Gland, Switzerland

Gland (ɡlɑ̃) is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The city also is home to the IUCN and WWF headquarters. Gland is known to have been a prehistoric settlement. During the Roman period a farm called Villa Glanis was there. Until the 1960s, Gland was merely a small farming village (essentially vineyards and cattle). Gland is first mentioned around 994 -1049 as de Glans. In 1923 Gland provided the venue for the European Division meeting of the Seventh-day Adventists, where the German Adventist leaders said they regarded whether to serve as combatant in times of war was a matter which should be left to the conscience of individual members of their church. In the 1930s, the Toblerone line, a defensive line, was built along the western edge of Gland, stretching from Lac Léman towards the Jura mountains. Its purpose was to stop a tank invasion from the west. The opening of the highway linking Geneva with Lausanne brought many commuters to this once-quiet place. It is only since the mid-1980s that Gland has started to grow into a town with its own businesses and shopping centers. Gland has an area, , of . Of this area, or 45.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 14.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 40.0% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 3.1% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 18.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 8.9%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 3.5% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 6.1%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 29.0% is used for growing crops and 5.0% is pastures, while 11.8% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality was part of the Nyon District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Gland became part of the new district of Nyon.