Grandson, Switzerland - Geography

Geography

Grandson has an area, as of 2009, of 7.86 square kilometers (3.03 sq mi). Of this area, 5.1 km2 (2.0 sq mi) or 64.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.69 km2 (0.27 sq mi) or 8.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.89 km2 (0.73 sq mi) or 24.0% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.09 km2 (22 acres) or 1.1% is either rivers or lakes and 0.13 km2 (32 acres) or 1.7% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.4% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 10.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 7.6%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.9% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.3%. Out of the forested land, 7.0% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 55.2% is used for growing crops and 7.0% is pastures, while 2.7% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 0.4% is in lakes and 0.8% is in rivers and streams.

Grandson lies at an elevation of 447 m (1,467 ft), at a distance of 3 km (1.9 mi) north of Yverdon-les-Bains.

The municipality was the capital of the Grandson District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Grandson became part of the new district of Jura-Nord Vaudois.

The town is built on moraines on the west side of the Lake of Neuchâtel near where the Gransonnet brook flows into the lake. It is at the foot of the Jura Mountains in the northern-central part of the canton of Vaud.

The territory of the municipality rises quite steeply from the shores of the lake to about 500 m (1,600 ft) on the plateau. Là Outre is the highest point in the municipality at an elevation of 540 m (1,770 ft).

The Arnon forms the northern boundary. In the southwest, it reaches to where the Brine flows into the lake.

Grandson includes the villages of Les Tuileries-de-Grandson and Corcelettes. The surrounding municipalities are Montagny-près-Yverdon, Valeyres-sous-Montagny, Giez, Fiez, Champagne, and Bonvillars.

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