Ballens is a municipality in the district of Morges in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.
History
A tumulus from the Hallstatt time period was found near Ballens.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.7%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 60.8% is used for growing crops and 2.7% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Or, on a bend Gules in chef dexter a cross bottony Argent.
Demographics
thumb|Ballens village
Ballens has a population () of . , 10.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 27.6%. It has changed at a rate of 22.9% due to migration and at a rate of 4.7% due to births and deaths.
Most of the population () speaks French (301 or 88.0%), with German being second most common (19 or 5.6%) and Portuguese being third (17 or 5.0%). There are 2 people who speak Italian.
, there were 116 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 182 married individuals, 29 widows or widowers and 15 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 145 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household.
there were 159 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 44. There were 7 single room apartments and 50 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 136 apartments (85.5% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 20 apartments (12.6%) were seasonally occupied and 3 apartments (1.9%) were empty.
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Attractions
The Saint Maurice church was first mentioned in 1139. The building has been remodeled many times; the bell tower was added in 1715. In the old city center there are traditional farmhouses from the 16th century to the 19th century.
Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 36.18% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (21.3%), the LPS Party (11.73%) and the FDP (10.83%). In the federal election, a total of 156 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 54.4%.
Economy
Until the middle of the 20th century Ballens was predominately an agricultural village. Today agriculture still plays an important role in the lives of its residents. They concentrate mainly on cultivation and cattle breeding, as it pertains to dairy farming. Thanks to the good transportation options, some construction businesses, a blacksmith shop and a bookbinding shop have more to Ballens. More people are also employed in the service sector.
, Ballens had an unemployment rate of 3.6%. , there were 60 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 18 businesses involved in this sector. 25 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 4 businesses in this sector. 60 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 11 businesses in this sector.
, there were 39 workers who commuted into the municipality and 113 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.9 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 12.8% of the workforce coming into Ballens are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 10.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 52.6% 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 27 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 23 students in those schools.
, there were 19 students in Ballens who came from another municipality, while 27 residents attended schools outside the municipality.