Bex - Geography

Geography

Bex has an area, as of 2009, of 96.56 square kilometers (37.28 sq mi). Of this area, 25.85 km2 (9.98 sq mi) or 26.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 32.42 km2 (12.52 sq mi) or 33.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 4.48 km2 (1.73 sq mi) or 4.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.84 km2 (0.32 sq mi) or 0.9% is either rivers or lakes and 33.01 km2 (12.75 sq mi) or 34.2% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 1.6%. Out of the forested land, 28.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 4.3% is used for growing crops and 5.8% is pastures, while 2.0% is used for orchards or vine crops and 14.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 9.4% is unproductive vegetation, 23.1% is too rocky for vegetation and 1.7% of the land is covered by glaciers.

The municipality is located in the Aigle district, along the Avançon river. It is the third largest municipality and stretches from the banks of the Rhone river (395 m (1,296 ft)) to the Les Diablerets peak (3,210 m (10,530 ft)). It consists of the village of Bex and the hamlets of Le Châtel, Les Dévens, Le Chêne, Fenalet, Les Posses, Le Bévieux, Frenières and Les Plans.

Bex sits on the east side of the Rhone River in a wide valley surrounded on the east by the Bernese Alps and west by the Chablais Alps. Famous Swiss and French ski resorts are nearby. It is on Swiss National Route 9. Bex is connected to Les Diablerets by the mountain pass Col de la Croix