Vich is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.
History
Vich is known to have been a paleolithic settlement, only to have been abandoned in the Neolithic, although the area was certainly exploited by people from the settlement of nearby Gland. Although traces from the Bronze Age have been found in the vicinity, and the site that was to become Vich found itself strategically situated on the Vy de l'Etraz - the Roman paved road (albeit with prehistoric antecedents) from Nyon to Orbe - there is no archaeological evidence or mention of a village until 1165 when the church of Vich (ecclesiam de Vizo) was given by the Lord of Begnins to the Cistercian abbey of Bonmont. The lordship of Vich changed hands several times during the following centuries, from Besançon to Cossonay, Prangins and Savoy, and from 1218 onwards, Vich, and some of its inhabitants, are well-documented.
In 1536 the Pays de Vaud was taken by the Bernese who remained masters until 1798 when the canton was liberated by the French revolutionary troops; and in 1803 Vich found itself part of the Swiss Confederation.
Geography
Vich has an area, , of . Of this area, or 41.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 30.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 28.2% is settled (buildings or roads).
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 3.8% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 16.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.8%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.3% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.3%. Out of the forested land, 23.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 7.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 18.6% is used for growing crops and 5.8% is pastures, while 16.7% is used for orchards or vine crops.
The municipality was part of the Nyon District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Vich became part of the new district of Nyon.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules, a Garb Or between two Grapes of the same.
Demographics
Vich has a population () of . , 26.1% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 4.6%. It has changed at a rate of -3.6% due to migration and at a rate of 8.5% due to births and deaths.
Most of the population () speaks French (574 or 78.2%), with English being second most common (60 or 8.2%) and German being third (43 or 5.9%). There are 13 people who speak Italian.
The age distribution, , in Vich is; 78 children or 10.7% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 93 teenagers or 12.8% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 85 people or 11.7% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 92 people or 12.7% are between 30 and 39, 140 people or 19.3% are between 40 and 49, and 119 people or 16.4% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 88 people or 12.1% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 16 people or 2.2% are between 70 and 79, there are 13 people or 1.8% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 2 people or 0.3% who are 90 and older.
, there were 327 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 358 married individuals, 20 widows or widowers and 29 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 277 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. There were 78 households that consist of only one person and 24 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 284 households that answered this question, 27.5% were households made up of just one person. Of the rest of the households, there are 62 married couples without children, 114 married couples with children There were 19 single parents with a child or children. There were 4 households that were made up of unrelated people and 7 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 135 single family homes (or 72.2% of the total) out of a total of 187 inhabited buildings. There were 25 multi-family buildings (13.4%), along with 15 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (8.0%) and 12 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (6.4%).
, a total of 263 apartments (82.4% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 47 apartments (14.7%) were seasonally occupied and 9 apartments (2.8%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 2.7 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.91%.