L'Orient is a village in the

Vallée de Joux The Vallée de Joux () is a valley of the Jura Mountains mainly in the Swiss Canton of Vaud. The valley also continues into France ( Jura département) at its higher, southwestern, end. Located north of Geneva and northwest of Lausanne, its mea ...

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It was created in 1904 and is part of the municipality of

Le Chenit Le Chenit is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland, located in the district of Jura-Nord vaudois District, Jura-Nord Vaudois in the Vallée de Joux. History Le Chenit is first m ...

. The village takes its name from the fact that it is located on the right bank of the river

Orbe Orbe (; ; older , ; ) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the former district of Orbe and is now part of the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois. History Orbe is first mentioned about 280 as ''Urba''. In 1179, it wa ...

Geography

The village is located in the southern part of the

, at a distance of about 50 km from

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

and

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

. The Mont Tendre chain, part of the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( ) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper (" folded Jura", ) is located in France and Switzerla ...

, extends on the eastern side of the village. The village is located east of the river

, which then flows into the Lac de Joux.

History

From 1640 onwards, the inhabitants devoted themselves to agriculture and animal husbandry. The watchmaking industry radically changed the life of the population, especially when factories were created (Nouvelle Lémania in 1884, Valdar in 1914, both bought in 1999 by the

Swatch Group The Swatch Group Ltd is a Swiss manufacturer of watches and jewellery. The company was founded in 1983 through the merger of ASUAG and SSIH, moving to manufacturing quartz-crystal watches to resolve the quartz crisis threatening the tradition ...

, as well as Breguet). At the beginning of the 21st century, the administrative council of the fraction (five members) levied taxes, managed the real estate, public lighting and urban planning. It reported directly to the prefect.

Ski area

The ski area of L'Orient is part of a group of four ski resorts in the

. L'Orient has a lighted slope for night skiing. It has several cross-country ski trails.

References

Villages in the canton of Vaud Villages in Switzerland {{Vaud-geo-stub