Échallens is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the district of Gros-de-Vaud in the canton of

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

History

The territory of the municipality was already settled very early. There are remains of a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

foundry. The first documentation dates from 1141 under the name of ''Charlens''. Later forms of the name include ''Challeins'', ''Escharlens'' (1177), ''Eschallens'' (1228), and ''Eschalleins'' (1279). The present form of the name first appears in 1315. The name comes from the personal name Charles. The site belonged originally to the Bishop of Lausanne. At the end of the 12th century, the Burgundian Lords of Montfaucon established the territory of Échallens and built a castle there in the 13th century. In 1317, the rights of the house of Savoy were recognized. In 1350, Échallens was encircled by a wall and received city rights in 1351. From then until the 16th century, a weekly market was held. In 1410, the government of Échallens passed to the house of Chalon, which originated in Burgundy. For this reason, the ''

Eidgenosse ''Eidgenossenschaft'' () is a German language, German word specific to the political history of Switzerland. It means "oath commonwealth" or "oath alliance", in reference to the "eternal pacts" formed between the Eight Cantons of the Old Swiss ...

n'' took over after the

Burgundian Wars The Burgundian Wars (1474–1477) were a conflict between the Burgundian State and the Old Swiss Confederacy and its allies. Open war broke out in 1474, and the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was defeated three times on the battlefield in th ...

and put it under the administration of

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

and

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

in 1476. Because of the common administration of Catholic Fribourg and Protestant Bern, the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

did not gain ground in Echallen, and it remained Catholic. Échallens belonged from 1798 to 1803 to the

canton of Léman Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an ...

in the

Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (; ; ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...

, and was brought into the canton of Vaud by the mediation of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. It has been the capital of the district since 1798.

Geography

Échallens has an area, , of . Of this area, or 63.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 13.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 22.2% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.8% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.3% is unproductive land.Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 12.2% and transportation infrastructure made up 6.2%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.1%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 50.6% is used for growing crops and 10.4% is pastures, while 2.9% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality was the capital of the

Échallens District Échallens District was a Districts of Switzerland, district of the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. The seat of the district was the town of Échallens. The district was dissolved on 31 August 2006 and all the municipalities transferred to the new G ...

until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Échallens became part of the new district of Gros-de-Vaud.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz
accessed 4 April 2011. Échallens lies at an elevation of north of

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

. The municipality stretches across the ''Gros de Vaud'' plateau, on both sides of the river Talent, on the northwest edge of the Jorat, in central Vaud. It includes a section of the rolling ''Gros de Vaud'', the breadbasket of the canton of Vaud. The Talent runs from east to west across the municipality, from the highlands of the Jorat. In the southwest, it runs down to the Mortigue (a tributary of the Talent). The highest point in the municipality is at an elevation of in the municipality woods. Échallens lies in the middle of its district. The surrounding municipalities are Villars-le-Terroir,

Poliez-le-Grand Poliez-le-Grand is a former municipality in the district of Gros-de-Vaud in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The municipalities of Dommartin, Naz, Poliez-le-Grand and Sugnens merged on 1 July 2011 into the new municipality of Montilliez.< ...

, Bottens,

Malapalud Malapalud is a former municipality in the district of Échallens in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. On 1 January 2009, it was merged with the municipality of Assens.Assens, Saint-Barthélemy, and

Goumoens-la-Ville Goumoens-la-Ville is a former municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Gros-de-Vaud District, Gros-de-Vaud in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The municipalities of Éclagnens, Goumoens-la-Ville and ...

, all in the same district.

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 an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

of the municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

is ''Or, an Oak-tree eradicated Sable leaved and fructed proper.''

Demographics

Échallens has a population () of . , 18.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Superweb database - Gemeinde Statistics 1981-2008
accessed 19 June 2010. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 25.7%. It has changed at a rate of 20.7% due to migration and at a rate of 4.9% due to births and deaths.
accessed 26 May 2011. Most of the population () speaks

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

(3,815 or 89.1%), with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

being second most common (122 or 2.8%) and Portuguese being third (90 or 2.1%). There are 78 people who speak

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and 4 people who speak Romansh. Of the population in the municipality 894 or about 20.9% were born in Échallens and lived there in 2000. There were 1,880 or 43.9% who were born in the same canton, while 615 or 14.4% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 800 or 18.7% were born outside of Switzerland. In there were 28 live births to Swiss citizens and 6 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 33 deaths of Swiss citizens and 3 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 5 while the foreign population increased by 3. There were 2 Swiss men and 3 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 18 non-Swiss men and 12 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 30 and the non-Swiss population increased by 40 people. This represents a

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 70 million annu ...

of 0.2%. The age distribution, , in Échallens is; 651 children or 12.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 761 teenagers or 14.8% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 651 people or 12.6% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 708 people or 13.8% are between 30 and 39, 930 people or 18.1% are between 40 and 49, and 605 people or 11.8% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 464 people or 9.0% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 242 people or 4.7% are between 70 and 79, there are 113 people or 2.2% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 22 people or 0.4% who are 90 and older.Canton of Vaud Statistical Office
accessed 29 April 2011. , there were 1,848 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 2,036 married individuals, 204 widows or widowers and 193 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000
accessed 2 February 2011. , there were 1,634 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. There were 448 households that consist of only one person and 122 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,658 households that answered this question, 27.0% were households made up of just one person and there were 5 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 391 married couples without children, 672 married couples with children There were 102 single parents with a child or children. There were 16 households that were made up of unrelated people and 24 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing. there were 486 single family homes (or 61.4% of the total) out of a total of 791 inhabited buildings. There were 135 multi-family buildings (17.1%), along with 120 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (15.2%) and 50 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (6.3%). Of the single family homes 19 were built before 1919, while 137 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (176) were built between 1981 and 1990. The most multi-family homes (27) were built before 1919 and the next most (25) were built between 1981 and 1990. There were 2 multi-family houses built between 1996 and 2000.Swiss Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen
accessed 28 January 2011. there were 1,747 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 493. There were 75 single room apartments and 427 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 1,582 apartments (90.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 141 apartments (8.1%) were seasonally occupied and 24 apartments (1.4%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.5 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.14%. The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1140 height:210 PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:4300 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:900 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:180 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1416 from:start till:140 bar:1416 at:150 fontsize:S text: " 35 Hearths" shift:(8,5) bar:1453 from:start till:128 bar:1453 at:138 fontsize:S text: " 32 Hearths" shift:(8,5) bar:1764 from:start till:324 bar:1764 at:334 fontsize:S text: " 81 Hearths" shift:(8,5) bar:1850 from:start till:957 text:"957" bar:1860 from:start till:1030 text:"1,030" bar:1870 from:start till:1032 text:"1,032" bar:1880 from:start till:1013 text:"1,013" bar:1888 from:start till:1073 text:"1,073" bar:1900 from:start till:1096 text:"1,096" bar:1910 from:start till:1090 text:"1,090" bar:1920 from:start till:1169 text:"1,169" bar:1930 from:start till:1174 text:"1,174" bar:1941 from:start till:1217 text:"1,217" bar:1950 from:start till:1324 text:"1,324" bar:1960 from:start till:1428 text:"1,428" bar:1970 from:start till:1643 text:"1,643" bar:1980 from:start till:2163 text:"2,163" bar:1990 from:start till:3418 text:"3,418" bar:2000 from:start till:4281 text:"4,281"

Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 20.45% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (19.87%), the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

(14.75%) and the FDP (14.41%). In the federal election, a total of 1,343 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 is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...

was 44.4%.

Economy

Échallens is a regionally important commercial center of the ''Gros de Vaud''. Until the end of the 19th century, it was primarily agricultural. Today, agriculture is quite marginal. The municipality became slowly industrialized, with machining, metalworking, and textiles being the major industries. Most jobs (almost 70 percent) are in the service sector. Many people now commute to Lausanne. , Échallens had an unemployment rate of 4.3%. , there were 50 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 17 businesses involved in this sector. 291 people were 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 constructi ...

and there were 39 businesses in this sector. 1,593 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 ...

, with 213 businesses in this sector. There were 2,206 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.8% of the workforce. the total number of

full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent (FTE), or whole time equivalent (WTE), is a unit of measurement 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 use ...

jobs was 1,566. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 38, of which 31 were in agriculture and 7 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 279 of which 53 or (19.0%) were in manufacturing and 224 (80.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,249. In the tertiary sector; 382 or 30.6% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 105 or 8.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 69 or 5.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 13 or 1.0% were in the information industry, 85 or 6.8% were the insurance or financial industry, 130 or 10.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 126 or 10.1% were in education and 141 or 11.3% were in health care. , there were 980 workers who commuted into the municipality and 1,535 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb
accessed 24 June 2010. Of the working population, 15.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 63% used a private car.

