Échallens is a municipality in the district of Gros-de-Vaud in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.

In 1410, the government of Échallens passed to the house of Chalon, which originated in Burgundy.

For this reason, the Eidgenossen took over after the Burgundian Wars and put it under the administration of Fribourg and Bern in 1476.

Échallens has an area, as of 2009[update], of 6.66 square kilometers (2.57 sq mi).

[6] Échallens lies at an elevation of 617 m (2,024 ft) 14 km (8.7 mi) north of Lausanne.

The Talent runs from east to west across the municipality, from the highlands of the Jorat.

The surrounding municipalities are Villars-le-Terroir, Poliez-le-Grand, Bottens, Malapalud, Assens, Saint-Barthélemy, and Goumoens-la-Ville, all in the same district.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Or, an Oak-tree eradicated Sable leaved and fructed proper.

[9] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Échallens is; 651 children or 12.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 761 teenagers or 14.8% are between 10 and 19.

[10] The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][14] In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 20.45% of the vote.

[15] Échallens is a regionally important commercial center of the Gros de Vaud.

[10] There were 2,206 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.8% of the workforce.

The number of jobs in the primary sector was 38, of which 31 were in agriculture and 7 were in forestry or lumber production.

In the tertiary sector; 382 or 30.6% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 105 or 8.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 69 or 5.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 13 or 1.0% were in the information industry, 85 or 6.8% were the insurance or financial industry, 130 or 10.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 126 or 10.1% were in education and 141 or 11.3% were in health care.

[10] From the 2000 census[update], 1,667 or 38.9% were Roman Catholic, while 1,595 or 37.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

The wettest month is June during which time Échallens receives an average of 99 mm (3.9 in) of rain or snow.

The driest month of the year is February with an average of 69 mm (2.7 in) of precipitation over 10.1 days.

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.

The team currently plays in Liga 1., the fourth highest tier in the Swiss football pyramid.

Their home stadium is Sportplatz 3 Sapins which is situated on the outskirts of Échallens.

The entrance to the A1 motorway at La Sarraz opened in 1981 and is only about 7 km from the center.

In 1874, the Chemin de fer Lausanne-Échallens-Bercher [fr] (LEB) opened the narrow-gauge Lausanne–Bercher line.

The municipality has three stations on the line: Echallens, Sur Roche, and Grésaley.