Éclépens is a municipality of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, located in the district of Morges.
History
Éclépens is first mentioned in 814 as Sclepedingus.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 4.6% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 4.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.5%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 4.8% of the area Out of the forested land, 23.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.1% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 44.2% is used for growing crops and 7.9% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent, on a Coupeaux Vert a Lion rampant Gules, a Bar wavy overall.
Demographics
thumb|Éclépens castle
thumb|Holcim cement works
Éclépens has a population () of . , 22.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009) the population has changed at a rate of 11.2%. It has changed at a rate of 6.5% due to migration and at a rate of 4.3% due to births and deaths.
Most of the population () speaks French (810 or 89.6%), with German being second most common (27 or 3.0%) and Italian being third (20 or 2.2%).
, there were 362 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 471 married individuals, 34 widows or widowers and 37 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 360 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household.
there were 386 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 109. There were 10 single room apartments and 97 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 350 apartments (90.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 19 apartments (4.9%) were seasonally occupied and 17 apartments (4.4%) were empty.
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Heritage sites of national significance
thumb|Part of the abandoned D’Entreroches canal
The abandoned D’Entreroches canal and Le Mormont, a proto-historic through Iron Age archeological site are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire village of Éclépens is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 29.02% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (22.55%), the Green Party (13.8%) and the FDP (11.15%). In the federal election, a total of 290 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 48.9%.
Economy
thumb|Postal center in Éclépens
, Éclépens had an unemployment rate of 4.4%. , there were 31 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 8 businesses involved in this sector. 642 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 16 businesses in this sector. 498 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 28 businesses in this sector.
, there were 449 workers who commuted into the municipality and 307 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.5 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 6.2% of the workforce coming into Éclépens are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 11% used public transportation to get to work, and 66.5% used a private car. 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 program requires students to attend for four years. There were 57 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 54 students in those schools.
, there were 33 students in Éclépens who came from another municipality, while 111 residents attended schools outside the municipality.