The blazon of the district coat of arms is Gules, a Crane rising Argent.

[1] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks French (33,578 or 88.2%) as their first language, German is the second most common (1,929 or 5.1%) and Portuguese is the third (939 or 2.5%).

The historical population is given in the following chart:[7] In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 27.5% of the vote.

[9] From the 2000 census[update], 30,742 or 80.8% were Roman Catholic, while 2,044 or 5.4% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude.

The upper Secondary school is divided into gymnasium (university preparatory) and vocational programs.

After they finish the upper Secondary program, students may choose to attend a Tertiary school or continue their apprenticeship.