Orsières
Encyclopedia
Orsières is a municipality
in the district of Entremont in the canton
of Valais
in Switzerland
.
The municipality is located at the foot of the Mont Blanc Massif
on the road over the Great St Bernard Pass. It is located on the border with both Italy
and France
and covers two valleys, the Val Ferret and the Vallée de Champex. It consists of the village of Orsières and twelve hamlets
including Champex, Ferret, Issert, La Fouly and Praz-de-Fort.
La Fouly (1992 m (6,535.4 ft)) is a tourist destination for families and a starting point for many hikes into the surrounding mountains. This hamlet in the municipality of Orsières is located in the Val Ferret (Valais
, Switzerland
). It is a small ski resort sits at the feet of the Dolent (3823 m (12,542.7 ft)) and the Tour Noir (3836 m (12,585.3 ft)) in the Mont Blanc Massif
. La Fouly is a stopping place for the Tour du Mont Blanc
.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Argent, a Bear rampant Sable langued, armed and viriled Gules.
Most of the population speaks French
(2,531 or 96.2%) as their first language, German
is the second most common (37 or 1.4%) and Portuguese
is the third (14 or 0.5%). There are 8 people who speak Italian
.
, the gender distribution of the population was 51.4% male and 48.6% female. The population was made up of 1,335 Swiss men (45.1% of the population) and 187 (6.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,280 Swiss women (43.2%) and 160 (5.4%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 1,784 or about 67.8% were born in Orsières and lived there in 2000. There were 361 or 13.7% who were born in the same canton, while 210 or 8.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 205 or 7.8% were born outside of Switzerland.
The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 27.1% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 56.9% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16%.
, there were 1,101 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,272 married individuals, 179 widows or widowers and 78 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.6 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.63 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 78.5% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage
or a rent-to-own agreement).
, there were 990 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. There were 306 households that consist of only one person and 128 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,016 households that answered this question, 30.1% were households made up of just one person and there were 16 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 231 married couples without children, 377 married couples with children There were 39 single parents with a child or children. There were 21 households that were made up of unrelated people and 26 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 1,130 single family homes (or 75.8% of the total) out of a total of 1,491 inhabited buildings. There were 220 multi-family buildings (14.8%), along with 74 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (5.0%) and 67 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (4.5%).
, a total of 951 apartments (44.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 1,025 apartments (48.2%) were seasonally occupied and 152 apartments (7.1%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0.7 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.3%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
. The entire hamlet of Commeire is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
.
the most popular party was the CVP
which received 53.65% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP
(25.64%), the SVP
(11.12%) and the SP
(5.02%). In the federal election, a total of 1,468 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 70.1%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat
election a total of 1,597 votes were cast, of which 46 or about 2.9% were invalid. The voter participation was 76.3%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election
election a total of 1,458 votes were cast, of which 96 or about 6.6% were invalid. The voter participation was 70.9%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 826. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 81, of which 71 were in agriculture and 9 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 302 of which 89 or (29.5%) were in manufacturing, 5 or (1.7%) were in mining and 179 (59.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 443. In the tertiary sector; 99 or 22.3% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 67 or 15.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 106 or 23.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 7 or 1.6% were in the information industry, 14 or 3.2% were the insurance or financial industry, 24 or 5.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 45 or 10.2% were in education and 14 or 3.2% were in health care.
, there were 194 workers who commuted into the municipality and 446 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.3 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 9.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 60.7% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there were 11 members of an Orthodox church
(or about 0.42% of the population), and there were 12 individuals (or about 0.46% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish
, and 38 (or about 1.44% of the population) who were Islam
ic. There was 1 person who was Hindu
. 74 (or about 2.81% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 64 individuals (or about 2.43% of the population) did not answer the question.
. The wettest month is December during which time Orsières receives an average of 73 mm (2.9 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 8.8 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 9.7, but with only 65 mm (2.6 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is September with an average of 53 mm (2.1 in) of precipitation over 7.3 days.
). Of the 198 who completed tertiary schooling, 63.6% were Swiss men, 23.2% were Swiss women, 7.6% were non-Swiss men and 5.6% were non-Swiss women.
, there were 89 students in Orsières who came from another municipality, while 73 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Orsières is home to the Bibliothèque municipale et scolaire library. The library has 11,520 books or other media, and loaned out 24,400 items in the same year. It was open a total of 190 days with average of 8 hours per week during that year.
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 district of Entremont 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 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...
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....
.
Geography
Orsières has an area, , of 165 square kilometre. Of this area, 16.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 25.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and 56.5% is unproductive land.The municipality is located at the foot of the Mont Blanc Massif
Mont Blanc Massif
The Mont Blanc massif is a mountain range in the western Alps. It is named after Mont Blanc, at 4,810.45 m the highest summit of the Alps. It is located in France , Italy , and Switzerland...
on the road over the Great St Bernard Pass. It is located on the border with both Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and France
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...
and covers two valleys, the Val Ferret and the Vallée de Champex. It consists of the village of Orsières and twelve hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
including Champex, Ferret, Issert, La Fouly and Praz-de-Fort.
La Fouly
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...
, 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....
