Cham (High Alemannic: Choom) is a municipality in the canton of Zug in Switzerland.
Location
thumb|upright|left|The Lorze River flows through Cham
Cham is located on the northern shore of Lake Zug, northwest of the cantonal capital of Zug. Surrounding Cham, Steinhausen is to the east, Hünenberg is to the west, Lake Zug is south, and Maschwanden and Knonau in the Canton of Zürich are to the north. The town has an area of . The train station is located above sea level and the highest point in town is above sea level.
The town is located at the mouth of the Lorze river, with two sections (Kirchbühl and Städtli) located on both sides of the river. Cham also includes a number of smaller villages; Enikon, Lindencham, Friesencham, Hagendorn, Rumentikon, Niederwil, Oberwil and Bibersee.
Cham has an area, , of . Of this area, 63.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 13.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 21.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.8%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).
Demographics
Cham has a population (as of ) of . 19.6% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years, the population has grown at a rate of 14%. Most of the population () speaks German (85.7%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common (3.1%) and Italian being third (1.9%).
In the 2007 federal election, the most popular party was the SVP which received 31.3% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (22.2%), the FDP (18.2%) and the Green Party (17.8%). There are several well-established restaurants providing a variety of local and international cuisines.
Heritage sites of national significance
There are a number of Swiss heritage sites of national significance in Cham. These include the Eslen, a Neolithic lake shore settlement, the church and Cistercian convent at Frauenthal, the Castle of St. Andreas, two buildings in the old city, and the brickyard.
Transportation
Cham is located from Zug and is centrally located between Luzern () and Zürich (). The Swiss Federal Railways line from Luzern through Thalwil to Zürich occasionally stops in Cham. The E41 highway passes near Cham. The city can also be reached by bus from Zug and in the summer by boat.
Industry
Cham has an unemployment rate of 2.05%. , there were 206 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 68 businesses involved in this sector. 2,151 people are employed in the secondary sector and there are 179 businesses in this sector. 4,900 people are employed in the tertiary sector, with 783 businesses in this sector.