"text":"The Principality of Liechtenstein was established within the Holy Roman Empire in 1719. Occupied by both French and Russian troops during the Napoleonic Wars, it became a sovereign state in 1806 and joined the Germanic Confederation in 1815. Liechtenstein became fully independent in 1866 when the Confederation dissolved. Until the end of World War I, it was closely tied to Austria, but the economic devastation caused by that conflict forced Liechtenstein to enter into a customs and monetary union with Switzerland. Since World War II (in which Liechtenstein remained neutral), the country's low taxes have spurred outstanding economic growth. In 2000, shortcomings in banking regulatory oversight resulted in concerns about the use of financial institutions for money laundering. However, Liechtenstein implemented anti-money laundering legislation and a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the US that went into effect in 2003."
}
},
"Geography":{
"Location":{
"text":"Central Europe, between Austria and Switzerland"
},
"Geographic coordinates":{
"text":"47 16 N, 9 32 E"
},
"Map references":{
"text":"Europe"
},
"Area":{
"total":{
"text":"160 sq km"
},
"land":{
"text":"160 sq km"
},
"water":{
"text":"0 sq km"
}
},
"Area - comparative":{
"text":"about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC"
"text":"named after the Liechtenstein dynasty that purchased and united the counties of Schellenburg and Vaduz and that were allowed by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1719 to rename the new property after their family; the name in German means \"light (bright) stone\""
"text":"23 January 1719 (Principality of Liechtenstein established); 12 July 1806 (independence from the Holy Roman Empire); 24 August 1866 (independence from the German Confederation)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"Assumption Day, 15 August, and National Day, 15 August (1940)"
"text":"Prince HANS ADAM II (since 13 November 1989, assumed executive powers on 26 August 1984); Heir Apparent Prince ALOIS, son of the monarch (born 11 June 1968); note - on 15 August 2004, HANS ADAM II transferred the official duties of the ruling prince to ALOIS, but HANS ADAM II retains status of chief of state"
"text":"the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party in the Parliament usually appointed the head of government by the monarch, and the leader of the largest minority party in the Landtag usually appointed the deputy head of government by the monarch if there is a coalition government"
"text":"unicameral Parliament or Landtag (25 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms)"
},
"elections":{
"text":"last held on 3 February 2013 (next to be held in February 2017)"
},
"election results":{
"text":"percent of vote by party - FBP 40.0%, VU 33.5%, DU 15.3% FL 11.1%; seats by party - FBP 10, VU 8, DU 4, FL 3"
}
},
"Judicial branch":{
"highest court(s)":{
"text":"Supreme Court or Oberster Gerichtshof (consists of 5 judges); Constitutional Court or Verfassungsgericht (consists of 5 judges and 5 alternates)"
"text":"judges of both courts elected by the Landtag and appointed by the monarch; Supreme Court judges serve 4-year renewable terms; Constitutional Court judges appointed for renewable 5-year terms"
"text":"Fatherland Union (Vaterlaendische Union) or VU [Jakob BUECHEL] ++ Progressive Citizens' Party (Fortschrittliche Buergerpartei) or FBP [Elfried HASLER] ++ The Free List (Die Freie Liste) or FL [Wolfgang MARXER] ++ The Independents (Die Unabhaengigen) or DU [Harry QUADERER]"
"text":"2900 K Street, NW, Suite 602B, Washington, DC 20007"
},
"telephone":{
"text":"[1] (202) 331-0590"
},
"FAX":{
"text":"[1] (202) 331-3221"
}
},
"Diplomatic representation from the US":{
"text":"the US does not have an embassy in Liechtenstein; the US Ambassador to Switzerland is accredited to Liechtenstein"
},
"Flag description":{
"text":"two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and red with a gold crown on the hoist side of the blue band; the colors may derive from the blue and red livery design used in the principality's household in the 18th century; the prince's crown was introduced in 1937 to distinguish the flag from that of Haiti"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"princely hat (crown); national colors: blue, red"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Oben am jungen Rhein\" (High Above the Young Rhine)"
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"Jakob Joseph JAUCH/Josef FROMMELT"
},
"note":{
"text":"adopted 1850, revised 1963; uses the tune of \"God Save the Queen\""
"text":"Despite its small size and lack of natural resources, Liechtenstein has developed into a prosperous, highly industrialized, free-enterprise economy with a vital financial service sector and the third highest per capita income in the world, after Qatar and Luxembourg. The Liechtenstein economy is widely diversified with a large number of small businesses. Low business taxes - the maximum tax rate is 20% - and easy incorporation rules have induced many holding companies to establish nominal offices in Liechtenstein, providing 30% of state revenues. ++ ++ The country participates in a customs union with Switzerland and uses the Swiss franc as its national currency. It imports more than 90% of its energy requirements. Liechtenstein has been a member of the European Economic Area (an organization serving as a bridge between the European Free Trade Association and the EU) since May 1995. The government is working to harmonize its economic policies with those of an integrated Europe. ++ ++ Since 2008, Liechtenstein has faced renewed international pressure - particularly from Germany and the US - to improve transparency in its banking and tax systems. In December 2008, Liechtenstein signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with the US. Upon Liechtenstein's conclusion of 12 bilateral information-sharing agreements, the OECD in October 2009 removed the principality from its \"grey list\" of countries that had yet to implement the organization's Model Tax Convention. By the end of 2010, Liechtenstein had signed 25 Tax Information Exchange Agreements or Double Tax Agreements. In 2011, Liechtenstein joined the Schengen area, which allows passport-free travel across 26 European countries."
"text":"trade data exclude trade with Switzerland"
}
},
"Exports - commodities":{
"text":"small specialty machinery, connectors for audio and video, parts for motor vehicles, dental products, hardware, prepared foodstuffs, electronic equipment, optical products"
"text":"relies on foreign terrestrial and satellite broadcasters for most broadcast media services; first Liechtenstein-based TV station established August 2008; Radio Liechtenstein operates multiple radio stations; a Swiss-based broadcaster operates several radio stations in Liechtenstein (2008)"
"text":"has strengthened money laundering controls, but money laundering remains a concern due to Liechtenstein's sophisticated offshore financial services sector"
