Oppens 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 ...
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
Oppens is first mentioned around 1160-64 as ''Opens''.
[
]
Geography
Oppens has an area, , of . Of this area, or 65.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 28.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 6.1% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.8% is either rivers or lakes.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics]
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.5%. Out of the forested land, 26.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.9% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 56.8% is used for growing crops and 7.0% is pastures, while 1.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the village is flowing water.[
The municipality was part of the ]Yverdon District
Yverdon District was a district of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland until 2006 when it was dissolved. It was divided into the Cercles of Molondin, Belmont-sur-Yverdon, Yverdon and Champvent.
The district consisted of 38 municipalities, is 156 ...
until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Oppens became part of the new district of Gros-de-Vaud.[Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz]
accessed 4 April 2011
The village is located away from the main roads along the Sauteruz river. It consists of the village of Oppens on the left side of the Sauteruz and the hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
of La Tuilière on the right side.
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 ''Vert, three Bars wavy Argent, in Chief Argent a capital O Or.''
Demographics
Oppens has a population () of . , 21.7% 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 -0.6%. It has changed at a rate of -1.8% due to migration and at a rate of 0% due to births and deaths.
accessed 23-August-2011Portuguese
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 second most common (17 or 10.0%) and 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 third (8 or 4.7%).[
The age distribution, , in Oppens is; 11 children or 6.7% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 26 teenagers or 16.0% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 17 people or 10.4% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 22 people or 13.5% are between 30 and 39, 28 people or 17.2% are between 40 and 49, and 22 people or 13.5% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 16 people or 9.8% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 12 people or 7.4% are between 70 and 79, there are 8 people or 4.9% 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 65 people who were single and never married in the village. There were 89 married individuals, 10 widows or widowers and 6 individuals who are divorced.[STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 69 private households in the village, and an average of 2.4 persons per household.[ There were 20 households that consist of only one person and 6 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 72 households that answered this question, 27.8% were households made up of just one person. Of the rest of the households, there are 22 married couples without children, 22 married couples with children There were 4 single parents with a child or children. There was 1 household that was made up of unrelated people and 3 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.][
there were 35 single family homes (or 55.6% of the total) out of a total of 63 inhabited buildings. There were 5 multi-family buildings (7.9%), along with 20 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (31.7%) and 3 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (4.8%).][Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen]
accessed 28 January 2011
, a total of 66 apartments (84.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 10 apartments (12.8%) were seasonally occupied and 2 apartments (2.6%) were empty.[ , the construction rate of new housing units was 0 new units per 1000 residents.][ The vacancy rate for the village, , was 0%.][
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
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 29.98% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (22.35%), 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 ...
(14.71%) and the PdA Party (8.63%). In the federal election, a total of 53 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 52.0%.
Economy
, Oppens had an unemployment rate of 4.4%. , there were 67 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 8 businesses involved in this sector. 10 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 3 businesses in this sector. 21 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 4 businesses in this sector.[ There were 84 residents of the village who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 34.5% 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 77. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 50, of which 45 were in agriculture and 5 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 8 of which 5 or (62.5%) were in manufacturing and 4 (50.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 19. In the tertiary sector; 16 or 84.2% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 3 or 15.8% were technical professionals or scientists, 1 was in education.
, there were 21 workers who commuted into the village and 47 workers who commuted away. The village is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.2 workers leaving the village for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 4.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 53.6% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 47 or 27.6% 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 107 or 62.9% 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 ...
. 14 (or about 8.24% 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 2 individuals (or about 1.18% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Oppens about 54 or (31.8%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 24 or (14.1%) 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 24 who completed tertiary schooling, 75.0% were Swiss men, 20.8% were Swiss women.[
In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 21 students in the Oppens 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 10 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 11 students in those schools.[Canton of Vaud Statistical Office - Scol. obligatoire/filières de transition]
accessed 2 May 2011
, there were 12 students in Oppens who came from another village, while 25 residents attended schools outside the village.[
]
References
{{Municipalities of the district of Gros-de-Vaud