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Background:
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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.
Full independence was attained in 1867. 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. |
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Location:
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Western Europe, between France and Germany |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than Rhode Island |
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Land boundaries:
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total: 359 km
border countries: Belgium 148 km, France 73
km, Germany 138 km |
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Ethnic groups:
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Celtic base (with French and German blend),
Portuguese, Italian, Slavs (from Montenegro,
Albania, and Kososvo) and European (guest and
resident workers) |
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Religions:
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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 |
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Languages:
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Luxembourgish (national language), German
(administrative language), French (administrative
language) |
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English
Italiano 
Deutsch
Español
Français 