La Sarraz is a municipality of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, located in the district of Morges.
History
La Sarraz is first mentioned in 1149 as Sarrata.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 6.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.5%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.8% of the area Out of the forested land, 36.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 36.8% is used for growing crops and 10.2% is pastures, while 1.2% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is located in the Venoge river, at the foot of the Mormont.
Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per pale Gules and Or, overall capital S Argent lined Sable.
Demographics
thumb|La Sarraz train station and town
thumb|Main street of La Sarraz
thumb|Musée du Cheval in La Sarraz
La Sarraz has a population () of . , 26.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 29.8%. It has changed at a rate of 27.9% due to migration and at a rate of 2% due to births and deaths.
Most of the population () speaks French (1,461 or 84.5%), with German being second most common (79 or 4.6%) and Portuguese being third (64 or 3.7%). There are 35 people who speak Italian.
, there were 688 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 829 married individuals, 104 widows or widowers and 107 individuals who are divorced.
, there were 738 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household.
there were 799 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 241. There were 53 single room apartments and 185 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 723 apartments (90.5% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 55 apartments (6.9%) were seasonally occupied and 21 apartments (2.6%) were empty.
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bar:1870 from:start till:775 text:"775"
bar:1880 from:start till:858 text:"858"
bar:1888 from:start till:848 text:"848"
bar:1900 from:start till:930 text:"930"
bar:1910 from:start till:1007 text:"1,007"
bar:1920 from:start till:961 text:"961"
bar:1930 from:start till:988 text:"988"
bar:1941 from:start till:983 text:"983"
bar:1950 from:start till:1010 text:"1,010"
bar:1960 from:start till:1026 text:"1,026"
bar:1970 from:start till:1190 text:"1,190"
bar:1980 from:start till:1210 text:"1,210"
bar:1990 from:start till:1533 text:"1,533"
bar:2000 from:start till:1728 text:"1,728"
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Notable people
- Quentin Rushenguziminega (born 1991 in La Sarraz) a professional footballer who plays for Yverdon Sport
- Killian Peier (born 1995 in La Sarraz) a Swiss ski jumper
Heritage sites of national significance
The Chapelle Saint-Antoine and La Sarraz Castle are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire old town of La Sarraz is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
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File:La-Sarraz-Temple.jpg|Chapelle Saint-Antoine
File:Schloss La Sarraz.jpg | La Sarraz Castle
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Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 22.25% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (19.86%), the FDP (19.03%) and the Green Party (16.38%). In the federal election, a total of 478 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 45.4%.
Economy
, La Sarraz had an unemployment rate of 5.8%. , there were 19 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 8 businesses involved in this sector. 160 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 23 businesses in this sector. 376 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 65 businesses in this sector.
, there were 408 workers who commuted into the municipality and 633 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 4.9% of the workforce coming into La Sarraz are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 11.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 63.5% 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 152 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 117 students in those schools. There were also 5 students who were home schooled or attended another non-traditional school.
, there were 180 students in La Sarraz who came from another municipality, while 84 residents attended schools outside the municipality.