Gryon
Encyclopedia
Gryon is a municipality
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...

 of 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....

, located in 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...

.

Geography

Gryon has an area, , of 15.22 square kilometres (5.9 sq mi). Of this area, 4.31 km² (1.7 sq mi) or 28.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 7.96 km² (3.1 sq mi) or 52.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.71 km² (0.660234691193235 sq mi) or 11.2% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.07 km² (17.3 acre) or 0.5% is either rivers or lakes and 1.19 km² (0.459461568725117 sq mi) or 7.8% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 7.9% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.9%. Out of the forested land, 42.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 4.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.0% is used for growing crops and 7.0% is pastures and 21.3% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 4.3% is unproductive vegetation and 3.5% is too rocky for vegetation.

The municipality is located in the Aigle district, on a narrow terrace at an elevation of 1110 m (3,641.7 ft) between the Gryonne and Avançon canyons. To the east lie the hillside settlements of Les Chaux and La Barboleusaz (or Barboleuse). In the north are forests and the alpine pasture of Taveyanne. The western border with Bex was established in 1676.

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 Gules, under a Cross Bottony Argent two Axes of the same handled Or in saltire.

Demographics

Gryon has a population of . , 27.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 15.2%. It has changed at a rate of 16.1% due to migration and at a rate of 0.5% 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...

 (870 or 87.6%), with 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....

 being second most common (40 or 4.0%) and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 being third (32 or 3.2%). There are 19 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...

.

Of the population in the municipality 280 or about 28.2% were born in Gryon and lived there in 2000. There were 310 or 31.2% who were born in the same canton, while 170 or 17.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 225 or 22.7% were born outside of Switzerland.

In there were 4 live births to Swiss citizens and 4 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 6 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 2 while the foreign population increased by 4. There were 2 Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland and 5 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 9 non-Swiss men and 9 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 15 and the non-Swiss population increased by 30 people. This represents a population growth rate of 1.3%.

The age distribution, , in Gryon is; 132 children or 11.2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 117 teenagers or 9.9% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 113 people or 9.6% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 167 people or 14.2% are between 30 and 39, 183 people or 15.5% are between 40 and 49, and 144 people or 12.2% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 178 people or 15.1% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 86 people or 7.3% are between 70 and 79,there are 49 people or 4.2% who are 80 and 89, and there are 11 people or 0.9% who are 90 and older.

, there were 358 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 511 married individuals, 56 widows or widowers and 68 individuals who are divorced.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.55 which is less 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 64.1% 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 459 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.1 persons per household. There were 177 households that consist of only one person and 23 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 473 households that answered this question, 37.4% were households made up of just one person and there was 1 adult who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 148 married couples without children, 113 married couples with children There were 14 single parents with a child or children. There were 6 households that were made up of unrelated people and 14 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.

there were 709 single family homes (or 72.1% of the total) out of a total of 983 inhabited buildings. There were 205 multi-family buildings (20.9%), along with 30 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (3.1%) and 39 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (4.0%). Of the single family homes 104 were built before 1919, while 42 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (166) were built between 1961 and 1970. The most multi-family homes (52) were built between 1971 and 1980 and the next most (51) were built between 1981 and 1990.

there were 1,765 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 439. There were 184 single room apartments and 384 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 449 apartments (25.4% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 1,231 apartments (69.7%) were seasonally occupied and 85 apartments (4.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 11.8 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 2.01%.

The historical population is given in the following chart:

Sights

The entire village of Gryon and the Taveyanne area are designated 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 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...

 which received 23% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were 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....

 (22.05%), the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (15.46%) 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:...

 (12.76%). In the federal election, a total of 283 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 41.0%.

Economy

, Gryon had an unemployment rate of 4.8%. , there were 19 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 92 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 17 businesses in this sector. 204 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 43 businesses in this sector. There were 475 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.9% 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 256. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 9, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 85 of which 35 or (41.2%) were in manufacturing and 50 (58.8%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 162. In the tertiary sector; 39 or 24.1% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 3 or 1.9% were in the movement and storage of goods, 36 or 22.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 4 or 2.5% were technical professionals or scientists, 29 or 17.9% were in education and 18 or 11.1% were in health care.

, there were 53 workers who commuted into the municipality and 256 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 4.8 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 11.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 65.3% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 254 or 25.6% were Roman Catholic, while 524 or 52.8% 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 9 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 0.91% of the population), and there were 15 individuals (or about 1.51% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 12 (or about 1.21% 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 and 4 individuals who belonged to another church. 153 (or about 15.41% 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 22 individuals (or about 2.22% of the population) did not answer the question.

Weather

Gryon has an average of 139.4 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 1367 mm (53.8 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 June during which time Gryon receives an average of 134 mm (5.3 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 13.9 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 13.9, but with only 120 mm (4.7 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is October with an average of 94 mm (3.7 in) of precipitation over 9 days.

Education

In Gryon about 387 or (39.0%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 160 or (16.1%) 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 160 who completed tertiary schooling, 42.5% were Swiss men, 25.6% were Swiss women, 16.9% were non-Swiss men and 15.0% were non-Swiss women.

In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 111 students in the Gryon 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 of which 96 children (46.8%) received subsidized pre-school care. There were 70 students in the primary school program, which lasts four years. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 41 students in those schools.

, there were 27 students in Gryon who came from another municipality, while 83 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
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