Échallens
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Échallens is a municipality in the district of
Gros-de-Vaud The Gros-de-Vaud is an area of the Swiss canton of Vaud. Localisation The Gros-de-Vaud lies between the cities of Lausanne and Yverdon on the North-South direction, and between Moudon and Orbe in the East-West axle. The community of Echal ...
in the
canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...
of Vaud 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

The territory of the municipality was already settled very early. There are remains of a Bronze Age foundry. The first documentation dates from 1141 under the name of ''Charlens''. Later forms of the name include ''Challeins'', ''Escharlens'' (1177), ''Eschallens'' (1228), and ''Eschalleins'' (1279). The present form of the name first appears in 1315. The name comes from the personal name Charles. The site belonged originally to the Bishop of Lausanne. At the end of the 12th century, the
Burgundian Burgundian can refer to any of the following: *Someone or something from Burgundy. *Burgundians, an East Germanic tribe, who first appear in history in South East Europe. Later Burgundians colonised the area of Gaul that is now known as Burgundy (F ...
Lords of Montfaucon established the territory of Échallens and built a castle there in the 13th century. In 1317, the rights of the house of Savoy were recognized. In 1350, Échallens was encircled by a wall and received city rights in 1351. From then until the 16th century, a weekly market was held. In 1410, the government of Échallens passed to the house of Chalon, which originated in Burgundy. For this reason, the ''
Eidgenosse ''Eidgenossenschaft'' () is a German word specific to the political history of Switzerland. It means "oath commonwealth" or "oath alliance" in reference to the "eternal pacts" formed between the Eight Cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy of the ...
n'' took over after the Burgundian Wars and put it under the administration of Fribourg and
Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...
in 1476. Because of the common administration of Catholic Fribourg and Protestant Bern, the Reformation did not gain ground in Echallen, and it remained Catholic. Échallens belonged from 1798 to 1803 to the canton of Léman in the
Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (, , ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...
, and was brought into the canton of Vaud by the mediation of
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
. It has been the capital of the district since 1798.


Geography

Échallens has an area, , of . Of this area, or 63.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 13.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 22.2% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.8% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.3% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 12.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 6.2%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.1%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 50.6% is used for growing crops and 10.4% is pastures, while 2.9% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality was the capital of the
Échallens District Échallens District was a district of the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. The seat of the district was the town of Échallens. The district was dissolved on 31 August 2006 and all the municipalities transferred to the new Gros-de-Vaud District on the ...
until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Échallens became part of the new district of Gros-de-Vaud.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
accessed 4 April 2011.
Échallens lies at an elevation of north of Lausanne. The municipality stretches across the ''Gros de Vaud'' plateau, on both sides of the river Talent, on the northwest edge of the
Jorat The Jorat (German: "der Jurten") is the area of the Canton of Vaud (Switzerland) located between the Gros-de-Vaud, West and the Broye, East. Geography It is a hill range that stretches from above Lausanne at the South and stretches toward Payer ...
, in central Vaud. It includes a section of the rolling ''Gros de Vaud'', the breadbasket of the canton of Vaud. The Talent runs from east to west across the municipality, from the highlands of the Jorat. In the southwest, it runs down to the Mortigue (a tributary of the Talent). The highest point in the municipality is at an elevation of in the municipality woods. Échallens lies in the middle of its district. The surrounding municipalities are Villars-le-Terroir,
Poliez-le-Grand Poliez-le-Grand is a former municipality in the district of Gros-de-Vaud in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The municipalities of Dommartin, Naz, Poliez-le-Grand and Sugnens merged on 1 July 2011 into the new municipality of Montilliez.< ...
,
Bottens Bottens is a municipality in the district of Gros-de-Vaud in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Bottens is first mentioned in 1142 as ''Botens''. Geography Bottens has an area, , of . Of this area, or 72.1% is used for agricultural ...
, Malapalud, Assens, Saint-Barthélemy, and Goumoens-la-Ville, all in the same district.


Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is ''Or, an Oak-tree eradicated Sable leaved and fructed proper.''


