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Published: October 27th 2008
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Tiny tiny country. So small I even neglected to mention it when writing my Ardennes entry :D Ok, it's not as small as Vatican City, which happens to be the smallest country in the world, but it's about 1/4 the size of Puerto Rico, smaller than even Rhode Island. However quite powerful. Over 200 banks, many of them categorized as "Secret" or "Private". While higher in taxes in some areas of business, the many allowances, deductions & exemptions are an interesting draw to many concerning the Luxembourg tax regime. As one can imagine they are presently VERY busy with their attempts to handle the financial crises across the globe. However, while the building slowdown becomes evident in even the more financially viable countries, this little country shows no slowing in bank building. Huge structures springing up "as we speak". In all honesty, it's really quite interesting to see how a bank is built from the bottom up when looking @ it from the point of view they intend to make it virtually impenetrable. A modern day fortress.
While just under 1000 square miles, this country has a highly developed economy with the 2nd highest GDP per capita in the world,
according to the CIA. Here we have the 2nd largest investment fund center (only second to the USA), the most important private banking center in the entire Eurozone & the leading center for reinsurance companies. Smaller than Rhode Island! I do believe companies such as Skype, eBay, Jajah are just a few of the major companies that have transferred their headquarters to Luxembourg for the "interesting" taxation & no doubt for the fact that Luxembourg rates so highly in the Quality of Life Index. It is lovely!!!!
From it's Celtic history of +/- 600 BC the Celts inhabited the area known as Titelberg, now Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. To begin with it's recorded history we only go back to the acquisition of Lucilinburhuc now referred to as Luxembourg Castle by the Count of the Ardennes in 963. This northern 3rd of the country is referred to as the Oesling part of the Ardennes.
A Roman era fortress site that was gradually enlarged over the following centuries by the Bourbons(branch of the Capetian dynasty) Habsburgs, Hohenzollerns (dynasty of electors, kings & emperors of Prussia)- Germany, Romania & of course the French, just to name but a few. After
the 1815 defeat of Napoleon, this country was in great dispute between Prussia- Königreich Preußen (German Empire) & the Netherlands. Eventually losing Luxembourg, the Germans invaded/occupied this country in both World Wars & officially annexing it to the Third Reich in "42".... to lose it again & sacrifice half the territory of this country to Belgium.
While Luxembourg has been an established neutral country (very small army +/-800 people under civilian control, no Navy & no Air Force) they are a founding member of the United Nations, Benelux, NATO, EU & the Western EU. Luxembourg knows the surrounding countries & even those further afield will come tout de suite to their aid should it be needed. After all, they hold all the "chips" :D
This country is trilingual. French, German & Luxembourgish ( Lëtzebuergesch) spoken but Luxembourgish is rarely written. It is a spoken language with all natives & it is a fascinating language to listen to! Germanic in origin from around the 4th century, but so far deviated, it is impossible for the German native to understand. It is in fact, so limited in it's vocabulary & grammatical construction, that once your conversation hints upon the
abstract or detail, words from other languages must be "borrowed". I find if you are able to understand, German,French & Dutch relatively fluently, you can get the gist of some of what is spoken in Lëtzebuergesch. While newspapers are generally written in German, the cultural & society articles are written in French. Official documents are written in French but distributed to the inhabitants in German. It's a puzzler... & a bit on the elitist side which is fine as French is a beautiful written language.
This country is a parliamentary democracy headed by a constitutional monarch. There is a "throne" but no king, in fact he & his wife are referred to as H.R.H. Grand Duke (Duchess) of Luxembourg. Their children however are referred to as Prince(s) & Princess. Presently Henri Albert Gabriel Félix Marie Guillaume & María Teresa Mestre y Batista-Falla hold these positions & while he holds executive power (along with 12 ministers in cabinet) the legislative power resides with the Chamber of Deputies. I'm not an advocate of monarchy but it seems to be a recipe that works here!
While it is true Luxembourg sells extremely large quantities of alcohol, tobacco & fuel, the Guinness
Castle Bridge
Sandstone- 1735 during the Austrian era Book of World Records has an inherent flaw in it's figure that the Luxembourg people consume nearly 3 gallons of pure alcohol a year. Foolishness! Never! What this "statistical analysis" neglects to take into consideration is the fact that Germans, Belgians & French all come in droves to Luxembourg to shop. Tax free (or VERY low) shopping is a perk! It's rather like the Andorra of the region.
The weather's been great, although a bit cloudy today. Warm enough for just a light sweater or even short sleeves to sit out on a terrace with the customary blanket given to the customers. Bees are still buzzing, flowers continue to bloom.... it's a WONDERFUL Autumn!
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lovely luxumbourgh1!!!!!!!
oooo yes!!! i thouroughly enjoy all your entries, guess i have been remiss is commenting. the blog is terrific, like being there and learning from the encyclopedia!!!!! lovelt photos and descriptions!! will be sure to submit comments often!! thanks!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo m. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo