Luxembourg (country)

Luxembourg (country)
Official languages Capital	Luxembourg (city)
Area Government	2,586.4 km2 constitutional monarchy
Population Religion	511,840
Time zone Currency	CET (UTC+1) Euro
Demonym
Preceded by Succeeded by

Luxembourg is a small country in Western Europe. It is a member state of the European Union and a member of Benelux. Its capital's name is also 'Luxembourg'. In 2012, there were nearly 525,000 inhabitants. It is the second smallest member country in the European Union after Malta.

The name of the country in official form is 'Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, Luxembourg being the current form.

In 2014, Luxembourg was considered the most prosperous country in the world with a GDP of $115,000 per inhabitant.

Geography

Location of Luxembourg in Europe

Location

Luxembourg has land borders with:

• Belgium to the west and north (148 km);
• Germany to the east (135 km);
• France to the south (73 km).

Situated in the heart of western Europe, it does not have a coastal border.

But its geographical situation gives it a big linguistic advantage. At school, children learn several languages other than Luxembourgish. In primary school, children learn to read and write in German, then later in French, getting English generally as a third foreign language if Luxembourgish is the mother tongue. Only pre- and nursery schools are in Luxembourgish.

Area

Place d'Armes, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

With an area of 2,586 km squared, Luxembourg is smaller than a department of France or a Belgian province.

It is one of the smallest European countries and one of the smallest in the European Union.

It extends at a maximum of 82 km in length (from north to south) and 57 km in width (from east to west).

Natural Regions

View of Koeppchen: vineyard and boat.

The two largest natural regions are:

• The mining area in the south
• The Moselle valley to the east

Watercourse

The four most important rivers are the Moselle, the Sauer, the Our, and the Alzette.

History

Chronological Landmarks

• 963: Foundation of Luxembourg
• 1815: Luxembourg becomes a grand dukedom.
• 1839: It became an independent state in the Netherlands; it gains autonomy, but more than half of the country is attributed to Belgium
• 1867: Obtained full independence.
• 1948: Luxembourg withdrew its policy of neutrality after having been invaded by Germany during the Second World War; it entered into the Benelux Customs Union.
• 1949: It joined NATO.
• 1957: Became one of the six founding countries of the European Economic Community (which later became the European Union).
• 1999: Adopted the Euro.

Transport

It's (nearly) free on all the transport in Luxembourg.There are trams, buses,metro and trains.

Notes

Coordinates: 49°47′37″N 6°06′23″E / 49.7936°N 6.10639°E / 49.7936; 6.10639{{#coordinates:49.7936|6.10639|type:country_region:LU-LU_source:dewiki|||||| |primary |name= }}

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