Liechtenstein
POPULATION 32,842
ROMAN CATHOLIC 78 percent
PROTESTANT 8 percent
MUSLIM 5 percent
EASTERN ORTHODOX 1 percent
NOT RELIGIOUS 3 percent
OTHER OR NO ANSWER 5 percent
Country Overview
Introduction
The Principality of Liechtenstein, a small European country located in the Rhine Valley of the Alps, is bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and Austria to the east. It has an area of just over 61 square miles, two-thirds of which is mountainous. Only one-third of the land is suitable for settlement. Foreigners, mainly Swiss, Austrians, and Germans, make up a third of the population.
The principality was founded in 1719. In 1806 Liechtenstein became a sovereign state, and in 1921 it became a constitutional monarchy governed as a parliamentary democracy. The country consists of 11 communes, which enjoy a high degree of independence. Vaduz is the capital.
Liechtenstein is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. Church parishes form part of the political order, and officeholders of the Catholic Church are employees of the municipalities. The principal, or ruling, family is traditionally Catholic. For more than 1,500 years Liechtenstein formed part of the neighboring Diocese of Chur, now in Switzerland. The Archdiocese of Vaduz, which includes all of Liechtenstein and which is directly responsible to the Holy See in Rome, was established in 1997.
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