Luxembourg

Official names1 Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg (Luxembourgish); Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (French); Grossherzogtum Luxemburg (German) (Grand Duchy of Luxembourg)
Form of government constitutional monarchy with one legislative house (Chamber of Deputies [60])2
Head of state Grand Duke: Henri
Head of government Prime Minister: Xavier Bettel
Capital Luxembourg
Official languages See footnote 1.
Official religion none
Monetary unit euro (€)
Population (2013 est.) 546,000COLLAPSE
Total area (sq mi) 999
Total area (sq km) 2,586
Urban-rural population

Urban: (2011) 85.5%

Rural: (2011) 14.5%

Life expectancy at birth

Male: (2011) 77.9 years

Female: (2011) 82.8 years

Literacy: percentage of population age 15 and over literate

Male: (2010) 100%

Female: (2010) 100%

GNI per capita (U.S.$) (2012) 76,960

Background of Luxembourg

Founded in 963, Luxembourg became a grand duchy in 1815 and an independent state under the Netherlands. It lost more than half of its territory to Belgium in 1839 but gained a larger measure of autonomy. Full independence was attained in 1867. Overrun by Germany in both world wars, it ended its neutrality in 1948 when it entered into the Benelux Customs Union and when it joined NATO the following year. In 1957, Luxembourg became one of the six founding countries of the European Economic Community (later the European Union), and in 1999 it joined the euro currency area. In January 2013, Luxembourg assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2013-14 term.

Luxembourg, country in northwestern Europe. One of the world’s smallest countries, it is bordered by Belgium on the west and north, France on the south, and Germany on the northeast and east. Luxembourg has come under the control of many states and ruling houses in its long history, but it has been a separate, if not always autonomous, political unit since the 10th century. The ancient Saxon name of its capital city, Lucilinburhuc (“Little Fortress”), symbolized its strategic position as “the Gibraltar of the north,” astride a major military route linking Germanic and Frankish territories.

Luxembourg is a point of contact between the Germanic- and Romance-language communities of Europe, and three languages are regularly employed in the grand duchy itself: Luxembourgish, German, and French. The peoples of Luxembourg and their languages reflect the grand duchy’s common interests and close historical relations with its neighbours. In the 20th century Luxembourg became a founding member of several international economic organizations. Perhaps most importantly, the grand duchy was an original member of the Benelux Economic Union (1944), which linked its economic life with that of the Netherlands and of Belgium and would subsequently form the core of the European Economic Community (EEC; ultimately succeeded by the European Union).

Land of Luxembourg
People of Luxembourg
Economy of Luxembourg
Government and Society of Luxembourg
Culture Life of Luxembourg
History of Luxembourg

Disclaimer

This is not the official site of this country. Most of the information in this site were taken from the U.S. Department of State, The Central Intelligence Agency, The United Nations, [1],[2], [3], [4], [5],[6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14],[15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24],[25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30],[31], [32], [33], [34], and the [35].

Other sources of information will be mentioned as they are posted.