Van Luxemburg

The Grand Duchy of Van Luxemburg Groussherzogtum Vun Lëtzebuerg
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Concordia civium murus patriae"
Anthem: Alzettelied
Map of metropolitan Van Luxemburg
Capital	Lëtzebuerg
Largest city	Esch
Official languages	Vun Lëtzebuergesch
Recognised national languages	Dutch, French, German, Italian
Demonym(s)	Van Luxemburger
Government	federal constitutional monarchy
• Grand Duke	Floris I van Annabeek-Witzelsbach
• Premier	Alessandro Lurani
• Upper house	Nationalzemmer
• Lower house	Zweete Zemmer
Population
• 2019 census	111,288,000
GDP (nominal)	2021 estimate
• Total	$5,987 trillion
• Per capita	$53,800
HDI (2020)	0.943 very high
Currency	Florin (VLƒ)
Time zone	UTC-2 (Marmorian Standard Time)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	right
Internet TLD	.vl

Van Luxemburg (Vun Lëtzebuergesch: Vun Lëtzebuerg), officially the Grand Duchy of van Luxemburg (Vun Lëtzebuergesch]: Groussherzogtum Vun Lëtzebuerg), is a Grand Duchy made up of a federation of several historical states, located in the Marmorian Sea in western Maredoratica. Besides a federation of 9 states in what is commonly considered metropolitan Van Luxemburg, it controls the Special Cantons of Philipsbaai and the Riebeeck Islands. Van Luxemburg is bordered to the north and west by Ruccola and its main archipelago is surrounded by the Cold Sea in the East and the Marmorian Sea in the south. With a population of 111 million and a GDP of almost $6 trillion, it can be considered one of the larger economic powers in the region. Its official capital is Lëtzebuerg, whilst the most populous city Esch is also its main economic hub.

History

Loose alliance of states forms in the 1400s, is then turned into a more formal Grand Duchy/state under what will become the House of Annabeek-Witzelsbach in the 1600s, economic hardships in the 1500s-1600s lead to the development of colonies mostly for agricultural goods, extensive civil war with republican elements in the late 18th/early 19th century culminating in a federative state under the Grand Duke in the 1850s, swearing itself to armed neutrality and defending commerce. Relatively uneventful 20th century sees increased cooperation with neighbours and focus on economic growth.

Geography

Van Luxemburg covers an extensive archipelago that stretches over 2000 km and is over 700 km wide at its widest point. In terms of elevation, it covers everything from a high point of 5,100 metres in the Perret mountains, to the low-lying plains of Sint-Annabeek where polder land lies as low as -23 metres below sea level. Numerous large, navigable rivers cross the landscape.

• Landscapes of Van Luxemburg
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  On the northern border of Sint-Annabeek, in the Valkenbergen

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  In the Pietersduin National Park on the coast of the Annabeek bay

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  Along the Enz river, near the city of Enzersdorf

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  Somewhere in the Perret mountains

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  View over Neunhausen in the Alzette basin

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  The town of Cornocchia in San Giustra

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  The southernmost tip of the Cornice d'Arvaglio

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  Philipsbaai

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  Riebeeck Islands

Climate

The climate of Van Luxemburg is mostly influenced by the currents of the Cold and Marmorian Seas. In the northermost parts of the country, a humid continental climate quickly gives way to an oceanic climate in the majority of the country, whereas the southern parts of the country benefit from a hot-summer Mediterranean climate and the mountaineous areas have an alpine climate.

Politics and government

Van Luxemburg is a representative democracy organised as a constitutional monarchy under a Grand Duke as Head of State, even though his position is limited by the constitution to ceremonial roles only.

The Nationalzemmer's Raatssaal in the Demokrätiepalast is a 500-seat parliament that has nowadays largely been superseded by digital voting methods

The Nationalparlament is a bicameral legislation which has the Nationalzemmer as an upper house and the Zweete Zemmer as a lower house. Even though the Zweete Zemmer (and the government, by extension) is elected through regular party-list proportional representation elections every four years, the upper chamber or Nationalzemmer relies on a system of direct democracy. It elects representatives through a rolling, randomised lottery within a pool of eligible candidates, providing them with a one-year term in the 500-member Nationalzemmer and allowing them to approve or reject laws and motions previously approved by the lower chamber (Zweete Zemmer). Both chambers are housed in the monumental Demokrätiepalast, a

The Nationalparlament is generally only responsible for introducing legislation that transcends the level of the individual states of the federation (Çantons). In practice, this means that it has responsibility over foreign affairs, the military and national infrastructure, as well as social and judicial affairs matters that must be coordinated at the national level. The Nationalparlament is commonly advised through the Expertconseil, which has numerous councils of named specialists on particular subjects that outline long-term policies in all areas and advise on important issues to both chambers of parliament, on their request.

