Yvonand is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois (former Yverdon) of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.
Located on the southwestern shore of Lake Neuchâtel the village has a population of almost 2,500 which may rise to 7,000 in summer, due to the popularity of the sandy beaches, which gently shelve into the lake.
History
Yvonand has a long tradition of settlement. Approximately 4,000 years BC, the caves in the Vallon of Vaux were used as first places of settlement. Some cave paintings date from this time. In the Bronze Age, settlements were made of wooden stakes in Yvonand bay.
The area around Yvonand village was settled during the Roman era, on the road between Eburodunum (Yverdon) and Aventicum (Avenches). At Mordagne to the west of the Mentue, the foundation walls of a Roman villa were excavated, which was established around 100 years after Christ. The traces of a settlement, to which a Heiligtum (a Gallo-Roman temple) also belonged, was probably inhabited in the year 400.
Yvonand is first mentioned in 1010 as Evonant. The designations Ivonant (1100) appeared later, de Vonant in the 12th Century, Eyvonant (1437) and Yvonant (1453). The place name derives from the Germanic family name Evo and the word 'nant', which signifies a brook or a valley.
During the Burgundian Wars in 1476, Yvonand came under the administration of Grandson, which was itself under the common rule of Bern and Fribourg; situated at the southern lakeshore it had its own Court of Justice. In 1531 the commune joined the reformation.
After the collapse of the Ancien Régime and during the period of Napoleon's Helvetic Republic, from 1798 to 1803, Yvonand was forced to join the Canton of Léman, which afterwards became Canton Vaud. In 1798, it was assigned to the district of Yverdon.
Geography
Yvonand has an area, , of . Of this area, or 52.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 31.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 12.9% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.6% is either rivers or lakes and or 2.1% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 5.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.5%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 42.0% is used for growing crops and 8.9% is pastures, while 1.4% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality was part of the Yverdon District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Yvonand became part of the new district of Jura-Nord Vaudois.
Yvonand is above sea level and east northeast of the former district capital Yverdon-les-Bains. The village extends along the mouth of the River Mentue, briefly before its delta into Lake Neuchâtel, in northern French speaking Switzerland. The municipality covers a section of the undulating land between Lake Neuchâtel and the Broye.
The central part of the area features the delta of the River Mentue, which flows into Lake Neuchâtel. The lakeshore in the region of and surrounding Yvonand is flat, near a belt of reeds and forest. In the southeast the land rises to its highest point, in the municipality, at above sea level, bordering a high plateau with Rovray and Arrissoules, achieving the height of La Baume, which then drops dramatically toward Yvonand. The southern part of the municipality covers the valley of the Mentue, up to wide. On the east side of the River Vaux, the stream has created a valley in the course of millions of years by its erosive strength. Between these two valleys is the high forest, Bois de Montessy, and Niédens. The western delimitation runs by sections along the River Epena, which rises behind the Montéla.
Neighbouring municipalities of Yvonand are Cheseaux-Noréaz, Villars-Epeney, Cuarny, Cronay, Donneloye, Molondin and Rovray in Canton Vaud as well as Cheyres in Canton Fribourg.
Demographics
Yvonand has a population () of . , 11.1% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 13.2%. It has changed at a rate of 15.5% due to migration and at a rate of -2.3% due to births and deaths.
Most of the population () speaks French (2,094 or 91.9%) as their first language, German is the second most common (99 or 4.3%) and Portuguese is the third (26 or 1.1%). There are 18 people who speak Italian and 2 people who speak Romansh.