Vacallo

Vacallo
Coat of arms
Vacallo Show map of Switzerland Vacallo Show map of Canton of Ticino
Location of Vacallo
Coordinates: 45°51′N 9°02′E / 45.850°N 9.033°E / 45.850; 9.033Coordinates: 45°51′N 9°02′E / 45.850°N 9.033°E / 45.850; 9.033
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Ticino
District	Mendrisio
Government
• Mayor	sindaco Pietro Zanotta (as of 2008)
Area
• Total	1.61 km2 (0.62 sq mi)
Elevation	367 m (1,204 ft)
Population (Dec 2015)
• Total	3,419
• Density	2,100/km2 (5,500/sq mi)
Postal code	6833
SFOS number	5268
Surrounded by	Cernobbio (IT-CO), Chiasso, Como (IT-CO), Maslianico (IT-CO), Morbio Inferiore, Sagno
Website	www.vacallo.ch SFSO statistics

Vacallo is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It is the first (or last) village of the Valle di Muggio.

In 2007, the three mayors of Chiasso, Vacallo and Morbio Inferiore decided to unite into one commune. In return for losing independence, the commune would have gained access to more services, such as retirement homes in the surrounding areas. The new united commune which would have had a population of approximately 15,300 people over a territory of 9.2 km² (3.6 sq mi), was voted against by the population in November 2007.

Vacallo has an area, as of 1997^[update], of 1.61 square kilometers (0.62 sq mi). Of this area, 0.73 km² (0.28 sq mi) or 45.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.6 km² (0.23 sq mi) or 37.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.73 km² (0.28 sq mi) or 45.3% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.03 km² (7.4 acres) or 1.9% is either rivers or lakes and 0.04 km² (9.9 acres) or 2.5% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 31.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 9.9%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 3.1%. Out of the forested land, 32.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 4.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 8.7% is used for growing crops, while 5.0% is used for orchards or vine crops and 31.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules an inverted chevron throughout argent between three bunches of grapes or.

Each bunch of grapes symbolises the three parishes or 'frazione' of the commune, including San Simone and Roggiana and maybe Pizzamiglio.

Vacallo has a population (as of December 2015^[update]) of 3,419. As of 2008^[update], 23.2% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 0.2%. Most of the population (as of 2000^[update]) speaks Italian language (2,564 or 93.0%), with German being second most common (113 or 4.1%) and French being third (42 or 1.5%). There are 1 people who speak Romansh.