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Wednesday 24 February 2016

Luxembourg

HISTORY

The recorded history of Luxembourg begins with the acquisition of Lucilinburhuc (Luxembourg Castle) situated on the Bock rock by Siegfried, Count of Ardennes, in 963 through an exchange act with St. Maximin's Abbey, Trier. Around this fort, a town gradually developed, which became the centre of a state of great strategic value.

In 1437, the House of Luxembourg suffered a succession crisis, precipitated by the lack of a male heir to assume the throne. This led to Elisabeth of Görlitz, the Duchess regnant of Luxemburg
selling the country to Philip the Good of Burgundy.

After the defeat of Napoleon, The Congress of Vienna formed Luxembourg as a Grand Duchy within the German Confederation in personal union with the Netherlands. This arrangement was revised by the 1839 First Treaty of London, from which date Luxembourg's full independence is reckoned.



Luxembourg has won two medals at the Summer Olympics and two at the Winter Olympics. Their only gold medal was for the 1,500 metres at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, won by Josy Barthel, who later became a government minister.

Luxembourg's gold medal at the 1952 Olympics was so unexpected that the organizers had neglected to give the band a score for their national anthem. The musicians instead had to improvise and played gibberish.

FUN FACTS

As a representative democracy with a constitutional monarch, the country is headed by a grand duke, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and is the world's only Grand Duchy.

The only country with a higher Gross Domestic Product per capita than Luxembourg is Qatar.

Luxembourg covers an area of 998 square miles, (2,586 sq km) about the same size as the state of Rhode Island or the English county of Northamptonshire. It is big enough to contain Liechtenstein, Malta, Andorra, San Marino, Singapore and Monaco within its borders.

Luxembourg flag

Luxembourg had a population of 524,853 in October 2012, ranking it the eighth least-populous country in Europe.

Luxembourg has three official languages: French, German and Luxemburgish (or Luxembourgeois). Around 346,000 people around the world speak Luxembourgish.

In Luxembourg you must be trilingual (French, German, Luxembourgish) to graduate secondary school.

Luxembourg’s national dish is bouneschlupp, a mixture of green bean soup with potatoes, bacon and onions.

According to Guinness World Records, the restaurant Chiggeri in Luxembourg has the world’s biggest wine list.

Nearly 40 per cent of the population of Luxembourg are immigrants; 15 per cent of them are of Portuguese origin.

Source Daily Express

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