Aigle
Encyclopedia
Aigle is the capital of the district of Aigle
Aigle (district)
Aigle District is a district of the canton of Vaud, Switzerland.-Geography:Aigle has an area, , of . Of this area, or 34.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 41.3% is forested...

 in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...

 of Vaud
Vaud
Vaud is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and is located in Romandy, the French-speaking southwestern part of the country. The capital is Lausanne. The name of the Canton in Switzerland's other languages are Vaud in Italian , Waadt in German , and Vad in Romansh.-History:Along the lakes,...

 in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. The town has a population of 8,100 people.

The name of this municipality in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 means eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

.

Geography

Aigle lies at an elevation of 415 m (1,361.5 ft) about 13 km (8.1 mi) south-southeast of Montreux
Montreux
Montreux is a municipality in the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.It is located on Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps and has a population, , of and nearly 90,000 in the agglomeration.- History :...

. It is on the east edge of the Rhône
Rhône River
The Rhone is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising in Switzerland and running from there through southeastern France. At Arles, near its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides into two branches, known as the Great Rhone and the Little Rhone...

 valley, at the foot of the Swiss Alps
Swiss Alps
The Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position within the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....

.

Aigle has an area, , of 16.41 square kilometres (6.3 sq mi). Of this area, 5.59 km² (2.2 sq mi) or 34.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 6.13 km² (2.4 sq mi) or 37.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 4.2 km² (1.6 sq mi) or 25.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.45 km² (0.173745971366641 sq mi) or 2.7% is either rivers or lakes and 0.1 km² (24.7 acre) or 0.6% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 5.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 6.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 9.0%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.5% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 3.4%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 21.5% is used for growing crops and 2.4% is pastures, while 10.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 0.6% is in lakes and 2.1% is in rivers and streams.

Aigle includes the villages of Le Cloître, Vers Pousaz, and Fontanney. The surrounding municipalities are Yvorne
Yvorne
Yvorne is a municipality of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, located in the district of Aigle.-Geography:Yvorne has an area, , of . Of this area, or 47.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 39.6% is forested...

, Leysin
Leysin
Leysin is a municipality of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, located in the district of Aigle.-History:Leysin is first mentioned around 1231-32 as Leissins. In 1352 it was mentioned as Leisins.-Geography:...

, Ormont-Dessous
Ormont-Dessous
Ormont-Dessous is a municipality of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, located in the district of Aigle.-History:Ormont-Dessous is first mentioned in 1200 as Ormont. In 1564 it was mentioned as Bas-Ormont. The German name Ormund is no longer used.-Geography:Ormont-Dessous has an area, , of...

, and Ollon
Ollon
Ollon is a municipality in the district of Aigle in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, sited in the foothills of the mountains to the south-east of the Lake of Geneva. The old German language name Olun is no longer used.-History:...

 in the canton of Vaud, and Vouvry
Vouvry
Vouvry is a municipality in the district of Monthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.-Geography:Vouvry has an area, , of . Of this area, or 36.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 38.4% is forested...

 and Collombey-Muraz
Collombey-Muraz
Collombey-Muraz is a municipality in the district of Monthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. There is an oil refinery in the town.-History:Collombey is first mentioned in 1263 as de Columberio...

 in the canton of Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...

.

History

The municipality was settled very early. Burials and ceramics from the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 have been discovered. During Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 times, Aigle lay on the road from the Great Saint Bernard pass via Viviscus (Vevey
Vevey
Vevey is a town in Switzerland in the canton Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne.It was the seat of the district of the same name until 2006, and is now part of the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District...

) to Aventicum (Avenches
Avenches
Avenches is a Swiss municipality in the canton of Vaud, located in the district of Broye-Vully.-History:The roots of Avenches go back to the Celts...

), the Roman capital. The Romans had a number of names for Aigle: Ala (Wing), Alena (Little Wing), Aquilegia and Aquilas (Eagles).

The first medieval mention of the municipality occurs in 1150 under the name of Alium.

A mention in 1153 gives the name as Aleo. Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...

 Henry IV
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry IV was King of the Romans from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until his forced abdication in 1105. He was the third emperor of the Salian dynasty and one of the most powerful and important figures of the 11th century...

 gave the territory of Aigle in 1076 to the house of Savoy
Savoy
Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....

. The Abbeys of Great Saint Bernard and Saint-Maurice also had holdings in Aigle, and the latter established a priory, from which the village of Le Cloître takes its name.

In 1231, Aigle was made a market town by Thomas I of Savoy
Thomas I of Savoy
Thomas I or Tommaso I was Count of Savoy from 1189-1233. He was the son of Humbert III of Savoy and Beatrice of Viennois. His birth was seen as miraculous; his monkish father had despaired of having a male heir after three wives. Count Humbert sought counsel from St...

, and in 1314 it was raised to a free city by Amadeus V of Savoy.

It became an important commercial center because of its location on the road to Italy.

It had a common parish with Leysin (until 1702) and with Corbeyrier and Yvorne (until 1831). SInce the 14th century, it had a treaty with Sembrancher
Sembrancher
Sembrancher is a municipality in the district of Entremont in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.-History:Sembrancher is first mentioned in 1177 as Sancti Pancratii de Branchi. Its German name St Branschier is no longer used.-Geography:...

 in Valais, that committed the two communities for mutual aid in case of war or natural disaster.

In 1475, Aigle was conquered by the canton of Bern, as were also Ollon, Bex
Bex
Bex is a municipality in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, located in the district of Aigle. It is a few miles south of its sister town municipality of Aigle.-The Bex Salt Mine:Bex is the site of a famous salt mine....

, and Les Ormonts. Aigle was thus the first of the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

-speaking parts of Switzerland to become subject to Bern and became the seat of the Gouvernement Aigle, which included all of the present district except Villeneuve
Villeneuve, Vaud
Villeneuve is a municipality of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, located in the district of Aigle.-Geography:Villeneuve has an area, , of . Of this area, or 26.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 55.2% is forested...

. In 1528, the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

 was first preached in Aigle by Guillaume Farel.

From 1798 to 1803, Aigle belonged to the canton of Léman
Canton of Léman
Léman was the name of a canton of the Helvetic Republic from 1798 to 1803, corresponding to the territory of modern Vaud. As a former subject territory of Bern, Vaud had been independent for only four months in 1798 as the Lemanic Republic before it was incorporated in the centralist Helvetic...

 in the Helvetic Republic
Helvetic Republic
In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic represented an early attempt to impose a central authority over Switzerland, which until then consisted mainly of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance, and conquered territories such as Vaud...

, which was transformed into the canton of Vaud with the mediation of Napoleon.

In the 19th century, the canton of Vaud was an outspoken opponent of an attempt by a number of cantons to secede from Switzerland. This Catholic separatist movement (Sonderbund) led to intervention in 1847 by 99,000 Swiss Federal troops under General Henri Dufour against 79,000 separatists in what is called the Sonderbund war. Separation was prevented at the cost of 86 lives. The 1848 Swiss Federal Constitution
Swiss Federal Constitution
The Federal Constitution of 18 April 1999 is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland. It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of 26 cantons , contains a catalogue of individual and popular rights , delineates the responsibilities of the...

 was created in response of the Sonderbund war.

The Chablais and the Chablais Alps

Chablais was a former province of the Duchy of Savoy. Its historic capital was Thonon-les-Bains. The modern Chablais "region" is three territories: the Chablais Savoyard, the Chablais Valaisan, and the Chablais Vaudois. The Chablais Savoyard is within the department of Haute-Savoie in France, the Chablais Valaisan is in the Swiss canton of Valais, and the Chablais Vaudois is in the Swiss canton of Vaud. The Chablais Alps is the mountain range situated between France and Switzerland.

Coat of arms

The blazon
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...

 of the municipal coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 is Per fess Sable and Or, two displayed eagles 1-1 counterchanged.

Demographics

Aigle has a population of . , 37.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999-2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 15.4%. It has changed at a rate of 14.7% due to migration and at a rate of 1.5% due to births and deaths.

Most of the population speaks French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 (6,362 or 80.0%), with Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

 being second most common (278 or 3.5%) and Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...

 being third (275 or 3.5%). There are 235 people who speak German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, 264 people who speak Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 and 5 people who speak Romansh.

Of the population in the municipality 2,236 or about 28.1% were born in Aigle and lived there in 2000. There were 1,782 or 22.4% who were born in the same canton, while 1,188 or 14.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 2,402 or 30.2% were born outside of Switzerland.

