Bière 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
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
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 ...
, located in the district of
Morges
Morges (; , Plurale tantum, plural, probably Ablative (Latin), ablative, else dative; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud and the seat of the Morges District, distri ...
.
History
Bière is first mentioned in 1177 as ''Beria''.
[
]
Geography
Bière has an area, , of . Of this area, or 38.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 51.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 6.7% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes and or 3.4% is unproductive land.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office-Land Use Statistics]
2009 data accessed 25 March 2010
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.8%. Out of the forested land, 48.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.9% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 21.8% is used for growing crops and 9.7% is pastures and 6.3% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 1.6% is unproductive vegetation and 1.8% is too rocky for vegetation.[
The municipality was part of the ]Aubonne District
Aubonne District was a former district of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The seat of the district was the town of Aubonne until January 1, 2008. The municipalities are now part of the district of Morges, except Longirod, Marchissy and Sain ...
until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Bière became part of the new district of Morges.[Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz]
accessed 4 April 2011
The municipality is located at the foot of the Jura Mountains
The Jura Mountains ( ) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper (" folded Jura", ) is located in France and Switzerla ...
in the middle of a largely agricultural valley.
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 ''Argent, from a base Gules three pine trees Vert.''
Demographics
Bière has a population () of . , 18.6% 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 3.2%. It has changed at a rate of 0.3% due to migration and at a rate of 2.3% due to births and deaths.
accessed 14-May-2011
Most of the population () speaks French (1,182 or 87.4%), 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 (49 or 3.6%) and Portuguese being third (48 or 3.5%). There are 17 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 2 people who speak Romansh.[
Of the population in the municipality 425 or about 31.4% were born in Bière and lived there in 2000. There were 424 or 31.3% who were born in the same canton, while 203 or 15.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 249 or 18.4% were born outside of Switzerland.][
In there were 13 live births to Swiss citizens and 4 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 6 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 7 while the foreign population increased by 4. There was 1 Swiss man who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 9 non-Swiss men and 3 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 9 and the non-Swiss population increased by 18 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 0.6%.[
The age distribution, , in Bière is; 145 children or 10.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 184 teenagers or 12.8% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 168 people or 11.7% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 186 people or 13.0% are between 30 and 39, 231 people or 16.1% are between 40 and 49, and 177 people or 12.4% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 155 people or 10.8% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 95 people or 6.6% are between 70 and 79, there are 73 people or 5.1% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 19 people or 1.3% who are 90 and older.][Canton of Vaud Statistical Office]
accessed 29 April 2011
, there were 526 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 685 married individuals, 82 widows or widowers and 60 individuals who are divorced.[STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000]
accessed 2 February 2011
, there were 550 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household.[ There were 160 households that consist of only one person and 35 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 562 households that answered this question, 28.5% 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 170 married couples without children, 178 married couples with children There were 27 single parents with a child or children. There were 10 households that were made up of unrelated people and 12 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.][
there were 115 single family homes (or 44.4% of the total) out of a total of 259 inhabited buildings. There were 62 multi-family buildings (23.9%), along with 63 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (24.3%) and 19 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (7.3%). Of the single family homes 48 were built before 1919, while 11 were built between 1990 and 2000. The most multi-family homes (31) were built before 1919 and the next most (10) were built between 1919 and 1945. There was 1 multi-family house 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 612 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 216. There were 42 single room apartments and 121 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 519 apartments (84.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 60 apartments (9.8%) were seasonally occupied and 33 apartments (5.4%) were empty.[ , the construction rate of new housing units was 8.4 new units per 1000 residents.][ The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.63%.][
The historical population is given in the following chart:]
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id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8)
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Period = from:0 till:1500
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bar:1764 from:start till:632 text:"632"
bar:1798 from:start till:663 text:"663"
bar:1850 from:start till:1181 text:"1,181"
bar:1860 from:start till:1192 text:"1,192"
bar:1870 from:start till:1247 text:"1,247"
bar:1880 from:start till:1337 text:"1,337"
bar:1888 from:start till:1350 text:"1,350"
bar:1900 from:start till:1269 text:"1,269"
bar:1910 from:start till:1295 text:"1,295"
bar:1920 from:start till:1224 text:"1,224"
bar:1930 from:start till:1133 text:"1,133"
bar:1941 from:start till:1178 text:"1,178"
bar:1950 from:start till:1181 text:"1,181"
bar:1960 from:start till:1166 text:"1,166"
bar:1970 from:start till:1252 text:"1,252"
bar:1980 from:start till:1197 text:"1,197"
bar:1990 from:start till:1408 text:"1,408"
bar:2000 from:start till:1353 text:"1,353"
Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 36.31% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (15.46%), the FDP (12.39%) and the LPS Party (11.09%). In the federal election, a total of 392 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 42.2%.
Economy
, Bière had an unemployment rate of 5.2%. , there were 62 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 20 businesses involved in this sector. 78 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 20 businesses in this sector. 399 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 46 businesses in this sector.[ There were 672 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 44.5% 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 480. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 51, of which 44 were in agriculture and 7 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 75 of which 29 or (38.7%) were in manufacturing and 45 (60.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 354. In the tertiary sector; 40 or 11.3% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 34 or 9.6% were in the movement and storage of goods, 36 or 10.2% were in a hotel or restaurant, 4 or 1.1% were in the information industry, 3 or 0.8% were the insurance or financial industry, 10 or 2.8% were technical professionals or scientists, 7 or 2.0% were in education and 15 or 4.2% were in health care.
, there were 232 workers who commuted into the municipality and 371 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 5.2% of the workforce coming into Bière are coming from outside Switzerland.[Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb]
accessed 24 June 2010 Of the working population, 11.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 54.5% used a private car.[
The municipality is served by a station on the Bière–Apples–Morges railway.
]
Religion
From the , 311 or 23.0% 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 765 or 56.5% 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 24 members of an Orthodox church (or about 1.77% of the population), and there were 18 individuals (or about 1.33% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was 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 43 (or about 3.18% 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 and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 130 (or about 9.61% 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 ...
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 ...
, and 60 individuals (or about 4.43% of the population) did not answer the question.[
]
Education
In Bière about 481 or (35.6%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 121 or (8.9%) 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 121 who completed tertiary schooling, 65.3% were Swiss men, 26.4% were Swiss women and 5.0% were non-Swiss women.[
In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 191 students in the Bière 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 631 children of which 203 children (32.2%) 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 90 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 95 students in those schools. There were also 6 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
, there were 11 students in Bière who came from another municipality, while 173 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biere
Municipalities of the canton of Vaud