"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. 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 EEC (later the EU), and in 1999 it joined the euro currency area."
"text":"Belgium 130 km, France 69 km, Germany 128 km"
}
},
"Coastline":{
"text":"0 km (landlocked)"
},
"Maritime claims":{
"text":"none (landlocked)"
},
"Climate":{
"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"
"text":"Luxembourgish (official administrative and judicial language and national language (spoken vernacular)) 88.8%, French (official administrative, judicial, and legislative language) 4.2%, Portuguese 2.3%, German (official administrative and judicial language) 1.1%, other 3.5% (2011 est.)"
"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 festivities were shifted to allow observance during a more favorable time of year"
"text":"adoption requires at least two-thirds vote by the Chamber of Deputies in two successive readings three months apart; a referendum can be substituted for the second reading if voted for by more than one-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 (2016)"
"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":{
"text":"at least one parent must be a citizen of Luxembourg"
"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)"
},
"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 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"
},
"elections":{
"text":"last held on 20 October 2013 (next to be held by June 2018)"
"text":"percent of vote by party - CSV 33.7%, LSAP 20.3%, DP 18.3%, Green Party 10.1%, ADR 6.6%, The Left 4.9%, other 6.1%; seats by party - CSV 23, LSAP 13, DP 13, Green Party 6, ADR 3, The Left 2"
"text":"Superior 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"
"text":"Alternative Democratic Reform Party or ADR [Jean SCHOOS] ++ Christian Social People's Party or CSV [Marc SPAUTZ] ++ Democratic Party or DP [Corinne CAHEN] ++ Green Party [Francoise FOLMER and Christian KMIOTEK] ++ Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party or LSAP [Claude HAAGEN] ++ The Left (dei Lenk/la Gauche) [Central Committee] ++ other minor parties"
"text":"Business Federation Luxembourg or FEDIL [Nicolas BUCK, chairman] ++ Centrale Paysanne [Marc FISCH] (federation of agricultural producers) ++ Chamber of Artisans (Chambre des Metiers) [Roland KUHN] ++ Chamber of Commerce (Chambre de Commerce) [Carlo THELEN] ++ Chambre des Salaries or CSL [Jean-Claude REDING] ++ General Association of Officials (Confederation Generale de la Fonction Publique or CGFP [Romain WOLFF] (trade union representing civil service) ++ Greenpeace [Kumi NAIDOO] ++ LCGP [Patrick DURY] (center-right trade union) ++ Luxembourg Association of Bankers and Insurance Employees or ALEBA [Roberto SCOLATI] ++ Luxembourg Bankers Association or ABBL [Yves MAAS] ++ Mouvement Ecologique [Blanche WEBER] (environment protection) ++ OGB-L [Andre ROELTGEN] (center-left trade union)"
"text":"American Embassy Luxembourg, Unit 1410, APO AE 09126-1410 (official mail); American Embassy Luxembourg, PSC 9, Box 9500, APO AE 09123 (personal mail)"
},
"telephone":{
"text":"[352] 46-01-23"
},
"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":"lion; national colors: red, white, light blue"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Ons Heemecht\" (Our Motherland); \"De Wilhelmus\" (The William)"
"text":"\"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"
"text":"This small, stable, high-income economy has historically featured solid growth, low inflation, and low unemployment. The industrial sector, initially dominated by steel, has become increasingly diversified to include chemicals, machinery and equipment, rubber, automotive components, and other products. The financial sector, which accounts for about 36% of GDP, is the leading sector in the economy. The economy depends on foreign and cross-border workers for about 39% of its labor force. ++ ++ Luxembourg experienced uneven economic growth in the aftermath of the global economic crisis that began in late 2008. Luxembourg's GDP contracted 3.6% in 2009, rebounded in 2010-12, fell again in 2013-14, but recovered in 2015. Unemployment has remained below the EU average despite having increased from a historically low rate of 4% in the 2000s to 7.1% in 2014. ++ ++ The country continues to enjoy an extraordinarily high standard of living - GDP per capita ranks among the highest in the world and is the highest in the euro zone. 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 and the lowest public debt level in the region. ++ ++ Luxembourg has lost some of its advantage as a favorable tax location because of OECD and EU pressure. In 2015, the government’s compliance with EU requirements to implement automatic exchange of tax information on savings accounts - thus ending banking secrecy - has depressed banking activity and dampened GDP growth. Likewise, changes to the way EU members collect taxes from e-commerce has cut Luxembourg’s tax revenues, requiring the government to raise additional levies and to reduce some direct social benefits."
"text":"data exclude foreign workers; in addition to the figure for domestic labor force, about 150,000 workers commute daily from France, Belgium, and Germany (2016 est.)"
"text":"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 int"
"text":"see entry for the EU for money supply for the entire euro area; the European Central Bank (ECB) controls monetary policy for the 18 members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); individual members of the EMU do not control the quantity of money circul"
"text":"fixed-line teledensity about 50 per 100 persons; nationwide mobile-cellular telephone system with market for mobile-cellular phones virtually saturated"
"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 (2008)"
"text":"Luxembourg Army (Armee Luxembourgeoise) (2015)"
},
"Military service age and obligation":{
"text":"18-24 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; no conscription; Luxembourg citizen or EU citizen with 3-year residence in Luxembourg (2012)"
