Provence, Switzerland
Encyclopedia
Provence is a municipality
in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois in the canton
of Vaud
in Switzerland
.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 0.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.5%. Out of the forested land, 36.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 7.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 3.2% is used for growing crops and 12.4% is pastures and 38.6% is used for alpine pastures.
The municipality was part of the Grandson District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Provence became part of the new district of Jura-Nord Vaudois.
The municipality is located on the border of the Val-de-Travers and stretches from the foot of Mont Aubert to Creux-du-Van. It consists of the village of Provence, the hamlet
of Les Prises, the housing development of Montagne Devant and the La Nouvelle Censière area.
of the municipal coat of arms
is Pally of Six Argent and Azure, a Buck Gules crowned with a Latin cross emanating Or.
Most of the population speaks French
(354 or 96.2%), with German
being second most common (11 or 3.0%) and Italian
being third (1 or 0.3%).
Of the population in the municipality 154 or about 41.8% were born in Provence and lived there in 2000. There were 57 or 15.5% who were born in the same canton, while 96 or 26.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 25 or 6.8% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 3 live births to Swiss citizens and were 2 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 1 while the foreign population remained the same. There was 1 Swiss man and 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there was 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 a decrease of 2 and the non-Swiss population increased by 1 people. This represents a population growth rate of -0.3%.
The age distribution, , in Provence is; 29 children or 8.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 54 teenagers or 15.1% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 34 people or 9.5% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 46 people or 12.8% are between 30 and 39, 60 people or 16.8% are between 40 and 49, and 41 people or 11.5% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 45 people or 12.6% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 30 people or 8.4% are between 70 and 79, there are 18 people or 5.0% who are between 80 and 89, and there is 1 person who is 90 and older.
, there were 165 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 154 married individuals, 27 widows or widowers and 22 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.6 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.61 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 55.9% 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 144 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 48 households that consist of only one person and 13 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 148 households that answered this question, 32.4% 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 40 married couples without children, 43 married couples with children There were 7 single parents with a child or children. There were 5 households that were made up of unrelated people and 4 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 51 single family homes (or 40.2% of the total) out of a total of 127 inhabited buildings. There were 21 multi-family buildings (16.5%), along with 44 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (34.6%) and 11 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (8.7%). Of the single family homes 35 were built before 1919, while 5 were built between 1990 and 2000. The most multi-family homes (16) were built before 1919 and the next most (2) were built between 1961 and 1970.
there were 165 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 46. There were 6 single room apartments and 44 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 127 apartments (77.0% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 29 apartments (17.6%) were seasonally occupied and 9 apartments (5.5%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.58%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
. The entire village of Provence is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites
.
the most popular party was the SP
which received 30.89% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP
(29.84%), the Green Party
(17.43%) and the FDP
(7.07%). In the federal election, a total of 100 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
was 40.0%.
the total number of full-time equivalent
jobs was 94. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 49, of which 46 were in agriculture and 3 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 8, all of which were in manufacturing. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 37. In the tertiary sector; 5 or 13.5% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 8 or 21.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 3 or 8.1% were in education and 21 or 56.8% were in health care.
, there were 31 workers who commuted into the municipality and 80 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 7.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 50.9% used a private car.
. Of the rest of the population, there was 1 member of an Orthodox church
, and there were 12 individuals (or about 3.26% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. 56 (or about 15.22% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
or atheist
, and 30 individuals (or about 8.15% of the population) did not answer the question.
). Of the 30 who completed tertiary schooling, 53.3% were Swiss men, 36.7% were Swiss women.
In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 44 students in the Provence 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 578 children of which 359 children (62.1%) received subsidized pre-school care. The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years. There were 19 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 22 students in those schools. There were also 3 students who were home schooled or attended another non-traditional school.
, there were 11 students in Provence who came from another municipality, while 32 residents attended schools outside the 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 district of Jura-Nord Vaudois 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....
.
Geography
Provence has an area, , of 31.84 square kilometres (12.3 sq mi). Of this area, 17.36 km² (6.7 sq mi) or 54.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 13.74 km² (5.3 sq mi) or 43.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.7 km² (0.270271511014775 sq mi) or 2.2% is settled (buildings or roads) and 0.06 km² (14.8 acre) or 0.2% is unproductive land.Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 0.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.5%. Out of the forested land, 36.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 7.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 3.2% is used for growing crops and 12.4% is pastures and 38.6% is used for alpine pastures.
