Orsières

Orsières is first mentioned in 972 as Pons Ursarii. In medieval times, it was a stage on the Via Francigena. ==Geography==

Orsières has an area, , of . Of this area, 16.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 25.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and 56.5% is unproductive land. The municipality is located at the foot of the Mont Blanc Massif on the road over the Great St Bernard Pass. It is located on the border with both Italy and France and covers two valleys, the Val Ferret and the Vallée de Champex. It consists of the village of Orsières and twelve hamlets including Champex, Ferret, Issert, La Fouly and Praz-de-Fort. La Fouly La Fouly () is a tourist destination for families and a starting point for many hikes into the surrounding mountains. This hamlet in the municipality of Orsières is located in the Val Ferret (Valais, Switzerland). It is a small ski resort sits at the feet of the Dolent () and the Tour Noir () in the Mont Blanc Massif. La Fouly is a stopping place for the Tour du Mont Blanc and a waypoint on the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) route. ==Coat of arms==

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent, a Bear rampant Sable langued, armed and viriled Gules. ==Demographics==

Orsières has a population () of . , 11.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009) the population has changed at a rate of 6.9%. It has changed at a rate of 6.5% due to migration and at a rate of 2.9% due to births and deaths. Most of the population () speaks French (2,531 or 96.2%) as their first language, German is the second most common (37 or 1.4%) and Portuguese is the third (14 or 0.5%). There are 8 people who speak Italian. Of the population in the municipality 1,784 or about 67.8% were born in Orsières and lived there in 2000. There were 361 or 13.7% who were born in the same canton, while 210 or 8.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 205 or 7.8% were born outside of Switzerland. , there were 990 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household. , a total of 951 apartments (44.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 1,025 apartments (48.2%) were seasonally occupied and 152 apartments (7.1%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 0.7 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, , was 0.3%. == Notable people ==

• Jean Troillet (born 1948 in Orsières), a professional mountain climber • Marcel Theux (born 1988 in Orsières), a Swiss ski mountaineer and long-distance runner • Daniel Yule (born 1993 in Martigny), Swiss World Cup alpine ski racer ==Heritage sites of national significance==

The botanical gardens of Alpin Flore-Alpe are listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The entire hamlet of Commeire is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites. ==Politics==

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 53.65% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (25.64%), the SVP (11.12%) and the SP (5.02%). In the federal election, a total of 1,468 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 70.1%. In the 2009 Conseil d'État/Staatsrat election a total of 1,597 votes were cast, of which 46 or about 2.9% were invalid. The voter participation was 76.3%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 1,458 votes were cast, of which 96 or about 6.6% were invalid. The voter participation was 70.9%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%. ==Economy==

, Orsières had an unemployment rate of 3.6%. , there were 139 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 53 businesses involved in this sector. 318 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 35 businesses in this sector. 555 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 112 businesses in this sector. , there were 194 workers who commuted into the municipality and 446 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.3 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 9.8% used public transportation to get to work, and 60.7% used a private car. ==Religion==

From the , 2,357 or 89.6% were Roman Catholic, while 77 or 2.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 11 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.42% of the population), and there were 12 individuals (or about 0.46% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish, and 38 (or about 1.44% of the population) who were Islamic. There was 1 person who was Hindu. 74 (or about 2.81% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 64 individuals (or about 2.43% of the population) did not answer the question. ==Weather==

Orsières has an average of 100.9 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives of precipitation. The wettest month is December during which time Orsières receives an average of of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 8.8 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 9.7, but with only of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is September with an average of of precipitation over 7.3 days. ==Transport==

(TMR) at Orsières The municipality has two railway stations, and , on the Martigny–Orsières line. ==Education==

In Orsières about 917 or (34.9%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 198 or (7.5%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 198 who completed tertiary schooling, 63.6% were Swiss men, 23.2% were Swiss women, 7.6% were non-Swiss men and 5.6% were non-Swiss women. ==References==