Riaz (French: [ʁija]; Arpitan: Rua, pronounced [ˈʁija] ⓘ or [ʁja]) is a municipality in the district of Gruyère in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland.

[3] Riaz has an area, as of 2009[update], of 7.8 square kilometers (3.0 sq mi).

Of the rest of the land, 0.95 km2 (0.37 sq mi) or 12.2% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.01 km2 (2.5 acres) or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a Wheel argent.

[8] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks French (1,520 or 92.2%) as their first language, German is the second most common (55 or 3.3%) and Portuguese is the third (16 or 1.0%).

[8] The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][12] The Gallo-Roman villa at L’Etrey and the Paysanne House are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.

[13] In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 25.6% of the vote.

[8] There were 877 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.8% of the workforce.

In the tertiary sector; 41 or 6.8% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 47 or 7.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 11 or 1.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 2 or 0.3% were in the information industry, 13 or 2.2% were the insurance or financial industry, 16 or 2.7% were technical professionals or scientists, 35 or 5.8% were in education and 402 or 66.9% were in health care.

[8] From the 2000 census[update], 1,382 or 83.9% were Roman Catholic, while 72 or 4.4% 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.

[18] During the 2010-11 school year, there were a total of 230 students attending 16 classes in Riaz.