Guide to Luxembourg Introduction Background: 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.
Geography Location: Western Europe, between France and Germany
Geographic coordinates: 49 45 N, 6 10 E
Map references: Europe
Area: total
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Rhode Island
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: modified continental with mild winters, cool summers
Terrain: 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 extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: iron ore (no longer exploited), arable land
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 40 sq km (includes Belgium) (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: NA
Environment - current issues: air and water pollution in urban areas, soil pollution of farmland
Environment - international agreements: party to
Geography - note: landlocked; the only Grand Duchy in the world
People Population: 468,571 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 1.25% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 12.06 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 8.41 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 8.86 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 1.79 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: less than 500 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (2003 est.)
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: Celtic base (with French and German blend), Portuguese, Italian, Slavs (from Montenegro, Albania, and Kosovo) and European (guest and resident workers)
Religions: 87% Roman Catholic, 13% Protestants, Jews, and Muslims (2000)
Languages: Luxembourgish (national language), German (administrative language), French (administrative language)
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
Government type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: Luxembourg
Administrative divisions: 3 districts; Diekirch, Grevenmacher, Luxembourg
Independence: 1839 (from the Netherlands)
National holiday: National Day (Birthday of Grand Duchess Charlotte) 23 June
Constitution: 17 October 1868; occasional revisions
Legal system: based on civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: unicameral Chamber of Deputies or Chambre des Deputes (60 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections
Judicial branch: judicial courts and tribunals (3 Justices of the Peace, 2 district courts, and 1 Supreme Court of Appeals); administrative courts and tribunals (State Prosecutor's Office, administrative courts and tribunals, and the Constitutional Court); judges for all courts are appointed for life by the monarch
Political parties and leaders: Action Committee for Democracy and Justice or ADR [Gast GIBERYEN]; Christian Social People's Party or CSV (known also as Christian Social Party or PCS) [Francois BILTGEN]; Democratic Party or DP [Claude MEISCH]; Green Party [Francois BAUSCH]; Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party or LSAP [Alex BODRY]; Marxist and Reformed Communist Party dei Lenk/la Gauche (the Left) [no formal leadership]; other minor parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: ABBL (bankers' association); ALEBA (financial sector trade union); Centrale Paysanne (federation of agricultural producers); CEP (professional sector chamber); CGFP (trade union representing civil service); Chambre de Commerce (Chamber of Commerce); Chambre des Metiers (Chamber of Artisans); FEDIL (federation of industrialists); LCGP (center-right trade union); OGBL (center-left trade union)
International organization participation: ACCT, AsDB, Australia Group, Benelux, CE, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
Flag description: 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; design was based on the flag of France
Economy Economy - overview: This stable, high-income economy - in between France, Belgium, and Germany - features solid growth, low inflation, and low unemployment. The industrial sector, initially dominated by steel, has become increasingly diversified to include chemicals, rubber, and other products. Growth in the financial sector, which now accounts for about 22% of GDP, has more than compensated for the decline in steel. Most banks are foreign-owned and have extensive foreign dealings. Agriculture is based on small family-owned farms. The economy depends on foreign and cross-border workers for more than 30% of its labor force. Although Luxembourg, like all EU members, has suffered from the global economic slump, the country enjoys an extraordinarily high standard of living.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $27.27 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 2.3% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $58,900 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 293,700 (of whom 105,000 are foreign cross-border workers commuting primarily from France, Belgium, and Germany) (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 1%, industry 13%, services 86% (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate: 4.5% (December, 2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.4% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 19.8% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Agriculture - products: barley, oats, potatoes, wheat, fruits, wine grapes; livestock products
Industries: banking, iron and steel, food processing, chemicals, metal products, engineering, tires, glass, aluminum, information technology, tourism and banking
Industrial production growth rate: 2.9% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 2.511 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 5.735 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 2.9 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 6.3 billion kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 50,650 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: 634 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports: 50,700 bbl/day (2001)
Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 865 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 867 million cu m (2001 est.)
Exports: $13.4 billion f.o.b. (2003)
Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, steel products, chemicals, rubber products, glass
Exports - partners: Germany 22.1%, France 20.1%, Belgium 10.2%, UK 8.4%, Italy 7.3%, Spain 5.9%, Netherlands 4.3% (2004)
Imports: $16.3 billion c.i.f. (2003)
Imports - commodities: minerals, metals, foodstuffs, quality consumer goods
Imports - partners: Belgium 29.8%, Germany 22.6%, China 12.6%, France 12%, Netherlands 4.2% (2004)
Debt - external: $NA
Economic aid - donor: ODA, $147 million (2002)
Currency (code): euro (EUR) note
Currency code: EUR
Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 355,400 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 473,000 (2002)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 9, shortwave 2 (1999)
Radios: 285,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 5 (1999)
Televisions: 285,000 (1998 est.)
Internet country code: .lu
Internet hosts: 28,214 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 8 (2000)
Internet users: 165,000 (2002)
Transportation Railways: total
Highways: total
Waterways: 37 km (on Moselle River) (2003)
Pipelines: gas 155 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Mertert
Merchant marine: total
Airports: 2 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total
Heliports: 1 (2004 est.)
Military Military branches: Army
Military service age and obligation: a 1967 law made the Army an all-volunteer force; 17 years of age for voluntary military service; soldiers under 18 are not deployed into combat or with peacekeeping missions (2004)
Manpower available for military service: males age 17-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 17-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $231.6 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 0.9% (2003)
Transnational Issues Disputes - international: none
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
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