Sainte-Croix is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Sainte-Croix is first mentioned in 1177 as Sancta Crux. In 1317 it was mentioned as Saint Crueyz. Previously it was known by its German name Heilig Kreuz. Geography Sainte-Croix has an area, , of . Of this area, or 41.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 49.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 7.0% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes and or 1.8% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.6%. Out of the forested land, 45.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 1.0% is used for growing crops and 21.2% is pastures and 18.9% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality was part of the Grandson District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Sainte-Croix became part of the new district of Jura-Nord Vaudois. It is located between Yverdon in Vaud, Fleurier in Neuchâtel, and Pontarlier in France. The village of Sainte Croix is situated at an altitude of in the Jura Mountains at the foot of the Chasseron. The municipal area stretches over two valleys, Sainte Croix and Les Granges and includes 27 villages. Some of the most notable include Sainte Croix, L' Auberson, La Gitte Dessous, La Chaux, La Vraconne, La Sagne and Le Château. Coat of arms The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure, a Latin Cross Or issuant from a Coupeaux Vert. Demographics Sainte-Croix has a population () of . , 14.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 7.5%. It has changed at a rate of 14.3% due to migration and at a rate of -5.8% due to births and deaths. Most of the population () speaks French (3,914 or 90.3%), with German being second most common (96 or 2.2%) and Italian being third (93 or 2.1%). There are 2 people who speak Romansh. Of the population in the municipality 1,734 or about 40.0% were born in Sainte-Croix and lived there in 2000. There were 885 or 20.4%