In there were 56 live births to Swiss citizens and 41 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 54 deaths of Swiss citizens and 7 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 2 while the foreign population increased by 34. There were 7 Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 93 non-Swiss men and 88 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 124 and the non-Swiss population increased by 118 people. This represents a population growth rate of 2.9%.

The age distribution, , in Aigle is; 933 children or 10.7% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 1,137 teenagers or 13.0% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 1,255 people or 14.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 1,068 people or 12.2% are between 30 and 39, 1,307 people or 14.9% are between 40 and 49, and 1,134 people or 13.0% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 940 people or 10.7% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 547 people or 6.3% are between 70 and 79,there are 352 people or 4.0% who are 80 and 89, and there are 77 people or 0.9% who are 90 and older.

, there were 3,227 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 3,809 married individuals, 502 widows or widowers and 417 individuals who are divorced.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.67 which is more people per room than the cantonal average of 0.61 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43.1 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 26.9% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...

 or a rent-to-own agreement).

, there were 3,342 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 1,158 households that consist of only one person and 251 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 3,400 households that answered this question, 34.1% were households made up of just one person and there were 19 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 869 married couples without children, 1,055 married couples with children There were 202 single parents with a child or children. There were 39 households that were made up of unrelated people and 58 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.

there were 567 single family homes (or 48.4% of the total) out of a total of 1,172 inhabited buildings. There were 294 multi-family buildings (25.1%), along with 214 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (18.3%) and 97 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (8.3%). Of the single family homes 130 were built before 1919, while 47 were built between 1990 and 2000. The most multi-family homes (111) were built before 1919 and the next most (52) were built between 1981 and 1990.

there were 4,178 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 1,502. There were 324 single room apartments and 585 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 3,286 apartments (78.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 565 apartments (13.5%) were seasonally occupied and 327 apartments (7.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 20.4 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 1.42%.

The historical population is given in the following chart:

Heritage sites of national significance

Aigle Castle
Aigle Castle
Aigle Castle is a castle in the municipality of Aigle of the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.-History:...

 and Museum De La Vigne, the Swiss Reformed
Swiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...

 Church of Saint-Maurice and the De la Dîme House are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance
Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...

. The entire town and castle of Aigle are listed as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
The Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites 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:...

.

Politics

In the 2007 federal election
Swiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...

 the most popular party was the FDP
FDP.The Liberals
FDP.The Liberals is a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It is the joint-largest party in the Federal Council, third-largest party in the National Council, and second-largest in the Council of States....

 which received 24.34% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...

 (23.39%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (20.74%) and the Green Party
Green Party of Switzerland
The Green Party of Switzerland is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland, and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council.-History:...

 (9.87%). In the federal election, a total of 1,794 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

 was 42.0%.

Economy

, Aigle had an unemployment rate of 8%. , there were 257 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 52 businesses involved in this sector. 1,236 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 99 businesses in this sector. 3,191 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 377 businesses in this sector. There were 3,618 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.4% of the workforce.

the total number of full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent , is a unit to measure employed persons or students in a way that makes them comparable although they may work or study a different number of hours per week. FTE is often used to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization...

 jobs was 3,944. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 165, of which 160 were in agriculture and 5 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 1,189 of which 700 or (58.9%) were in manufacturing and 397 (33.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 2,590. In the tertiary sector; 752 or 29.0% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 136 or 5.3% were in the movement and storage of goods, 165 or 6.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 12 or 0.5% were in the information industry, 99 or 3.8% were the insurance or financial industry, 206 or 8.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 251 or 9.7% were in education and 473 or 18.3% were in health care.

, there were 2,540 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,821 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.4 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 2.8% of the workforce coming into Aigle are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 20.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 50.9% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 2,853 or 35.9% were Roman Catholic, while 2,857 or 35.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
Swiss Reformed Church
The Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland was started in Zürich by Huldrych Zwingli and spread within a few years to Basel , Bern , St...

. Of the rest of the population, there were 96 members of an Orthodox church
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...

 (or about 1.21% of the population), there were 5 individuals (or about 0.06% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church
Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is the Swiss member church of the Union of Utrecht, also known as Old Catholic Church, originally founded by the jansenists, with a later influx of discontented Catholics following their disappointment with the First Vatican Council. It has 14,000...

