Gy, Switzerland
Encyclopedia
Gy 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...

 in Canton of Geneva
Canton of Geneva
The Republic and Canton of Geneva is the French speaking westernmost canton or state of Switzerland, surrounded on almost all sides by France. As is the case in several other Swiss cantons The Republic and Canton of Geneva is the French speaking westernmost canton or state of Switzerland,...

, 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....

.

History

Gy is first mentioned in 1227 as Gyez. In 1289 it was mentioned as Giez. In 1851 the municipality separated from Jussy
Jussy, Switzerland
Jussy is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. The historical Chateau Du Crest is located here.-Geography:Jussy has an area, , of . Of this area, or 55.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 36.7% is forested...

 to form an independent municipality.

Geography

Gy has an area, , of 3.28 square kilometres (1.3 sq mi). Of this area, 1.9 km² (0.733594101325817 sq mi) or 57.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.99 km² (0.38224113700661 sq mi) or 30.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.26 km² (0.100386561234059 sq mi) or 7.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and 0.06 km² (14.8 acre) or 1.8% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 6.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.5%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 50.9% is used for growing crops and 4.6% is pastures, while 2.4% is used for orchards or vine crops.

The municipality is located on the left bank of Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva or Lake Léman is a lake in Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. 59.53 % of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland , and 40.47 % under France...

 and on the right bank of the Seymaz. It is on the Swiss-French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 border.

The municipality of Gy consists of the sub-sections or villages of Beaupré, Gy - village, Les Longeraies and Les Etoiles.

Demographics

Gy has a population of . , 22.1% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 10.2%. It has changed at a rate of 5.8% due to migration and at a rate of 4.2% 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...

 (336 or 90.8%), 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 (12 or 3.2%) 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 (11 or 3.0%). There are 4 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...

.

, the gender distribution of the population was 47.3% male and 52.7% female. The population was made up of 173 Swiss men (38.6% of the population) and 39 (8.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 191 Swiss women (42.6%) and 45 (10.0%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 92 or about 24.9% were born in Gy and lived there in 2000. There were 129 or 34.9% who were born in the same canton, while 48 or 13.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 87 or 23.5% were born outside of Switzerland.

In there were 5 live births to Swiss citizens and 2 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 2 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 3 while the foreign population increased by 2. There were 2 Swiss men and 3 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 5 non-Swiss men and 2 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 4 and the non-Swiss population increased by 10 people. This represents a population growth rate of 3.4%.

The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 35.9% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 53.5% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 10.5%.

, there were 175 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 169 married individuals, 10 widows or widowers and 16 individuals who are divorced.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.61 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.64 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 62.7% 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 121 private households in the municipality, and an average of 3. persons per household. There were 27 households that consist of only one person and 20 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 126 households that answered this question, 21.4% were households made up of just one person. Of the rest of the households, there are 21 married couples without children, 67 married couples with children There were 6 single parents with a child or children.

there were 75 single family homes (or 75.0% of the total) out of a total of 100 inhabited buildings. There were 5 multi-family buildings (5.0%), along with 18 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (18.0%) and 2 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.0%). Of the single family homes 16 were built before 1919, while 23 were built between 1990 and 2000.

there were 118 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 28. There were 7 single room apartments and 65 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 110 apartments (93.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 6 apartments (5.1%) were seasonally occupied and 2 apartments (1.7%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0%.

The historical population is given in the following chart:

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 LPS Party
Liberal Party of Switzerland
The Liberal Party of Switzerland was a party with economically liberal policies. It was known as a party of the upper class. On 1 January 2009 it merged with the larger Free Democratic Party to establish FDP.The Liberals....

 which received 22.58% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were 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:...

 (18.85%), 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...

 (16.2%) and the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (13.69%). In the federal election, a total of 137 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 58.5%.

In the 2009 Grand Conseil
Grand Council of Geneva
The Grand Council of Geneva is the legislature of the canton of Geneva, in Switzerland. Geneva, styled as a 'Republic and Canton', has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council has 100 seats, with members elected every four years...

 election, there were a total of 253 registered voters of which 114 (45.1%) voted. The most popular party in the municipality for this election was the Libéral
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....

 with 23.7% of the ballots. In the canton-wide election they received the highest proportion of votes. The second most popular party was the Les Verts
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:...

 (with 14.0%), they were also second in the canton-wide election, while the third most popular party was the MCG (with 10.5%), they were also third in the canton-wide election.

For the 2009 Conseil d'Etat election, there were a total of 254 registered voters of which 141 (55.5%) voted.

In 2011, all the municipalities held local elections, and in Gy there were 9 spots open on the municipal council. There were a total of 317 registered voters of which 188 (59.3%) voted. Out of the 188 votes, there were 2 blank votes, 3 null or unreadable votes and 6 votes with a name that was not on the list.

Economy

, Gy had an unemployment rate of 3.1%. , there were 45 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 12 businesses involved in this sector. 17 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 5 businesses in this sector. 32 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 9 businesses in this sector. There were 168 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.3% 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 69. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 30, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 16 of which 4 or (25.0%) were in manufacturing and 13 (81.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 23. In the tertiary sector; 3 or 13.0% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 2 or 8.7% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 8.7% were technical professionals or scientists, 2 or 8.7% were in education.

, there were 51 workers who commuted into the municipality and 127 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.5 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 15.7% of the workforce coming into Gy are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.0% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 7.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 66.7% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 118 or 31.9% were Roman Catholic, while 98 or 26.5% 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 3 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 0.81% of the population), and there were 11 individuals (or about 2.97% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 7 individuals (or about 1.89% of the population) who were Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, and 2 (or about 0.54% 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 1 individual who belonged to another church. 107 (or about 28.92% 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 23 individuals (or about 6.22% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Gy about 113 or (30.5%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 74 or (20.0%) 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 74 who completed tertiary schooling, 47.3% were Swiss men, 31.1% were Swiss women, 14.9% were non-Swiss men and 6.8% were non-Swiss women.

During the 2009-2010 school year there were a total of 105 students in the Gy school system. The education system
Education in Switzerland
The education system in Switzerland is very diverse, because the constitution of Switzerland delegates the authority for the school system mainly to the cantons...

 in the Canton of Geneva allows young children to attend two years of non-obligatory Kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

. During that school year, there were 7 children who were in a pre-kindergarten class. The canton's school system provides two years of non-mandatory kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

 and requires students to attend six years of primary school, with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In Gy there were 8 students in kindergarten or primary school and - students were in the special, smaller classes. The secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. There were 8 lower secondary students who attended school in Gy. There were 27 upper secondary students from the municipality along with 2 students who were in a professional, non-university track program. An additional 21 students attended a private school.

, there were 7 students in Gy who came from another municipality, while 57 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
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