The municipality was part of the Grandson District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Provence became part of the new district of Jura-Nord Vaudois.
The municipality is located on the border of the Val-de-Travers and stretches from the foot of Mont Aubert to Creux-du-Van. It consists of the village of Provence, the hamlet
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...
of Les Prises, the housing development of Montagne Devant and the La Nouvelle Censière area.
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 Pally of Six Argent and Azure, a Buck Gules crowned with a Latin cross emanating Or.
Demographics
Provence has a population of . , 4.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 5.6%. It has changed at a rate of 8.3% due to migration and at a rate of -2.7% 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...
(354 or 96.2%), 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 (11 or 3.0%) and 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...
being third (1 or 0.3%).
Of the population in the municipality 154 or about 41.8% were born in Provence and lived there in 2000. There were 57 or 15.5% who were born in the same canton, while 96 or 26.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 25 or 6.8% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 3 live births to Swiss citizens and were 2 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 1 while the foreign population remained the same. There was 1 Swiss man and 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there was 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 a decrease of 2 and the non-Swiss population increased by 1 people. This represents a population growth rate of -0.3%.
The age distribution, , in Provence is; 29 children or 8.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 54 teenagers or 15.1% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 34 people or 9.5% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 46 people or 12.8% are between 30 and 39, 60 people or 16.8% are between 40 and 49, and 41 people or 11.5% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 45 people or 12.6% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 30 people or 8.4% are between 70 and 79, there are 18 people or 5.0% who are between 80 and 89, and there is 1 person who is 90 and older.
, there were 165 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 154 married individuals, 27 widows or widowers and 22 individuals who are divorced.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.6 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.61 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 55.9% 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 144 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 48 households that consist of only one person and 13 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 148 households that answered this question, 32.4% 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 40 married couples without children, 43 married couples with children There were 7 single parents with a child or children. There were 5 households that were made up of unrelated people and 4 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 51 single family homes (or 40.2% of the total) out of a total of 127 inhabited buildings. There were 21 multi-family buildings (16.5%), along with 44 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (34.6%) and 11 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (8.7%). Of the single family homes 35 were built before 1919, while 5 were built between 1990 and 2000. The most multi-family homes (16) were built before 1919 and the next most (2) were built between 1961 and 1970.
there were 165 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 46. There were 6 single room apartments and 44 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 127 apartments (77.0% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 29 apartments (17.6%) were seasonally occupied and 9 apartments (5.5%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.58%.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
Heritage sites of national significance
The Chalet D’Alpage La Redalle is 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 village of Provence 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 SP
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
which received 30.89% 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...
(29.84%), 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:...
(17.43%) and 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....
(7.07%). In the federal election, a total of 100 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 40.0%.
Economy
, Provence had an unemployment rate of 1.5%. , there were 62 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 22 businesses involved in this sector. 11 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 4 businesses in this sector. 47 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 9 businesses in this sector. There were 163 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 41.7% 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 94. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 49, of which 46 were in agriculture and 3 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 8, all of which were in manufacturing. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 37. In the tertiary sector; 5 or 13.5% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 8 or 21.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 3 or 8.1% were in education and 21 or 56.8% were in health care.
, there were 31 workers who commuted into the municipality and 80 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 7.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 50.9% used a private car.
Religion
From the , 32 or 8.7% were Roman Catholic, while 243 or 66.0% 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 was 1 member of an Orthodox church
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
, and there were 12 individuals (or about 3.26% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. 56 (or about 15.22% 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 8.15% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Provence about 97 or (26.4%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 30 or (8.2%) 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 30 who completed tertiary schooling, 53.3% were Swiss men, 36.7% were Swiss women.
In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 44 students in the Provence 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 578 children of which 359 children (62.1%) received subsidized pre-school care. The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years. There were 19 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 22 students in those schools. There were also 3 students who were home schooled or attended another non-traditional school.
, there were 11 students in Provence who came from another municipality, while 32 residents attended schools outside the municipality.