Mies () is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. Mies is one of the communes of the Canton de Vaud which are collectively known as the "Terre-Sainte".

Located approximately halfway between Geneva and Nyon, Mies sits on Lake Geneva (Lac Léman), which lies to the southeast. The highest point of Mies is 455m above sea level. To the southwest lies Versoix, in the Canton of Geneva and to the northwest Chavannes-de-Bogis, which houses a major shopping mall. To the north and west lie the Communes of Tannay, Bogis-Bossey, and Coppet. Mies is separated from the neighbouring commune of Tannay by a small ravine containing a stream called le nant du Torry.

History

It is thought that the name Mies comes from its location of half way ("mi-") between Geneva and Nyon, or maybe because it is halfway between Versoix and Coppet. Remains of settlements have been found all the way back to the Bronze Age, but the first documentary reference to Mies was in 1345 under the name Miez.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 26.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.1%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.2% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.7%. Out of the forested land, 31.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 18.3% is used for growing crops and 11.9% is pastures, while 3.5% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes.

The municipality is located on a terrace above Lake Geneva.

Transportation

<!-- Unsourced image removed: thumb|right|Map of Mies' location in Switzerland -->

Rail

Mies lies on the main railway line between Geneva and Lausanne, built in 1858. The train station at Mies is served by local trains, the Leman Express, running north to Coppet or south to Versoix and Geneva and onwards to Annemasse and neighbouring France. Services run every 15 minutes throughout the day and evening and hourly at night.

Bus

The nearest public buses are TPG lines 50 and 54 which run from just outside Mies at the "Centre Sportif la Bécassière" (otherwise known as the Versoix Swimming Pool) towards the airport. It is a very pleasant walk along mainly pedestrian and cycle tracks from La Bécassière to Mies village. Both routes cross through small villages on the way to the airport.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per pale Or and Azure, from a Hill Sable lined Argent rising three Pine-trees Vert.

Demographics

Mies has a population () of . , 40.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 18.9%. It has changed at a rate of 17.8% due to migration and at a rate of 1.2% due to births and deaths.

Most of the population () speaks French (1,095 or 73.0%), with English being second most common (152 or 10.1%) and German being third (98 or 6.5%). There are 42 people who speak Italian and 1 person who speaks Romansh.

, there were 633 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 699 married individuals, 84 widows or widowers and 83 individuals who are divorced.

, there were 528 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household.

, a total of 509 apartments (83.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 64 apartments (10.5%) were seasonally occupied and 34 apartments (5.6%) were empty.

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bar:1970 from:start till:751 text:"751"

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Politics

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 24.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the LPS Party (21.25%), the SP (13.09%) and the Green Party (12.63%). In the federal election, a total of 347 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 42.9%.

Economy

, Mies had an unemployment rate of 4.4%. , there were 15 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 124 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 16 businesses in this sector. 528 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 72 businesses in this sector.

, there were 427 workers who commuted into the municipality and 609 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.4 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 15.2% of the workforce coming into Mies are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 14.4% used public transportation to get to work, and 69.2% used a private car. During the school year, the political district provided pre-school care for a total of 1,249 children of which 563 children (45.1%) received subsidized pre-school care. The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years. There were 83 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 49 students in those schools. There was also 1 student who was home schooled or attended another non-traditional school.

, there were 50 students in Mies who came from another municipality, while 238 residents attended schools outside the municipality. and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), the international governing body of motorcycle racing.

Notable residents

  • Simone de Montmollin (born 1968), Swiss politician and oenologist, grew up in Mies

<gallery>

File:raiffeisen.jpg|Picture of the village centre

File:miesschoolbus.jpg|School bus stop in front of the Town Hall (Old School)

File:miesschool.jpg|Primary School, "Les Sorbiers"

File:miescoast.jpg|The edge of Lake Geneva (The Public Beach)

File:veytay.jpg|Veytay, Countryside walks

File:miessign.jpg|Entering Mies

File:miesforest.jpg|Forest path

File:miesbigstone.jpg|Pierre à Penys

File:miescornfield.jpg|Cornfield

File:versoixsports.jpg|Versoix: Sports centre

File:Mies1.JPG|Route Suisse, Mies

File:Mies2.JPG|Centre médico-social

File:Mies3.JPG|Administration Communale

File:Mies4.JPG|La Violette, Mies

File:Mies5.JPG|La Couronne

File:Mies6.JPG|Chez Dominique

File:Mies7.JPG|La Poste, Mies

File:Mies8.JPG|Christmas in Mies

File:Mies9.JPG|Mies village

</gallery>

References

  • Mies: official website
  • Many photos of Mies in Switzerland
  • More photos of Mies
  • Small street map of Mies from official web site
  • Large street map of Mies from official web site
  • The 8 Fountains of Mies (pictures)
  • Nice pictures of Mies beach and Lake Geneva