Donneloye is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.

[3] In the 12th century the village was dominated by a branch of a noble family from Goumoens by the name of Donneloye.

After passing through other hands, the château was purchased in 1652 by Jean-Philippe Loys, whose family possessed it until the end of the 18th century, when the conseiller d'état Jacques-François Viquerat (1838–1904) bought it.

The building today consists of a principal rectangular body divided by a wide central corridor.

The building has no sculptures like those of the château of Avenches, but it is a typical example of a rural medieval manor house.

Donneloye has an area, as of 2009[update], of 6.6 square kilometers (2.5 sq mi).

Of the rest of the land, 0.46 km2 (0.18 sq mi) or 6.9% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.03 km2 (7.4 acres) or 0.5% is either rivers or lakes.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Sable, a chief indented Or.

[11] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks French (300 or 93.8%) as their first language, with German being second most common (12 or 3.8%) and Portuguese being third (4 or 1.3%).

[12] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Donneloye is; 79 children or 13.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 83 teenagers or 14.0% are between 10 and 19.

[11] The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][15] The entire village of Prahins is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

In the tertiary sector; 4 or 26.7% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 1 was in the movement and storage of goods, 2 or 13.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 1 was in the information industry, 1 was the insurance or financial industry, 2 or 13.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 4 or 26.7% were in education.

[11] From the 2000 census[update], 48 or 15.0% were Roman Catholic, while 220 or 68.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

In the Vaud cantonal school system, two years of non-obligatory pre-school are provided by the political districts.

The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years.