Luxembourg | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg sits historically, politically, and linguistically at the intersection of the Romance and Germanic language and cultural communities, bordering the countries of France, Germany, and Belgium. Luxembourg is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government, although the Grand Duke retains somewhat more influence than do many other constitutional monarchs. In 1951 Luxembourg became a founding member of what eventually became the European Union (EU). In 2004 Luxembourg City was one of the three capitals of the EU and home to many of its institutions, including the European Court of Justice.

Luxembourg is landlocked and is 2,586 square kilometers (1,034 square miles) in area. Its estimated population in 2001 was 441,300. Traditionally, Luxembourgers have been a homogeneous people. In modern times, however, because citizens of the EU can live and work in any of its member nations, almost one-third of the labor force is made up of foreign workers. Luxembourg has a nearly 100 percent literacy rate and one of the highest standards of living in Europe.

Owing in part to its location, Luxembourg frequently has been subject to invasion. The country began a four-century period of foreign rule after the Duke of Burgundy conquered the area in 1443. The modern nation of Luxembourg traces its origins to 1815, when the Congress of Vienna created a buffer state from the region that now contains the modern countries of Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. To appease Prussia, Luxembourg was separated from that state and transformed into an independent grand duchy and a member of the German Confederation of the Rhine. In 1867 Prussian occupation ended, and Luxembourg became a neutral and truly independent nation. In 1890 control of the Grand Duchy passed from Dutch kings to Adolphus, Duke of Nassau-Weilburg, from whose family the reigning Grand Duke still descends. In 1919 Luxembourg declared itself a parliamentary constitutional monarchy.

Luxembourg's Constitution was enacted on October 17, 1868. There is compulsory voting in parliamentary elections for all citizens over the age of eighteen.

The national parliament is known as the Chamber of Deputies; it has sixty deputies who are elected for a five-year term by means of universal suffrage and a system of proportional representation. After the June 2004 elections the Chamber of Deputies included members from five different political parties, although the nation's cabinet was formed by a coalition of the two largest parties, the Christian Social People's Party and the Socialist Workers' Party. Jean-Claude Juncker (b. 1954), leader of the Christian Social Party, became prime minister in 2004. In addition to the Chamber of Deputies, the Grand Duke appoints a Council of State (composed of twenty-one members) that advises the Chamber on all proposed legislation and has a very limited veto power.

The courts are separate and independent in Luxembourg and are based on the French model. The highest court is the Supreme Court of Justice. There are also two district courts, which serve as the courts of first instance (i.e., the entry court into the court system). In American usage the district courts would be called trial courts. In 1996 a constitutional court was created. Although Luxembourgish is the language spoken at home, the language of the courts and the rest of the government is French.

The ancient Saxon name of both the country of Luxembourg and its capital city means "Little Fortress," symbolizing its important strategic position as the so-called Gibraltar of the north.

European Union; Parliamentary Systems.

The Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Luxembourg City: Service Information et Presse du Gouvernement, 1999.

Wessels, Wolfgang, Andreas Maurer, and Jurgen Mittag. Fifteen into One? The European Union and Its Member States. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2003.

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