Vaud

Vaud (Ger. Waadt), a canton which forms the western corner of Switzerland, between the Jura and the Bernese Alps. Area, 1244 sq. m.; pop. (1888) 247,655. It is a comparatively level district, traversed, however, by an elevated tract known as Mount Jorat, from which plains slope on either side to the Lake of Geneva on the south and the Lake of Neufchâtel on the north. On both sides, near the mountains, there are extensive pasture-lands, but the greater part of the country is highly cultivated. The vineyards yield white wines of excellent quality. Vaud forms part of French Switzerland; the religion is Protestant. After the fall of the Roman empire it belonged to the Burgundian kingdom, but in the 13th century it became a dependency of Savoy, and in 1536 the Bernese took possession of it. The French invasion put an end to the rule of Bern, and Vaud became a separate canton. The existing democratic-representative constitution dates from 1845 (see SWITZERLAND). Lausanne is the capital. See WALDENSES.