Luxembourg

From Imakoopedia

Luxembourg is a landlocked country in Western Europe in between Belgium, France and Germany. It is the only Grand Duchy in the world and is the second-smallest of the European Union member states.

Table of contents

1 Regions 2 Cities 2.1 Ports and harbors 3 Other destinations 4 Understand 4.1 Climate 4.2 Terrain 4.3 History 5 Get in 5.1 By plane 5.2 By train 5.3 By car 5.4 By bus 5.5 By boat 6 Get around 7 Talk 8 Buy 9 Eat 10 Drink 11 Sleep 12 Learn 13 Work 14 Stay safe 15 Stay healthy 16 Respect 17 Contact 18 External links 19 Geography 20 People 21 Government 22 Economy 23 Communications 24 Transportation

Regions

Administrative divisions 

3 districts;

• Diekirch
• Grevenmacher
• Luxembourg

Cities

• Luxembourg - Capital

Ports and harbors

• Mertert

Other destinations

Understand

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: Moselle River 133 m
highest point: Buurgplaatz 559 m

History

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.

Independence 

1839 (from the Netherlands)

Full independence was attained in 1867.

Constitution 

17 October 1868, occasional revisions

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.

National holiday 

National Day (Birthday of Grand Duchess Charlotte) 23 June

Get in

By plane

By train

By car

By bus

By boat

Get around

Talk

Languages 

Luxembourgish (national language), German (administrative language), French (administrative language)

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Learn

Work

Stay safe

Stay healthy

Respect

Contact

External links

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Geography

Geographic coordinates 

49 45 N, 6 10 E

Area 

total: 2,586 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 2,586 sq km

Area - comparative 

slightly smaller than Rhode Island

Maritime claims 

none (landlocked)

Natural resources 

iron ore (no longer exploited), arable land

Land use 

arable land: 25%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 75% (includes Belgium) (1998 est.)

Irrigated land 

40 sq km (includes Belgium) (1998 est.)

Environment - current issues 

air and water pollution in urban areas, soil pollution of farmland

People

Population 

448,569 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure 

0-14 years: 18.9% (male 43,634; female 41,164)
15-64 years: 67% (male 151,364; female 149,156)
65 years and over: 14.1% (male 25,486; female 37,765) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate 

1.25% (2002 est.)

Birth rate 

12.06 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate 

8.83 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate 

9.26 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio 

at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate 

4.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth 

total population: 77.48 years
female: 80.97 years (2002 est.)
male: 74.2 years

Total fertility rate 

1.7 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate 

0.16% (1999 est.)

Nationality 

noun: Luxembourger(s)
adjective: Luxembourg

Ethnic groups 

Celtic base (with French and German blend), Portuguese, Italian, Slavs (from Montenegro, Albania, and Kososvo) and European (guest and resident workers)

Religions 

the greatest preponderance of the population is Roman Catholic with a very few Protestants, Jews, and Muslims
note: 1979 legislation forbids the collection of religious statistics

Literacy 

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 100%
male: 100%
female: 100% (2000 est.)

Government

Country name 

conventional long form: Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
conventional short form: Luxembourg
local short form: Luxembourg
local long form: Grand Duche de Luxembourg

Government type 

constitutional monarchy

Legal system 

based on civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage 

18 years of age; universal and compulsory

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 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 trans-border workers for 30% of its labor force. Although Luxembourg, like all EU members, has suffered from the global economic slump, the country has maintained a fairly strong growth rate.

GDP 

purchasing power parity - $20 billion (2002 est.)

GDP - composition by sector 

agriculture: 1%
industry: 30%
services: 69% (2000 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 

1.6% (2002 est.)

Labor force 

262,300 (of whom 87,400 are foreign cross-border workers primarily from France, Belgium, and Germany) (2000)

Labor force - by occupation 

services 90%, industry 8%, agriculture 2% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate 

4.1% (2002 est.)

Budget 

revenues: $5.5 billion
expenditures: $5.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $760 million $NA (2002 est.)

Industries 

banking, iron and steel, food processing, chemicals, metal products, engineering, tires, glass, aluminum

Industrial production growth rate 

2% (2002 est.)

Electricity - production 

467.7 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source 

fossil fuel: 58%
hydro: 26%
other: 17% (2000)

Electricity - consumption 

6.158 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports 

735 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports 

6.458 billion kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products 

barley, oats, potatoes, wheat, fruits, wine grapes; livestock products

Exports 

$7.85 billion f.o.b. (2000)

Exports - commodities 

machinery and equipment, steel products, chemicals, rubber products, glass

Exports - partners 

EU 84.7% (Germany 24.6%, France 19.6%, Belgium 12.3%), US 3.5% (2001)

Imports 

$10.25 billion c.i.f. (2000)

Imports - commodities 

minerals, metals, foodstuffs, quality consumer goods

Imports - partners 

EU 86.7% (Belgium 34.3%, Germany 25.1%, France 12.8%), US 5.8% (2001)

Currency 

euro (EUR); Luxembourg franc (LUF)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries

Currency code 

EUR; LUF

Exchange rates 

euros per US dollar - 1.1324 (January 2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); Luxembourg francs per US dollar - 34.77 (January 1999), 36.299 (1998), 35.774 (1997)

Fiscal year 

calendar year

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use 

314,700 (1999)

Telephones - mobile cellular 

215,741 (2000)

Telephone system 

general assessment: highly developed, completely automated and efficient system, mainly buried cables
domestic: nationwide cellular telephone system; buried cable
international: 3 channels leased on TAT-6 coaxial submarine cable (Europe to North America)

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 Service Providers (ISPs) 

8 (2000)

Internet users 

100,000 (2001)

Transportation

Railways 

total: 274 km
standard gauge: 274 km 1.435-m gauge (242 km electrified) (2001)

Highways 

total: 5,166 km
paved: 5,166 km (including 118 km of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (1999)

Waterways 

37 km (on the Moselle)

Pipelines 

petroleum products 48 km

Airports 

2 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways 

total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2002)

Airports - with unpaved runways 

total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2002)

Heliports 

1 (2002)