Vouvry

Vouvry

Vouvry village

Coat of arms
Vouvry
Coordinates: 46°20′N 6°53′E / 46.333°N 6.883°ECoordinates: 46°20′N 6°53′E / 46.333°N 6.883°E
Country Switzerland
Canton Valais
District Monthey
Government
  Mayor Reynold Rinaldi
Area[1]
  Total 33.5 km2 (12.9 sq mi)
Elevation 387 m (1,270 ft)
Population (Dec 2013[2])
  Total 3,891
  Density 120/km2 (300/sq mi)
Postal code 1896
SFOS number 6159
Surrounded by Aigle (VD), Chessel (VD), Collombey-Muraz, La Chapelle-d'Abondance (FR-74), Novel (FR-74), Port-Valais, Saint-Gingolph, Vionnaz, Yvorne (VD)
Twin towns Bodnegg (Germany)
Website www.vouvry.ch
SFSO statistics

Vouvry is a municipality in the district of Monthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

Geography

Stockalper canal between Vouvry and Les Evouettes

Vouvry has an area, as of 2009, of 33.5 square kilometers (12.9 sq mi). Of this area, 12.13 km2 (4.68 sq mi) or 36.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 12.88 km2 (4.97 sq mi) or 38.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.97 km2 (0.76 sq mi) or 5.9% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.45 km2 (0.17 sq mi) or 1.3% is either rivers or lakes and 6.05 km2 (2.34 sq mi) or 18.1% is unproductive land.[3]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.8%. Out of the forested land, 34.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.1% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 12.4% is used for growing crops and 2.2% is pastures and 20.5% is used for alpine pastures. Of the water in the municipality, 0.4% is in lakes and 0.9% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 9.2% is unproductive vegetation and 8.8% is too rocky for vegetation.[3]

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per fess Gules an Eagle displayed Sable beaked, langued and membered Argent ensigned a cross couped of the last, and Azure three Mullets of Five, two and one.[4]

Demographics

Vouvry has a population (as of December 2013) of 3,891.[2] As of 2008, 22.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals.[5] Over the last 10 years (2000–2010 ) the population has changed at a rate of 19.3%. It has changed at a rate of 20.1% due to migration and at a rate of 2% due to births and deaths.[6]

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks French (2,549 or 86.1%) as their first language, German is the second most common (100 or 3.4%) and Albanian is the third (88 or 3.0%). There are 54 people who speak Italian.[7]

As of 2008, the population was 49.5% male and 50.5% female. The population was made up of 1,370 Swiss men (38.2% of the population) and 406 (11.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,414 Swiss women (39.4%) and 397 (11.1%) non-Swiss women.[8] Of the population in the municipality, 975 or about 32.9% were born in Vouvry and lived there in 2000. There were 442 or 14.9% who were born in the same canton, while 746 or 25.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 703 or 23.8% were born outside of Switzerland.[7]

As of 2000, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 26.9% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 15%.[6]

As of 2000, there were 1,180 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 1,427 married individuals, 174 widows or widowers and 179 individuals who are divorced.[7]

As of 2000, there were 1,121 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household.[6] There were 327 households that consist of only one person and 104 households with five or more people. In 2000, a total of 1,081 apartments (77.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 238 apartments (17.1%) were seasonally occupied and 72 apartments (5.2%) were empty.[9] As of 2009, the construction rate of new housing units was 10.3 new units per 1000 residents.[6] The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2010, was 0.61%.[6]

The historical population is given in the following chart:[10]

Sights

Porte-du-Scex castle

The entire village of Vouvry is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites[11]

Twin Towns

Vouvry is twinned with the towns of Bodnegg, Germany, Sivom du Pays des Maures, France and Cogolin, France.[12]

Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 33.29% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (24.61%), the SVP (22.97%) and the SP (10.83%). In the federal election, a total of 1,001 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 49.7%.[13]

In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat election a total of 780 votes were cast, of which 36 or about 4.6% were invalid. The voter participation was 38.6%, which is much less than the cantonal average of 54.67%.[14] In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 954 votes were cast, of which 77 or about 8.1% were invalid. The voter participation was 48.9%, which is much less than the cantonal average of 59.88%.[15]

Economy

As of 2010, Vouvry had an unemployment rate of 5.4%. As of 2008, there were 51 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 20 businesses involved in this sector. 643 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 48 businesses in this sector. 524 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 91 businesses in this sector.[6] There were 1,386 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 41.4% of the workforce.

In 2008 the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 1,085. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 37, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 618 of which 431 or (69.7%) were in manufacturing and 179 (29.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 430. In the tertiary sector; 78 or 18.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 37 or 8.6% were in the movement and storage of goods, 56 or 13.0% were in a hotel or restaurant, 5 or 1.2% were in the information industry, 15 or 3.5% were the insurance or financial industry, 7 or 1.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 54 or 12.6% were in education and 129 or 30.0% were in health care.[16]

In 2000, there were 709 workers who commuted into the municipality and 809 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 11.3% of the workforce coming into Vouvry are coming from outside Switzerland.[17] Of the working population, 7% used public transportation to get to work, and 66.2% used a private car.[6]

Religion

Reformed Church meeting hall of Vourvy

From the 2000 census, 1,828 or 61.8% were Roman Catholic, while 514 or 17.4% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 31 members of an Orthodox church (or about 1.05% of the population), there was 1 individual who belongs to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 39 individuals (or about 1.32% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 267 (or about 9.02% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 5 individuals who were Buddhist, 6 individuals who were Hindu and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 167 (or about 5.64% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 119 individuals (or about 4.02% of the population) did not answer the question.[7]

Education

In Vouvry about 999 or (33.8%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 221 or (7.5%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 221 who completed tertiary schooling, 58.4% were Swiss men, 24.4% were Swiss women, 10.4% were non-Swiss men and 6.8% were non-Swiss women.[7]

As of 2000, there were 170 students in Vouvry who came from another municipality, while 91 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[17]

Vouvry is home to the Bibliothèque municipale et scolaire library. The library has (as of 2008) 17,000 books or other media, and loaned out 12,809 items in the same year. It was open a total of 280 days with average of 14.5 hours per week during that year.[18]

Points of interest

References

  1. Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeindedaten nach 4 Hauptbereichen
  2. 2.0 2.1 Swiss Federal Statistics Office – STAT-TAB Ständige und Nichtständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Region, Geschlecht, Nationalität und Alter (German) accessed 18 August 2014
  3. 3.0 3.1 Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics 2009 data (German) accessed 25 March 2010
  4. Flags of the World.com accessed 21-September-2011
  5. Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008 (German) accessed 19 June 2010
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 21-September-2011
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000 (German) accessed 2 February 2011
  8. Ständige Wohnbevolkerung nach Geschlecht und Heimat am 31.12.2009.xls (German) (French) accessed 24 August 2011
  9. Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen (German) accessed 28 January 2011
  10. Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Bevölkerungsentwicklung nach Region, 1850-2000 (German) accessed 29 January 2011
  11. "Kantonsliste A-Objekte". KGS Inventar (in German). Federal Office of Civil Protection. 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  12. Conseil des Communes et Regions d'Europe (French) accessed 27 April 2011
  13. Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Nationalratswahlen 2007: Stärke der Parteien und Wahlbeteiligung, nach Gemeinden/Bezirk/Canton (German) accessed 28 May 2010
  14. Staatsratswahlen vom 1. März 2009 (German) accessed 24 August 2011
  15. Ständeratswahl 2007 (German) accessed 24 August 2011
  16. Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB Betriebszählung: Arbeitsstätten nach Gemeinde und NOGA 2008 (Abschnitte), Sektoren 1-3 (German) accessed 28 January 2011
  17. 17.0 17.1 Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb (German) accessed 24 June 2010
  18. Swiss Federal Statistical Office, list of libraries (German) accessed 14 May 2010

External links

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