| Interesting Facts about : |
Interesting facts about Luxembourg
Land & People
Luxembourg is the least populated country in the European Union, with only 465,000 inhabitants. It is also the 20th smallest of all the 194 independent countries in the world.
Luxembourgish, a Franconian language of the Moselle region, is the mother tongue of nearly all Luxembourgers. In spite of that, most official (written) business is carried out in French, whereas German is the first language taught in school and used in the media.
As of 2006, there were 181,000 immigrants in Luxembourg, accounting for 39.6% of the total population. 15% of the country's inhabitants (over 1/3 of all immigrants) are of Portuguese origin.
History
The original County, then Duchy of Luxembourg was about three times the size of the modern country, including notably most of the Belgian province of Luxembourg.
From 1310 to 1437, the Counts, then Dukes of Luxembourg were also Kings of Bohemia (the modern Czech Republic). The House of Luxembourg also had three of its members elected Holy Roman Emperor : Henry VII (1312-1313), Charles IV (1355-1378) and Sigismund (1410-1437). The latter also ruled as king of Hungary from 1387. Sigismund's daughter, Elisabeth of Luxembourg, married Albert II of Habsburg, who succeeded his father-in-law as Emperor, as well as King of Bohemia and Hungary. From then on, apart from a 3-year interlude, the Habsburgs would provide all the Holy Roman Emperors until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806. It could thus be said that the glorious fate of the Habsburgs, and the very foundation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was achieved through their marriage to the House of Luxembourg in 1422. Thanks to this marriage as well, the Habsburgs ruled as Dukes of Luxembourg between 1506 and 1813.
Economy & Politics
Luxembourg is by far the country with the highest GDP per capita in the world, with almost 3 times the EU average.
Luxembourg is a well-known tax haven. In March 2006, there were no less than 155 banks in the country.
Luxembourg has the highest minimum legal salary in the European Union - 1570 € per month in 2007.
The RTL (Radio-Television-Luxembourg) Group is Europe's largest TV, radio and production company. It has 34 television and 33 radio stations in 12 countries, including the UK's Channel Five, France's M6, among those that do not bear the name "RTL".
Between 1944 and 2002, the Luxembourgish franc had the exact same value as the Belgian franc. From 2002, the euro replaced both currencies.
Luxembourg was ranked 3rd best country in the EU for business efficiency in 2005, after Finland and Denmark.
The American organisation 'The Heritage Foundation' ranked Luxembourg first in Europe and fourth in the world for economic freedom.
Luxembourg has the highest percentage of mobile phones per capita in Europe (151.7 for 100 people, as of 2006).
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