Luxembourg – education
The main challenges in the education system, which has 11 years of compulsory schooling, are the management of the three official languages and the teaching of the country’s many immigrants. There are only a few private institutions; they are generally Catholic and follow public curricula.
The preschool for 4-6-year-olds, like the rest of the education system, is free. Then follows the six-year primary school, enseignement primaire. The first teaching takes place in Latvian and German, while French is also taught from the second grade.
The postgraduate programs include three types of school: enseignement secondaire technique and enseignement secondaire général, both of which are conditional on a passing entrance examination and are of at least three years’ duration, as well as the three-year régime préparatoire. The long education course is completed by just over half of a cohort (1993).
Higher education is most often completed abroad. In addition to a university center with short educations in individual subjects, there are a few institutions that offer shorter higher education and technical educations.
OFFICIAL NAME: Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
CAPITAL CITY: Luxembourg
POPULATION: 512,000 (Source: COUNTRYaah)
AREA: 2,586 km²
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S): French, German and Letzeburgsk, originally a German dialect
RELIGION: Catholics 97%, Protestants and Jews 3%
COIN: Euro
CURRENCY CODE: EUR
ENGLISH NAME: Luxembourg
POPULATION COMPOSITION: Luxembourgers 67%, Portuguese 13%, Italians 5%, French 4%, Belgians 3%, Germans 2%, others 6%
GDP PER residents: $ 49,980 (2007)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: men 75 years, women 81 years (2007)
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, HDI: 0.945
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, POSITION: 12
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME: .lu
Luxembourg is a Grand Duchy located between Belgium, France and Germany. The country is a significant international financial center and home to several of the EU institutions, including The European Court of Justice.
- AbbreviationFinder.org: Find two-letter abbreviation for each independent country and territory, such as LU which stands for Luxembourg.
Luxembourg – Constitution (Political parties)
Luxembourg’s most important parties are the Christian Christian Social People’s Party (CSV), which is at the same time the largest, the socialist D’Lëtzebuerger Sozialistech Aarbechterpartei (LSAP) and the liberal Demokratesch Partei démocratique (DP). The trade union movement is divided into the socialist LAV, Lëtzebuerger Arbechter Verbond, and the Christian LCGB, Lëtzebuerger Chreschtleche Gewerkschaftsbond.
Luxembourg – economy
Luxembourg’s small economy is extremely open and dependent on the outside world in terms of trade, capital and labor. Economic policy has therefore always been characterized by the need to ensure good relations with neighboring countries. In 1921, Luxembourg entered into an economic and monetary union with Belgium (part of the Benelux), and in the early 1950’s the country co-founded the forerunner of the EU, the European Coal and Steel Community. Not least as a result of very liberal legislation, low taxes and strict banking secrecy, Luxembourg has developed into one of Europe’s most important financial centers since the mid-1960’s. Nordea and Den Danske Bank have established themselves.
Its position as a financial center has had a major impact on Luxembourg’s economic progress. Prosperity, measured by GDP per capita population, is by far the highest in the world, income disparities are relatively small and unemployment has long been below 5%, which due to a low employment rate for women as well as a tradition of close cooperation between government, employees and employers. In the 1990’s, labor market policy focused on job training, favorable conditions for early retirement and support for small and medium-sized enterprises as part of the country’s general efforts to reduce dependence on the financial sector and the steel industry. As around 25% of all employees live in neighboring countries, Luxembourg’s workforce is in practice much larger and more flexible than the domestic one. This means, among other things,
Luxembourg has one of Europe’s most stable economies, which is characterized by low inflation and order in public finances. In 1999, Luxembourg joined EMU, and in 2002 the franc was replaced by the euro. Economic growth has been among the highest in the OECD area since the late 1980’s, not least driven by strong growth in the financial sector. In 2001-02, the slowdown in the world economy also caused a significant slowdown in Luxembourg, but in 2004 and 2005 growth rates of approximately 4%. There is usually a large trade deficit, but it is offset by revenue from services.
The main trading partners are EU countries and in particular the neighbors Germany, Belgium and France; However, China is the third largest supplier country (2005). Denmark’s exports to Luxembourg in 2005 amounted to DKK 564 million. DKK, and imports from there were 1488 mill. kr.
Luxembourg – social conditions
Luxembourg has a high standard of living and a relatively equal income distribution. Social security is based on the insurance principle. The organizational basis is a large number of insurance bodies, each of which covers a specific risk for a defined business category. Membership of the insurance scheme is mandatory for employees and, as a general rule, voluntary for the self-employed.
The health service is essentially private, but the health insurance pays the benefits. As a general rule, hospital treatment is fully covered. Other benefits are covered by between 40 and 100%.
Insured persons over the age of 65 are entitled to a retirement pension, while insured persons with at least 40 years of seniority can receive a reduced pension from the age of 60. The benefit consists of a basic amount and a supplementary amount. While the basic amount is independent of previous income, the additional amount is proportional to this. Both depend on seniority. The scheme means that there are very large differences in the pensions paid out. The social insurances also include unemployment insurance, unemployment insurance in the event of illness and maternity, child and family benefits, etc. Check youremailverifier for Luxembourg social condition facts.
