Nax

Aerial view (1955)

Nax is first mentioned around 1001-1100 as Nas.[2] Its village church collapsed in 1909 during a service, killing 31 and injuring 50.

Rocky promontory near Nax

Nax has an area, as of 2009, of 24.5 square kilometers (9.5 sq mi). Of this area, 8.13 km² (3.14 sq mi) or 33.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 7.77 km² (3.00 sq mi) or 31.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.78 km² (0.30 sq mi) or 3.2% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.11 km² (27 acres) or 0.4% is either rivers or lakes and 7.71 km² (2.98 sq mi) or 31.4% is unproductive land.[3]

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 1.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 0.9%. Out of the forested land, 29.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.1% is used for growing crops and 5.4% is pastures and 27.1% is used for alpine pastures. Of the water in the village, 0.2% is in lakes and 0.2% is in rivers and streams. Of the unproductive areas, 12.4% is unproductive vegetation and 19.0% is too rocky for vegetation.[3]

Nax is situated at the entrance to the Hérens valley near a rocky promontory which may provided its name, from the Latin: nasus, nose.

The blazon of the village coat of arms is Azure, issuant from Coupeaux Vert between two Bucks rampant respectant Argent a Pine Tree Vert trunked proper topped with a Bird volant Or, in chief two Mullets of Five of the last.[4]

Nax has a population (as of December 2002) of 403.[5]

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks French (362 or 94.5%) as their first language, German is the second most common (14 or 3.7%) and Italian is the third (3 or 0.8%).[6]

As of 2008, the gender distribution of the population was 45.6% male and 54.4% female. The population was made up of 181 Swiss men (40.0% of the population) and 25 (5.5%) non-Swiss men. There were 231 Swiss women (51.1%) and 15 (3.3%) non-Swiss women.[7] Of the population in the village 212 or about 55.4% were born in Nax and lived there in 2000. There were 66 or 17.2% who were born in the same canton, while 57 or 14.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 33 or 8.6% were born outside of Switzerland.[6]

As of 2000, there were 135 people who were single and never married in the village. There were 193 married individuals, 37 widows or widowers and 18 individuals who are divorced.[6]

There were 55 households that consist of only one person and 7 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 174 households that answered this question, 31.6% were households made up of just one person and there were 7 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 50 married couples without children, 45 married couples with children There were 9 single parents with a child or children. There were 2 households that were made up of unrelated people and 6 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.[6]

In 2000 there were 291 single family homes (or 71.9% of the total) out of a total of 405 inhabited buildings. There were 75 multi-family buildings (18.5%), along with 28 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (6.9%) and 11 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (2.7%).[8]

In 2000, a total of 167 apartments (28.9% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 359 apartments (62.2%) were seasonally occupied and 51 apartments (8.8%) were empty.[8]

The historical population is given in the following chart:[2][9]

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 35.92% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (25.32%), the FDP (16.05%) and the SVP (13.99%). In the federal election, a total of 248 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 67.2%.[10]

In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat election a total of 227 votes were cast, of which 8 or about 3.5% were invalid. The voter participation was 63.6%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 54.67%.[11] In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 244 votes were cast, of which 14 or about 5.7% were invalid. The voter participation was 68.5%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%.[12]

As of  2010, Nax had an unemployment rate of 0%. As of 2008, there were people employed in the primary economic sector and about businesses involved in this sector. No one was employed in the secondary sector or the tertiary sector.[5] There were 169 residents of the village who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.2% of the workforce.

In 2008 the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 65. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 7, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 9 of which 4 or (44.4%) were in manufacturing and 4 (44.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 49. In the tertiary sector; 11 or 22.4% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 4 or 8.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 10 or 20.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 14 or 28.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 3 or 6.1% were in education.[13]

In 2000, there were 29 workers who commuted into the village and 103 workers who commuted away. The village is a net exporter of workers, with about 3.6 workers leaving the village for every one entering.[14] Of the working population, % used public transportation to get to work, and % used a private car.[5]

From the 2000 census, 330 or 86.2% were Roman Catholic, while 17 or 4.4% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. There were 1 individual who belonged to another church. 20 (or about 5.22% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 15 individuals (or about 3.92% of the population) did not answer the question.[6]

In Nax about 134 or (35.0%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 40 or (10.4%) have completed additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule). Of the 40 who completed tertiary schooling, 50.0% were Swiss men, 25.0% were Swiss women, 12.5% were non-Swiss men and 12.5% were non-Swiss women.[6]

As of 2000, there were 14 students in Nax who came from another village, while 25 residents attended schools outside the village.[14]

• Official website
• Nax in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

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