La Chaux () is a municipality of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, located in the district of Morges.
History
La Chaux is first mentioned in 1228 as La Chaus. In 1277 it was mentioned as de Calce. It was known as La Chaux (VD) until 1953.
In the 13th century the village belonged to the Knights Templar and it came into the possession of the Order of St John in 1315. It was united with the settlement at Cransaz to form a commandry which was headed by the preceptors of Vaud. The Preceptors were, until 1580, the patrons of Montbrelloz, Fribourg, and Saint-Jean de Grosset, Pays de Gex. The commandery was abolished during the Protestant Reformation.
Geography
La Chaux has an area, , of . Of this area, or 76.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 17.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 6.2% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.4% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.1% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.5% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.6%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.6% of the area Out of the forested land, 15.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 61.9% is used for growing crops and 13.6% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality was part of the Cossonay District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and La Chaux became part of the new district of Morges.
The village of La Chaux is located on the left bank of the Veyron river with the village of Ittens on the right bank of the river.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per fess Argent and Gules, two Maltese Crosses one and one counterchanged.
Demographics
La Chaux has a population () of . , 8.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009) the population has changed at a rate of 17.4%. It has changed at a rate of 11.5% due to migration and at a rate of 6.2% due to births and deaths.
Most of the population () speaks French (317 or 90.1%), with German being second most common (14 or 4.0%) and Portuguese being third (7 or 2.0%). There are 4 people who speak Italian.
Of the population in the municipality 104 or about 29.5% were born in La Chaux and lived there in 2000. There were 145 or 41.2% who were born in the same canton, while 40 or 11.4% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 62 or 17.6% were born outside of Switzerland.
In there were 4 live births to Swiss citizens and were 4 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens remained the same while the foreign population remained the same. At the same time, there was 1 non-Swiss man and 1 non-Swiss woman who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 8 and the non-Swiss population decreased by 7 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.3%.
The age distribution, , in La Chaux is; 46 children or 11.5% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 63 teenagers or 15.8% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 46 people or 11.5% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 57 people or 14.3% are between 30 and 39, 64 people or 16.0% are between 40 and 49, and 61 people or 15.3% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 38 people or 9.5% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 17 people or 4.3% are between 70 and 79, there are 5 people or 1.3% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 2 people or 0.5% who are 90 and older.
, there were 144 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 173 married individuals, 15 widows or widowers and 20 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 139 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. There were 44 households that consist of only one person and 13 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 141 households that answered this question, 31.2% were households made up of just one person. Of the rest of the households, there are 36 married couples without children, 53 married couples with children There were 6 single parents with a child or children.