Saint-George
Encyclopedia
Saint-George 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 the Swiss
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....

 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,...

. It is located in the district of Nyon.

Geography

Saint-George has an area, , of 12.32 square kilometres (4.8 sq mi). Of this area, 2.18 km² (0.841702705731726 sq mi) or 17.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 9.42 km² (3.6 sq mi) or 76.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.71 km² (0.2741325326007 sq mi) or 5.8% is settled (buildings or roads) and 0.02 km² (4.9 acre) or 0.2% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.8%. Out of the forested land, 74.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 8.0% is used for growing crops and 4.8% is pastures and 4.8% is used for alpine pastures.

The municipality was part of the Aubonne District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Saint-George became part of the new district of Nyon.

The municipality is located along the Col du Marchairuz road.

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, St. George riding a Horse all Or, haloed Argent and shielded Argent a cross Gules, killing a Dragon Sable lined Or.

Demographics

Saint-George has a population of . , 20.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 44.9%. It has changed at a rate of 41.6% due to migration and at a rate of 3% 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...

 (535 or 86.6%), 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 (43 or 7.0%) 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 (20 or 3.2%). 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...

.

Of the population in the municipality 134 or about 21.7% were born in Saint-George and lived there in 2000. There were 164 or 26.5% who were born in the same canton, while 146 or 23.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 129 or 20.9% were born outside of Switzerland.

In there were 10 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 increased by 4 while the foreign population increased by 4. There were 2 Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland and 1 Swiss woman who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 6 non-Swiss men and 3 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 23 people. This represents a population growth rate of 3.3%.

The age distribution, , in Saint-George is; 133 children or 14.5% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 109 teenagers or 11.9% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 61 people or 6.6% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 131 people or 14.3% are between 30 and 39, 186 people or 20.3% are between 40 and 49, and 129 people or 14.1% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 82 people or 8.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 45 people or 4.9% are between 70 and 79, there are 35 people or 3.8% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 7 people or 0.8% who are 90 and older.

, there were 231 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 297 married individuals, 40 widows or widowers and 50 individuals who are divorced.

the average number of residents per living room was 0.52 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 65.3% 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 247 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 72 households that consist of only one person and 9 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 259 households that answered this question, 27.8% were households made up of just one person and there were 2 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 83 married couples without children, 68 married couples with children There were 18 single parents with a child or children. There were 4 households that were made up of unrelated people and 12 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.

there were 195 single family homes (or 74.1% of the total) out of a total of 263 inhabited buildings. There were 27 multi-family buildings (10.3%), along with 23 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (8.7%) and 18 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (6.8%). Of the single family homes 27 were built before 1919, while 26 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (51) were built between 1961 and 1970. The most multi-family homes (11) were built before 1919 and the next most (5) were built between 1971 and 1980. There was 1 multi-family house built between 1996 and 2000.

there were 330 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 86. There were 13 single room apartments and 122 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 225 apartments (68.2% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 80 apartments (24.2%) were seasonally occupied and 25 apartments (7.6%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 7.6 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0%.

The historical population is given in the following chart:

Heritage sites of national significance

The village mill is listed as a 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...

.

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 16.94% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....

 (16.67%), 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...

 (15.48%) and 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....

 (14.39%). In the federal election, a total of 226 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 44.4%.

Economy

, Saint-George had an unemployment rate of 6%. , there were 17 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 22 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 8 businesses in this sector. 87 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 15 businesses in this sector. There were 305 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 101. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 13, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 20 of which 8 or (40.0%) were in manufacturing and 13 (65.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 68. In the tertiary sector; 27 or 39.7% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 1 was in the movement and storage of goods, 2 or 2.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 5 or 7.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 6 or 8.8% were in education and 24 or 35.3% were in health care.

, there were 75 workers who commuted into the municipality and 204 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.7 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 21.3% of the workforce coming into Saint-George are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 8.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 69.5% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 129 or 20.9% were Roman Catholic, while 302 or 48.9% 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 7 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 1.13% of the population), there were 2 individuals (or about 0.32% 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 27 individuals (or about 4.37% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 3 individuals (or about 0.49% of the population) who were Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, and 1 individual who was 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 5 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...

 and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 111 (or about 17.96% 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 30 individuals (or about 4.85% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Saint-George about 224 or (36.2%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 90 or (14.6%) 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 90 who completed tertiary schooling, 47.8% were Swiss men, 25.6% were Swiss women, 16.7% were non-Swiss men and 10.0% were non-Swiss women.

In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 132 students in the Saint-George 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 political district provided pre-school care for a total of 1,249 children of which 563 children (45.1%) received subsidized pre-school care. The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years. There were 72 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 60 students in those schools.

, there were 9 students in Saint-George who came from another municipality, while 72 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK