"text":"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. In 1867, Luxembourg attained full independence under the condition that it promise perpetual neutrality. 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 EEC (later the EU), and in 1999 it joined the euro currency zone."
}
},
"Geography":{
"Location":{
"text":"Western Europe, between France and Germany"
"text":"modified continental with mild winters, cool summers"
},
"Terrain":{
"text":"mostly gently rolling uplands with broad, shallow valleys; uplands to slightly mountainous in the north; steep slope down to Moselle flood plain in the southeast"
},
"Elevation":{
"mean elevation":{
"text":"325 m"
},
"lowest point":{
"text":"Moselle River 133 m"
},
"highest point":{
"text":"Buurgplaatz 559 m"
}
},
"Natural resources":{
"text":"iron ore (no longer exploited), arable land"
"text":"most people live in the south, on or near the border with France"
},
"Natural hazards":{
"text":"occasional flooding"
},
"Environment - current issues":{
"text":"air and water pollution in urban areas, soil pollution of farmland; unsustainable patterns of consumption (transport, energy, recreation, space) threaten biodiversity and landscapes"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"Environmental Modification"
}
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"landlocked; the only grand duchy in the world"
"text":"Luxembourger 51.1%, Portuguese 15.7%, French 7.5%, Italian 3.6%, Belgian 3.3%, German 2.1%, Spanish 1.1%, British 1%, other 14.6% (2019 est.)",
"text":"Luxembourgish (official administrative and judicial language and national language (spoken vernacular)) 55.8%, Portuguese 15.7%, French (official administrative, judicial, and legislative language) 12.1%, German (official administrative and judicial language) 3.1%, Italian 2.9%, English 2.1%, other 8.4% (2011 est.)"
},
"Religions":{
"text":"Christian (predominantly Roman Catholic) 70.4%, Muslim 2.3%, other (includes Buddhist, folk religions, Hindu, Jewish) 0.5%, none 26.8% (2010 est.)"
"text":"the name derives from the Celtic \"lucilem\" (little) and the German \"burg\" (castle or fortress) to produce the meaning of the \"little castle\"; the name is actually ironic, since for centuries the Fortress of Luxembourg was one of Europe's most formidable fortifications; the name passed to the surrounding city and then to the country itself"
}
},
"Government type":{
"text":"constitutional monarchy"
},
"Capital":{
"name":{
"text":"Luxembourg"
},
"geographic coordinates":{
"text":"49 36 N, 6 07 E"
},
"time difference":{
"text":"UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
},
"daylight saving time":{
"text":"+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October"
"note":"<br><br><strong>etymology:</strong> the name derives from the Celtic \"lucilem\" (little) and the German \"burg\" (castle or fortress) to produce the meaning of the \"little castle\"; the name is actually ironic, since for centuries the Fortress of Luxembourg was one of Europe's most formidable fortifications; the name passed to the city that grew around the fortress"
"text":"National Day (birthday of Grand Duke HENRI), 23 June; note - this date of birth is not the true date of birth for any of the Royals, but the national festivities were shifted in 1962 to allow observance during a more favorable time of year"
"text":"proposed by the Chamber of Deputies or by the monarch to the Chamber; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote by the Chamber in two successive readings three months apart; a referendum can be substituted for the second reading if approved by more than a quarter of the Chamber members or by 25,000 valid voters; adoption by referendum requires a majority of all valid voters; amended many times, last in 2009"
"text":"limited to situations where the parents are either unknown, stateless, or when the nationality law of the parents' state of origin does not permit acquisition of citizenship by descent when the birth occurs outside of national territory"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"at least one parent must be a citizen of Luxembourg"
},
"dual citizenship recognized":{
"text":"yes"
},
"residency requirement for naturalization":{
"text":"7 years"
}
},
"Suffrage":{
"text":"18 years of age; universal and compulsory"
},
"Executive branch":{
"chief of state":{
"text":"Grand Duke HENRI (since 7 October 2000); Heir Apparent Prince GUILLAUME (son of the monarch, born 11 November 1981)"
},
"head of government":{
"text":"Prime Minister Xavier BETTEL (since 4 December 2013); Deputy Prime Minister Etienne SCHNEIDER (since 4 December 2013); Deputy Prime Minister Felix BRAZ (since 5 December 2018)"
},
"cabinet":{
"text":"Council of Ministers recommended by the prime minister, appointed by the monarch"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"the monarchy is hereditary; following elections to the Chamber of Deputies, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the monarch; deputy prime minister appointed by the monarch; prime minister and deputy prime minister are responsible to the Chamber of Deputies"
}
},
"Legislative branch":{
"description":{
"text":"unicameral Chamber of Deputies or Chambre des Deputes (60 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by party-list proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms); note - a 21-member Council of State appointed by the Grand Duke on the advice of the prime minister serves as an advisory body to the Chamber of Deputies"
"text":"percent of vote by party - CSV 28.3%, LSAP 17.6%, DP 16.9%, Green Party 15.1%, ADR 8.3%, Pirate Party 6.4%, The Left 5.5%, other 1.9%; seats by party - CSV 21, DP 12, LSAP 10, Green Party 9, ADR 4, Pirate Party 2, The Left 2; composition - men 46, women 14, percent of women 23.3%"
}
},
"Judicial branch":{
"highest courts":{
"text":"Supreme Court of Justice includes Court of Appeal and Court of Cassation (consists of 27 judges on 9 benches); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 members)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"judges of both courts appointed by the monarch for life"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"Court of Accounts; district and local tribunals and courts"
"text":"Alternative Democratic Reform Party or ADR [Jean SCHOOS]<br />Christian Social People's Party or CSV [Marc SPAUTZ]<br />Democratic Party or DP [Corinne CAHEN]<br />Green Party [Francoise FOLMER, Christian KMIOTEK]<br />Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party or LSAP [Claude HAAGEN]<br />The Left (dei Lenk/la Gauche) [collective leadership, Central Committee]<br />other minor parties"
"text":"Unit 3560, APO AE 09126-3560 (official mail)"
},
"FAX":{
"text":"[352] 46-14-01"
}
},
"Flag description":{
"text":"three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and light blue; similar to the flag of the Netherlands, which uses a darker blue and is shorter; the coloring is derived from the Grand Duke's coat of arms (a red lion on a white and blue striped field)"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"red, rampant lion; national colors: red, white, light blue"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Ons Heemecht\" (Our Motherland); \"De Wilhelmus\" (The William)"
"note":"<p><strong>note:</strong> \"Ons Heemecht,\" adopted 1864, is the national anthem, while \"De Wilhelmus,\" adopted 1919, serves as a royal anthem for use when members of the grand ducal family enter or exit a ceremony in Luxembourg</p>"
"text":"<p>This small, stable, high-income economy has historically featured solid growth, low inflation, and low unemployment. Luxembourg, the only Grand Duchy in the world, is a landlocked country in northwestern Europe surrounded by Belgium, France, and Germany. Despite its small landmass and small population, Luxembourg is the fifth-wealthiest country in the world when measured on a gross domestic product (PPP) per capita basis. Luxembourg has one of the highest current account surpluses as a share of GDP in the euro zone, and it maintains a healthy budgetary position, with a 2017 surplus of 0.5% of GDP, and the lowest public debt level in the region.</p><p></p><p>Since 2002, Luxembourg’s government has proactively implemented policies and programs to support economic diversification and to attract foreign direct investment. The government focused on key innovative industries that showed promise for supporting economic growth: logistics, information and communications technology (ICT); health technologies, including biotechnology and biomedical research; clean energy technologies, and more recently, space technology and financial services technologies. The economy has evolved and flourished, posting strong GDP growth of 3.4% in 2017, far outpacing the European average of 1.8%.</p><p></p><p>Luxembourg remains a financial powerhouse – the financial sector accounts for more than 35% of GDP - because of the exponential growth of the investment fund sector through the launch and development of cross-border funds (UCITS) in the 1990s. Luxembourg is the world’s second-largest investment fund asset domicile, after the US, with $4 trillion of assets in custody in financial institutions.</p><p></p><p>Luxembourg has lost some of its advantage as a favorable tax location because of OECD and EU pressure, as well as the \"LuxLeaks\" scandal, which revealed advantageous tax treatments offered to foreign corporations. In 2015, the government’s compliance with EU requirements to implement automatic exchange of tax information on savings accounts - thus ending banking secrecy - has constricted banking activity. Likewise, changes to the way EU members collect taxes from e-commerce has cut Luxembourg’s sales tax revenues, requiring the government to raise additional levies and to reduce some direct social benefits as part of the tax reform package of 2017. The tax reform package also included reductions in the corporate tax rate and increases in deductions for families, both intended to increase purchasing power and increase competitiveness.</p>"
"note":"<p><strong>note:</strong> data exclude foreign workers; in addition to the figure for domestic labor force, about 150,000 workers commute daily from France, Belgium, and Germany</p>"
"note":"<p><strong>note:</strong> data cover general government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions</p>"
"text":"highly developed; by 2020 the government is to provide a 1Gb/s service to all citizens, and to make Luxembourg the first fully fibered country in Europe; new law requiring SIM cards be registered has slowed down growth for mobile subscribers; regulator planning a multi-spectrum auction for 5G use by mid-2020 (2020)"
"text":"fixed-line teledensity about 43 per 100 persons; nationwide mobile-cellular telephone system with market for mobile-cellular phones virtually saturated with 136 per 100 mobile-cellular (2019)"
"note":"<br><br><strong>note:</strong> the COVID-19 outbreak is negatively impacting telecommunications production and supply chains globally; consumer spending on telecom devices and services has also slowed due to the pandemic's effect on economies worldwide; overall progress towards improvements in all facets of the telecom industry - mobile, fixed-line, broadband, submarine cable and satellite - has moderated"
"text":"Luxembourg has a long tradition of operating radio and TV services for pan-European audiences and is home to Europe's largest privately owned broadcast media group, the RTL Group, which operates 46 TV stations and 29 radio stations in Europe; also home to Europe's largest satellite operator, Societe Europeenne des Satellites (SES); domestically, the RTL Group operates TV and radio networks; other domestic private radio and TV operators and French and German stations available; satellite and cable TV services available"
"Military and security service personnel strengths":{
"text":"the Luxembourg Army has approximately 900 active personnel (2019 est.)"
},
"Military equipment inventories and acquisitions":{
"text":"the inventory of Luxembourg's Army is a small mix of European and US equipment; since 2010, it has received small quantities of equipment from Germany, Norway, and Sweden (2019 est.)"
},
"Military service age and obligation":{
"text":"18-26 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; no conscription; Luxembourg citizen or EU citizen with 3-year residence in Luxembourg (2019)"
