A confusingly named province of Belgium - the southernmost - in the region of Wallonia, provincial capital Arlon, with Bastogne, Neufchâteau and Houffalize as the only other substantial towns - it is the least densely populated part of the country. Located just across the border from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, (the Luxembourg described elsewhere in this node). An agricultural/tourist area, covering much of the Ardennes. The area was formerly part of the Grand Duchy before the creation of the modern nation states, but changed ownership for financial reasons.

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a European microstate that borders Belgium in the west and north, Germany in the east, and France in the south. The country has a population of 445,700 (2002), covers 2,586 square kilometres, and is divided into 12 administrative regions: Capellen, Clervaux, Diekirch, Echternach, Esch-sur-Alzette, Grevenmacher, Luxembourg, Mersch, Redange, Remich, Vianden, and Wiltz. Its capital is the city of Luxembourg with a population of 77,700 (2002). Luxembourg also has a very interesting language situation in that French is its official language and German is taught in school, but the Germanic Luxembourgish is its indigenous language (please see Lëtzebuergesch for details). Interestingly, the fourth most common language in the country is Portuguese due to Luxembourg's large Portuguese immigrant population (approximately 20%).

History

Luxembourg was first established in 963 when Sigefroid, Count of the Ardennes and founder of the Luxembourg dynasty, built a castle on the territory of the present-day capital. This led to the establishment of a town that would eventually develop into a fortress with a reputation as the "Gibraltar of the North". Originally known as Lüzelburg, the county extended between the Meuse and Moselle rivers and included the present-day Belgian province of Luxembourg. It was one of the largest fiefs in the Holy Roman Empire and was made a duchy in 1354 by John of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia and father of Emperor Charles IV.

Luxembourg was seized by Philip the Good of Burgundy in 1443, but it was passed, along with the rest of the Low Countries, to the Hapsburgs in 1482 through a royal marriage. In 1547, Emperor Charles IV declared the entire Netherlands, including Belgium and Luxembourg, hereditary Hapsburg possessions. He then abdicated them in favour of his son, Philip II of Spain, creating the Spanish Netherlands in 1555. In 1684, Luxembourg was seized by Louis XIV, but he was obliged to restore it to Spain under the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697. In the end, Luxembourg was ceded to France under the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797, after French occupation during the French Revolutionary Wars.

Luxembourg was officially made a grand duchy at the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) in a royal union with the Netherlands. At the same time, it was also made a province of the German Confederation, and its fortress in the capital was garrisoned by Prussian troops. But sharing in the Belgian revolt against William I of the Netherlands in 1830 would cost Luxembourg a great portion of its territory. On gaining independence, Belgium claimed the entire grand duchy and eventually obtained the major part in 1839, which is today the Belgian province of Luxembourg. The remainder was granted autonomy within the German Confederation and was granted a constitution in 1848. With the dissolution of the German Confederation in 1866, a war was nearly provoked between France and Prussia by William III of the Netherlands when he agreed to sell the grand duchy to France. Luxembourg was declared a neutral territory at the London Conference of 1867, its fortress was dismantled, and its Prussian garrison was withdrawn. Because William III died in 1890 without a male heir, Duke Adolf of Nassau became the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

In 1914, Germany violated the neutrality of the grand duchy and occupied it for the duration of World War I. It then invaded neutral Luxembourg again in May 1940 during World War II. Following its liberation, Luxembourg became a member of the United Nations in 1946 and NATO in 1949. Neutrality was abolished in 1948 through a constitutional revision and compulsory military service was introduced. Luxembourg joined with Belgium and the Netherlands to establish the Benelux Economic Union and became a founding member of the European Economic Community, the precursor to the present-day European Union.