, and there were 211 individuals (or about 2.65% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 2 individuals (or about 0.03% of the population) who were Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, and 720 (or about 9.05% of the population) who were Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic. There were 18 individuals who were Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

, 36 individuals who were Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

 and 27 individuals who belonged to another church. 657 (or about 8.26% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....

 or atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...

, and 473 individuals (or about 5.95% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Aigle about 2,529 or (31.8%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 664 or (8.3%) have completed additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule
Fachhochschule
A Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of tertiary education institution, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Greece...

). Of the 664 who completed tertiary schooling, 52.6% were Swiss men, 27.0% were Swiss women, 11.0% were non-Swiss men and 9.5% were non-Swiss women.

In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 1,091 students in the Aigle school district. In the Vaud cantonal school system, two years of non-obligatory pre-school are provided by the political districts. During the school year, the district provided pre-school care for a total of 205 children. There were 96 (46.8%) children who received subsidized pre-school care. There were 568 students in the primary school program, which last four years. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 478 students in those schools. There were also 45 students who were home schooled or attended another non-traditional school.

, there were 339 students in Aigle who came from another municipality, while 386 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

Culture

The Union Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland....

 (UCI) is based in Aigle.

Transportation and the TPC Railways

Aigle is a stop on the Swiss Federal Railway's SBB/CFF high speed Simplon line between Italy (Domodossola) north to Lausanne and Geneva. At the Aigle SBB/CFF station, connections can be made to three narrow gauge railways, the ASD, AL, and AOMC. The ASD (Aigle-Sepey-Diablerets) railway's route goes east and rises from Aigle to the ski resort of Diablerets. The AL (Aigle-Leysin) railway's route goes east and rises from Aigle to the ski resort and grand vista of Leysin. The AOMC (Aigle-Ollon-Monthey-Champerey) railway's route runs west from Aigle across the Rhone and valley, then climbs to the ski resort of Champery. These railways, plus the BVB (Bex-Villars-Bretaye which runs east from Bex, a village just south of Aigle,) are operated by Transports Publics du Chablais with the motto: "Depuis plus de cent ans et contre toute attente, des lignes des TPC reunissent plaine et montagne, Vaud et Valais, ville et campagne, terres catholiques et protestantes." Translated roughly: "For over 100 years and contrary to all expectations, the railways of TPC have joined plain and mountain, town and country, of the Vaud and Valais districts of Switzerland, land of both Catholics and Protestants." The TPC "motto" refers to the religious composition and history of the general region known historically as the Chablais which has known turmoil. In 1846-7, the Valais canton tried to secede from Switzerland with the intention of joining a proposed Catholic confederation of cantons called the Sonderbund, but this was put down by Swiss Federal troops. The ASD, the AL, and the BVB railways operate within the canton of Vaud. The AOMC operates in the Vaud and into the Canton of Valais when it crosses the Rhone river to reach Monthey and Champery.

New construction rebuilt Aigle's Place de la Gare in partnership with municipal and canton administration and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB/CFF). The project provided new train platforms at the SBB/CFF gare (station) to accommodate the trains of the AL, ASD and AOMC. Also added was AOMC track alongside SBB/CFF track to a new TPC office and workshop at En Châlex. With approximately 3 million passengers using its facilities each year, Aigle is the second most important station in canton Vaud after Lausanne. (Source: Le Bleu Matin, 8.10.2007). There are plans, awaiting approval, for the extension of the Aigle-Leysin line deep into to the Berneuse whereby passengers will be able to travel, without transfers, to a site that provides magnificent views of the Alps, Jura and Lake Geneva. This project is an investment which will benefit the entire region and offer a boost to tourism, the region's No. 1 industry. Landslides have required periodic emergency work to stabilise the adjacent soil and rock, much of which is covered in coniferous forest. This has included the erection of 150 meters of mesh barrier to prevent falling rock reaching the tracks and to offer protection to railway workers.

Weather

Aigle has an average of 122.3 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 1032 mm (40.6 in) of precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...

. The wettest month is August during which time Aigle receives an average of 114 mm (4.5 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.4 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 12.1, but with only 87 mm (3.4 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 67 mm (2.6 in) of precipitation over 8.9 days.

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