). It is a small ski resort sits at the feet of the Dolent (3823 m (12,542.7 ft)) and the Tour Noir (3836 m (12,585.3 ft)) in the Mont Blanc Massif
Mont Blanc Massif
The Mont Blanc massif is a mountain range in the western Alps. It is named after Mont Blanc, at 4,810.45 m the highest summit of the Alps. It is located in France , Italy , and Switzerland...
. La Fouly is a stopping place for the Tour du Mont Blanc
Tour du Mont Blanc
The Tour du Mont Blanc or TMB is one of the most popular long distance walks in Europe. It circles the Mont Blanc Massif covering a distance of roughly 170 km with 10 km of ascent/descent and passes through parts of Switzerland, Italy and France.It is considered one of the classic long...
.
Coat of arms
The blazonBlazon
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 Argent, a Bear rampant Sable langued, armed and viriled Gules.
Demographics
Orsières has a population of . , 11.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 6.9%. It has changed at a rate of 6.5% due to migration and at a rate of 2.9% 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...
(2,531 or 96.2%) as their first language, 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....
is the second most common (37 or 1.4%) and 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...
is the third (14 or 0.5%). There are 8 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 51.4% male and 48.6% female. The population was made up of 1,335 Swiss men (45.1% of the population) and 187 (6.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,280 Swiss women (43.2%) and 160 (5.4%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 1,784 or about 67.8% were born in Orsières and lived there in 2000. There were 361 or 13.7% who were born in the same canton, while 210 or 8.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 205 or 7.8% were born outside of Switzerland.
The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 27.1% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 56.9% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16%.
, there were 1,101 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,272 married individuals, 179 widows or widowers and 78 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.6 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.63 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m² (43 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 78.5% 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 990 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. There were 306 households that consist of only one person and 128 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,016 households that answered this question, 30.1% were households made up of just one person and there were 16 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 231 married couples without children, 377 married couples with children There were 39 single parents with a child or children. There were 21 households that were made up of unrelated people and 26 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 1,130 single family homes (or 75.8% of the total) out of a total of 1,491 inhabited buildings. There were 220 multi-family buildings (14.8%), along with 74 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (5.0%) and 67 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (4.5%).
, a total of 951 apartments (44.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 1,025 apartments (48.2%) were seasonally occupied and 152 apartments (7.1%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0.7 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.3%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
The botanical gardens of Alpin Flore-Alpe are listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significanceSwiss 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 hamlet of Commeire is 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 electionSwiss 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 CVP
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...
which received 53.65% 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....
(25.64%), 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...
(11.12%) and the SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
(5.02%). In the federal election, a total of 1,468 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 70.1%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat
Conseil d'Etat (Switzerland)
In Switzerland, Conseil d'Etat is the name of the council constituting the cantonal government of French-speaking cantons. It is not to be confused with the Conseil des États which is a chamber of the Swiss parliament....
election a total of 1,597 votes were cast, of which 46 or about 2.9% were invalid. The voter participation was 76.3%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election
Swiss Council of States election, 2007
Elections were held to the Council of States of Switzerland in October and November 2007 as part of the 2007 federal election. All 46 members of the Council of States were elected from all cantons of Switzerland. The first round was held on 21 October...
election a total of 1,458 votes were cast, of which 96 or about 6.6% were invalid. The voter participation was 70.9%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.
Economy
, Orsières had an unemployment rate of 3.6%. , there were 139 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 53 businesses involved in this sector. 318 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 35 businesses in this sector. 555 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 112 businesses in this sector. There were 1,137 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 33.9% 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 826. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 81, of which 71 were in agriculture and 9 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 302 of which 89 or (29.5%) were in manufacturing, 5 or (1.7%) were in mining and 179 (59.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 443. In the tertiary sector; 99 or 22.3% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 67 or 15.1% were in the movement and storage of goods, 106 or 23.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 7 or 1.6% were in the information industry, 14 or 3.2% were the insurance or financial industry, 24 or 5.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 45 or 10.2% were in education and 14 or 3.2% were in health care.
, there were 194 workers who commuted into the municipality and 446 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.3 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 9.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 60.7% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 2,357 or 89.6% were Roman Catholic, while 77 or 2.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed ChurchSwiss 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 11 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 0.42% of the population), and there were 12 individuals (or about 0.46% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, and 38 (or about 1.44% 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 was 1 person who was 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...
. 74 (or about 2.81% 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 64 individuals (or about 2.43% of the population) did not answer the question.
Weather
Orsières has an average of 100.9 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 772 mm (30.4 in) of precipitationPrecipitation (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 December during which time Orsières receives an average of 73 mm (2.9 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 8.8 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 9.7, but with only 65 mm (2.6 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is September with an average of 53 mm (2.1 in) of precipitation over 7.3 days.
Education
In Orsières about 917 or (34.9%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 198 or (7.5%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a FachhochschuleFachhochschule
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 198 who completed tertiary schooling, 63.6% were Swiss men, 23.2% were Swiss women, 7.6% were non-Swiss men and 5.6% were non-Swiss women.
, there were 89 students in Orsières who came from another municipality, while 73 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Orsières is home to the Bibliothèque municipale et scolaire library. The library has 11,520 books or other media, and loaned out 24,400 items in the same year. It was open a total of 190 days with average of 8 hours per week during that year.