Demographics

Échallens has a population () of . , 18.2% 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 25.7%. It has changed at a rate of 20.7% due to migration and at a rate of 4.9% due to births and deaths.
accessed 26 May 2011.
Most of the population () speaks
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
(3,815 or 89.1%), 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 (122 or 2.8%) and Portuguese being third (90 or 2.1%). There are 78 people who speak Italian and 4 people who speak Romansh. Of the population in the municipality 894 or about 20.9% were born in Échallens and lived there in 2000. There were 1,880 or 43.9% who were born in the same canton, while 615 or 14.4% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 800 or 18.7% were born outside of Switzerland. In there were 28 live births to Swiss citizens and 6 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 33 deaths of Swiss citizens and 3 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 5 while the foreign population increased by 3. There were 2 Swiss men and 3 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 18 non-Swiss men and 12 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 a decrease of 30 and the non-Swiss population increased by 40 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.2%. The age distribution, , in Échallens is; 651 children or 12.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 761 teenagers or 14.8% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 651 people or 12.6% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 708 people or 13.8% are between 30 and 39, 930 people or 18.1% are between 40 and 49, and 605 people or 11.8% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 464 people or 9.0% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 242 people or 4.7% are between 70 and 79, there are 113 people or 2.2% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 22 people or 0.4% who are 90 and older.Canton of Vaud Statistical Office
accessed 29 April 2011.
, there were 1,848 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,036 married individuals, 204 widows or widowers and 193 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011.
, there were 1,634 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. There were 448 households that consist of only one person and 122 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,658 households that answered this question, 27.0% were households made up of just one person and there were 5 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 391 married couples without children, 672 married couples with children There were 102 single parents with a child or children. There were 16 households that were made up of unrelated people and 24 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing. there were 486 single family homes (or 61.4% of the total) out of a total of 791 inhabited buildings. There were 135 multi-family buildings (17.1%), along with 120 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (15.2%) and 50 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (6.3%). Of the single family homes 19 were built before 1919, while 137 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (176) were built between 1981 and 1990. The most multi-family homes (27) were built before 1919 and the next most (25) were built between 1981 and 1990. 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 1,747 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 493. There were 75 single room apartments and 427 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 1,582 apartments (90.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 141 apartments (8.1%) were seasonally occupied and 24 apartments (1.4%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.5 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.14%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1140 height:210 PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:4300 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:900 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:180 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1416 from:start till:140 bar:1416 at:150 fontsize:S text: " 35 Hearths" shift:(8,5) bar:1453 from:start till:128 bar:1453 at:138 fontsize:S text: " 32 Hearths" shift:(8,5) bar:1764 from:start till:324 bar:1764 at:334 fontsize:S text: " 81 Hearths" shift:(8,5) bar:1850 from:start till:957 text:"957" bar:1860 from:start till:1030 text:"1,030" bar:1870 from:start till:1032 text:"1,032" bar:1880 from:start till:1013 text:"1,013" bar:1888 from:start till:1073 text:"1,073" bar:1900 from:start till:1096 text:"1,096" bar:1910 from:start till:1090 text:"1,090" bar:1920 from:start till:1169 text:"1,169" bar:1930 from:start till:1174 text:"1,174" bar:1941 from:start till:1217 text:"1,217" bar:1950 from:start till:1324 text:"1,324" bar:1960 from:start till:1428 text:"1,428" bar:1970 from:start till:1643 text:"1,643" bar:1980 from:start till:2163 text:"2,163" bar:1990 from:start till:3418 text:"3,418" bar:2000 from:start till:4281 text:"4,281"


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 20.45% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (19.87%), 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 ...
(14.75%) and the FDP (14.41%). In the federal election, a total of 1,343 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 44.4%.


Economy

Échallens is a regionally important commercial center of the ''Gros de Vaud''. Until the end of the 19th century, it was primarily agricultural. Today, agriculture is quite marginal. The municipality became slowly industrialized, with machining, metalworking, and textiles being the major industries. Most jobs (almost 70 percent) are in the service sector. Many people now commute to Lausanne. , Échallens had an unemployment rate of 4.3%. , there were 50 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 17 businesses involved in this sector. 291 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 39 businesses in this sector. 1,593 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 213 businesses in this sector. There were 2,206 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.8% of the workforce. the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 1,566. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 38, of which 31 were in agriculture and 7 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 279 of which 53 or (19.0%) were in manufacturing and 224 (80.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,249. In the tertiary sector; 382 or 30.6% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 105 or 8.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 69 or 5.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 13 or 1.0% were in the information industry, 85 or 6.8% were the insurance or financial industry, 130 or 10.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 126 or 10.1% were in education and 141 or 11.3% were in health care. , there were 980 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,535 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010.
Of the working population, 15.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 63% used a private car.


Religion

From the , 1,667 or 38.9% were Roman Catholic, while 1,595 or 37.3% 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 179 members of an Orthodox church (or about 4.18% of the population), and there were 292 individuals (or about 6.82% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 4 individuals (or about 0.09% of the population) who were Jewish, and 81 (or about 1.89% 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 4 individuals who were Buddhist and 9 individuals who belonged to another church. 464 (or about 10.84% 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 127 individuals (or about 2.97% of the population) did not answer the question.


Weather

Échallens has an average of 121.6 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives of precipitation. The wettest month is June during which time Échallens receives an average of of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.2 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 12.3, but with only of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 10.1 days., the Échallens weather station elevation is 603 meters above sea level.


Education

In Échallens about 1,654 or (38.6%) of the population have completed non-mandatory
upper secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final ph ...
, and 481 or (11.2%) have completed additional higher education (either university 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 481 who completed tertiary schooling, 62.4% were Swiss men, 25.6% were Swiss women, 6.7% were non-Swiss men and 5.4% were non-Swiss women. In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 830 students in the Échallens 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 program requires students to attend for four years. There were 443 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 373 students in those schools. There were also 14 students who were home schooled or attended another non-traditional school.Canton of Vaud Statistical Office - Scol. obligatoire/filières de transition
accessed 2 May 2011.
Échallens is home to 1 museum, the ''Maison du blé et du pain'' (House of wheat and bread). In 2009 it was visited by 11,087 visitors while the average in previous years was 11,438.Canton of Vaud Statistical Office - Fréquentation de quelques musées et fondations, Vaud, 2001-2009
accessed 2 May 2011.
, there were 344 students in Échallens who came from another municipality, while 201 residents attended schools outside the municipality.


Sport

FC Echallens FC Echallens is a Swiss football club from Echallens, canton Vaud. The team currently plays in Swiss 1. Liga (football), Liga 1., fourth highest tier in the Swiss Football League, Swiss football pyramid. The club was formed in 1921. Stadium FC ...
play in the town. The team currently plays in Liga 1., the fourth highest tier in the Swiss football pyramid. Their home stadium is
Sportplatz 3 Sapins Sportplatz 3 Sapins is a stadium in Echallens, Switzerland. It is currently used for football (soccer), football matches and is the home ground of FC Echallens. The capacity is 2000 and is the opposite of the modern all seater stadiums in that it ...
which is situated on the outskirts of Échallens.


Transportation

Échallens lies on the main highway between Lausanne and Yverdon-les-Bains. The entrance to the
A1 motorway A1, A-1, A01 or A.1. may refer to: Education * A1, the Basic Language Certificate of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages * Language A1, the former name for "Language A: literature", one of the IB Group 1 subjects * A1, a ...
at
La Sarraz La Sarraz is a municipality of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, located in the district of Morges. History La Sarraz is first mentioned in 1149 as ''Sarrata''. It is also known as the place of establishment of Le Congrès International d'Archi ...
opened in 1981 and is only about 7 km from the center. In 1874, the (LEB) opened the narrow-gauge
Lausanne–Bercher line The Lausanne–Bercher line is a metre gauge railway line in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The line connects the city of Lausanne with Bercher via Echallens, and is long. It is owned and operated by the (LEB). History After an initia ...
. The municipality has three stations on the line: , , and . There are bus lines to Chavornay, Yverdon, und Thierrens.


Notable people

* Émile Gardaz (1931 in Échallens - 2007) a Swiss Romand radio moderator and author *
Gabriel Wüthrich Gabriel Wüthrich (born 28 August 1981) is a Swiss footballer who last played as goalkeeper for FC Luzern in the Swiss Super League. Career Wüthrich began his professional career at FC Biel-Bienne in 1999 before he moved to Neuchâtel Xamax ...
(born 1981 in Échallens) a Swiss football goalkeeper


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Echallens Cities in Switzerland Municipalities of the canton of Vaud