Mex is a former
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
in the
district of Saint-Maurice, in the
canton of Valais
Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Mex (VS) merged into the municipality of
Saint-Maurice.
[Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz]
accessed 9 February 2013
History
Mex is first mentioned in 1298 as ''Meys''.
[
]
Geography
Before the merger, Mex had a total area of .[ Of this area, or 12.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 48.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 2.5% is settled (buildings or roads), or 1.8% is either rivers or lakes and or 33.8% is unproductive land.]
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010[
The municipality is located in the Saint-Maurice district, on a high plateau () left of the Rhone river and east of the ]Dents du Midi
The Dents du Midi (French: "teeth of noon") are a three-kilometre-long mountain range in the Chablais Alps in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. Overlooking the Val d'Illiez and the Rhône valley to the south, they face the Lac de Salanfe, an ...
mountain. It consists of the linear village
Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship ('' function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear ...
of Mex.
Coat of arms
The 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. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The ...
of the municipal coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
is ''Argent, between two Pine Trees Vert eradicated Gules and as many pallets wavy Azure three Houses Gules.''
Demographics
Mex had a population (as of 2010) of 154.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office]
accessed 9 February 2013 , 15.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals.
accessed 19 June 2010[
Most of the population () speaks ]French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
(100 or 94.3%) as their first language with the rest speaking German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
[
, the population was 47.3% male and 52.7% female. The population was made up of 61 Swiss men (41.2% of the population) and 9 (6.1%) non-Swiss men. There were 68 Swiss women (45.9%) and 10 (6.8%) non-Swiss women.][Ständige Wohnbevolkerung nach Geschlecht und Heimat am 31.12.2009.xls]
accessed 24 August 2011 Of the population in the municipality, 43 or about 40.6% were born in Mex and lived there in 2000. There were 12 or 11.3% who were born in the same canton, while 25 or 23.6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 16 or 15.1% were born outside of Switzerland.[
, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 34.9% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 52.8% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 12.3%.][
, there were 55 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 45 married individuals, 5 widows or widowers and 1 individuals who are divorced.][STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 34 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household.[ There were 10 households that consist of only one person and 5 households with five or more people. , a total of 34 apartments (42.5% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 39 apartments (48.8%) were seasonally occupied and 7 apartments (8.8%) were empty.][Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen]
accessed 28 January 2011 , the construction rate of new housing units was 54.1 new units per 1000 residents.[ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 3.41%.][
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
Politics
In the 2007 federal election
This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not ...
the most popular party was the CVP which received 39.43% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (18.29%), the Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
(14.57%) and the SP (11.43%). In the federal election, a total of 55 votes were cast, and the voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Univ ...
was 51.9%.
In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat election a total of 51 votes were cast, of which 10 or about 19.6% were invalid. The voter participation was 53.7%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 51 votes were cast, of which 2 or about 3.9% were invalid. The voter participation was 58.6%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 59.88%.
Economy
, Mex had an unemployment rate of 10.1%. , there were 2 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 2 businesses involved in this sector. No one was employed in the secondary sector
In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construc ...
. 27 people were employed in the tertiary sector
The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...
, with 4 businesses in this sector.[ There were 48 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 (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit that indicates the workload of an employed person (or student) in a way that makes workloads or class loads comparable across various contexts. FTE is often used to measure a ...
jobs was 21. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 1, all of which were in agriculture. There were no jobs in the secondary sector. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 20. In the tertiary sector; 2 or 10.0% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 10.0% were in education and 16 or 80.0% were in health care.
, there were 15 workers who commuted into the municipality and 31 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 8.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 66.7% used a private car.[
]
Religion
From the , 71 or 67.0% were Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
, while 11 or 10.4% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church
The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 30 individuals (or about 28.30% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. 9 (or about 8.49% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficien ...
or atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
.[
]
Education
In Mex about 24 or (22.6%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 14 or (13.2%) have completed additional higher education (either university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
or a ''Fachhochschule
A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied art ...
''). Of the 14 who completed tertiary schooling, 64.3% were Swiss men, 28.6% were Swiss women.[
, there was one student in Mex who came from another municipality, while 12 residents attended schools outside the municipality.][
Mex is home to the ''Bibliothèque de Mex'' library. The library has () 5,740 books or other media, and loaned out 2,193 items in the same year. It was open a total of 34 days with average of 6 hours per week during that year.Swiss Federal Statistical Office, list of libraries]
accessed 14 May 2010
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Former municipalities of Valais