The Country
Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France to the south. Its capital and largest city, Luxembourg, is one of the four official capitals of the European Union (together with Brussels, Frankfurt, and Strasbourg) and the seat of several EU agencies, notably the Court of Justice of the European Union, the highest judicial authority. Luxembourg is one of the smallest sovereign states in Europe.
Luxembourgish is the national language but German and French are also used in administrative and judicial matters.
The history of Luxembourg is considered to begin in 963, when count Siegfried acquired a rocky promontory and its Roman-era fortifications, known as Lucilinburhuc, "little castle", and the surrounding area from the Imperial Abbey of St. Maximin in nearby Trier. Over the centuries, the City and Fortress of Luxembourg was gradually built up to be one of the most reputed fortifications in Europe.The present-day state of Luxembourg first emerged at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The Grand Duchy, with its powerful fortress, became an independent state under the personal possession of William I of the Netherlands with a Prussian garrison to guard the city against another invasion from France.
Luxembourg is a founding member of the European Union, OECD, United Nations, NATO, and Benelux.