Religion

From the , 1,667 or 38.9% were

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, while 1,595 or 37.3% belonged to the

Swiss Reformed Church The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), formerly named Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches until 31 December 2019, is a federation of 25 member churches – 24 cantonal churches and the Evangelical-Methodist Church of Switzerland. The P ...

. Of the rest of the population, there were 179 members of an Orthodox church (or about 4.18% of the population), and there were 292 individuals (or about 6.82% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 4 individuals (or about 0.09% of the population) who were

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, and 81 (or about 1.89% of the population) who were

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic. There were 4 individuals who were

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and 9 individuals who belonged to another church. 464 (or about 10.84% of the population) belonged to no church, are

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

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 ...

, and 127 individuals (or about 2.97% of the population) did not answer the question.

Weather

Échallens has an average of 121.6 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

. The wettest month is June during which time Échallens receives an average of of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.2 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 12.3, but with only of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 10.1 days., the Échallens weather station elevation is 603 meters above sea level.

Education

In Échallens about 1,654 or (38.6%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 481 or (11.2%) have completed additional higher education (either

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

or a ''

Fachhochschule A (; plural ), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a Hochschule, German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts, such as engineering, te ...

''). Of the 481 who completed tertiary schooling, 62.4% were Swiss men, 25.6% were Swiss women, 6.7% were non-Swiss men and 5.4% were non-Swiss women. In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 830 students in the Échallens school district. In the Vaud cantonal school system, two years of non-obligatory pre-school are provided by the political districts.Organigramme de l'école vaudoise, année scolaire 2009-2010
accessed 2 May 2011. During the school year, the political district provided pre-school care for a total of 296 children of which 96 children (32.4%) received subsidized pre-school care. The canton's

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

program requires students to attend for four years. There were 443 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 373 students in those schools. There were also 14 students who were home schooled or attended another non-traditional school.Canton of Vaud Statistical Office - Scol. obligatoire/filières de transition
accessed 2 May 2011. Échallens is home to 1 museum, the ''Maison du blé et du pain'' (House of wheat and bread). In 2009 it was visited by 11,087 visitors while the average in previous years was 11,438.Canton of Vaud Statistical Office - Fréquentation de quelques musées et fondations, Vaud, 2001-2009
accessed 2 May 2011. , there were 344 students in Échallens who came from another municipality, while 201 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

Sport

FC Echallens FC Echallens is a Swiss football club from Echallens, canton Vaud. The team currently plays in Liga 1., fourth highest tier in the Swiss football pyramid. The club was formed in 1921. Stadium FC Echallens play their home games at Sportplatz ...

play in the town. The team currently plays in Liga 1., the fourth highest tier in the Swiss football pyramid. Their home stadium is

Sportplatz 3 Sapins Sportplatz 3 Sapins (French: Stade des 3 Sapins) is a stadium in Échallens, Switzerland. It is currently used for football matches and is the home ground of FC Échallens Région. The capacity is 3,000 and is the opposite of the modern all seat ...

which is situated on the outskirts of Échallens.

Transportation

Échallens lies on the main highway between

and

Yverdon-les-Bains Yverdon-les-Bains () (called Eburodunum and Ebredunum during the Ancient Rome, Roman era) is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Jura-North Vaudois District, Jura-Nord vaudois of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It ...

. The entrance to the A1 motorway at La Sarraz opened in 1981 and is only about 7 km from the center. In 1874, the (LEB) opened the narrow-gauge Lausanne–Bercher line. The municipality has three stations on the line: , , and . There are bus lines to Chavornay, Yverdon, und

Thierrens Thierrens is a former municipality in the district Gros-de-Vaud in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The municipalities of Chapelle-sur-Moudon, Correvon, Denezy, Martherenges, Neyruz-sur-Moudon, Peyres-Possens, Saint-Cierges, Thierrens and ...

Notable people

Émile Gardaz Émile Gardaz (29 August 1931, Échallens, Vaud - 19 December 2007) was a Swiss radio moderator and author, working for Radio suisse romande since 1955. He was the father of comedian Sophie Gardaz. Ten years before his death, in 1997, he was, ...

(1931 in Échallens - 2007) a Swiss Romand radio moderator and author *

Gabriel Wüthrich Gabriel Wüthrich (born 28 August 1981) is a Switzerland, Swiss football (soccer), footballer who last played as Goalkeeper (football), goalkeeper for FC Luzern in the Swiss Super League. Career Wüthrich began his professional career at FC B ...

(born 1981 in Échallens) a Swiss football goalkeeper

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Echallens Cities in Switzerland Municipalities of the canton of Vaud