
Politics
In the 2007 federal election
This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...
the most popular party was the SVP which received 36.91% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (22.59%), the FDP (8.64%) and the LPS Party (8.56%). In the federal election, a total of 159 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 50.0%.
Economy
, Rances had an unemployment rate of 3.4%. , there were 30 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 12 businesses involved in this sector. 5 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 construction. ...
and there were 2 businesses in this sector. 42 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 10 businesses in this sector.[ There were 225 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 44.0% 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 61. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 23, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 4 of which 2 or (50.0%) were in manufacturing and 2 (50.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 34. In the tertiary sector; 10 or 29.4% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 4 or 11.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 14 or 41.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 3 or 8.8% were in education.
, there were 5 workers who commuted into the municipality and 171 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 34.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 6.7% used public transportation to get to work, and 66.7% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 63 or 15.0% 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 267 or 63.7% 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 18 individuals (or about 4.30% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, and 63 (or about 15.04% 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 ...
or 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 15 individuals (or about 3.58% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Rances about 169 or (40.3%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 48 or (11.5%) 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 48 who completed tertiary schooling, 58.3% were Swiss men, 35.4% were Swiss women.[
In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 74 students in the Rances 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 578 children of which 359 children (62.1%) 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 43 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 31 students in those schools.[Canton of Vaud Statistical Office - Scol. obligatoire/filières de transition]
accessed 2 May 2011
, there were 31 students in Rances who came from another municipality, while 68 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
References
{{Authority control
Municipalities of the canton of Vaud
Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Vaud