At the level below, each Canton has its own legislature, often chaired by local nobility or royalty in a ceremonial role. It mostly deals with matters of regional importance and speaks the official language of the Canton (generally different than Vun Lëtzebuergesch, except for the Canton of Lëtzebuerg). Legislation regarding issues such as taxation, housing and education may thus differ between Cantons and in theory, Cantons have their own military and civilian defense reserves and have far-reaching responsibilities in terms of law enforcement, but in practice this is left to the national government. In practice, the Expertconseil also assists the Cantonal governments in their decision-making.

Military

The military is commonly organized into three branches, being the Arméi (Army), Marine (Navy) and Marechaussee (Gendarmerie). Both the Army and the Navy operate an air arm, the Arméi Loftdienst (ALD) and Marine Loftdienst (MLD).

With the Grand Duchy following a path of armed neutrality, the military of Van Luxemburg is mostly focused on the defense of its own interests. Over the last century however, the state's expanding economic interests has meant that the military has also seen a gradual expansion in its abilities to project power beyond its own borders, in defence of commerce.

At home, the military relies on a strategy commonly known as the Plan Senneville, after the nation's first post-civil war prime minister. It relies heavily on prepared fortifications and positions manned by a defense volunteers organisation that is organised at the municipal level. In recent years, this organisation has also become more and more responsible for civil defense tasks. The military itself relies mostly on its army to fight a highly mobile war of defense, with heavier units assisting municipal defense units at natural chokepoints.

Foreign relations

The Maredoratika-Palast, seat of the Maredoratic League regional organisation

Van Luxemburg mainly aims to maintain at least cordial relations with most nations, primarily for economic reasons. Due to its policy of armed neutrality it has not engaged in any military alliances, but has established an economic agreement (the Martigues Agreement) with the neighbouring Republic of Ruccola, permitting free movement of goods, capital and labour. It furthermore hosts the Maredoratic League, a intergovernmental organization for regional affairs. It also hosts several regional NGO's, thanks to its neutral status.

Economy

Van Luxemburg can be considered a social market economy with a strong focus on its manufacturing and technology sectors and can be considered a regional economic power. Its currency, the Van Luxemburger Florin, is one of the most stable and important regional reserve currencies. Approximately 65% of the total GDP of almost $6 trillion USD is contributed by the service sector, followed by 32% by its industry and around 3% by agriculture, which is mostly derived from the highly mechanized growing of and trade in seeds, flowers and plants.

The country's main stock exchange is the Esch stock exchange, BESA. Its ESAX index is a major regional index and includes numerous large Van Luxemburger and foreign firms. Notable is the establishment of the joint Rucco-Van Luxemburger sovereign wealth fund Firema (Fund for the industrial reconstruction of Maredoratica) in 1945, focused on the reconstruction of the regional economy after a major war in the 1940's, during which both nations were neutral. Through this sovereign wealth fund, the two states own large stakes in numerous industries across the region, with its dividends being used to further regional industry as a whole.

Energy

In recent years, Van Luxemburg has invested considerably in more environmental means of generating energy, especially as it does not have any large deposits of oil, coal or natural gas. Previously mined deposits were considered uneconomical or unsafe to further exploit and closed over the past decade, with the last coal mines scheduled to close in 2030 at the latest.

This has resulted in a renewed focus on nuclear and natural energy sources, with the recent opening (2014) of a nuclear power plant on the coast of Sint-Annabeek, and the opening of various wind parks in the Cold Sea and Annabeek Bay, where the eastern wind coming in over the open sea could be harnassed. Further developments include the refurbishment of hydro-electric facilities in the Perret mountain range and high subsidies on the installation of photovoltaic panels on residential housing as well as in commercial construction. On 14 August 2021, Van Luxemburg could announce that for the first time ever that it had succeeded in powering 100% of its demand with renewable energy for at last a full day.

Numerous challenges however remain as the national grid sees increasing challenges in dealing with the uptick in localized power generation and a mismatch in the availability versus demand of power, requiring the use of nuclear but also older gas and coal-powered plants to fill the gaps.

Industry

The country has a particular reputation for its manufacturing industry, focusing primarily on the automobile industry but also a major stake in regional aerospace, railway and shipbuilding industries. Due to the increased focus on technology in these sectors, the country's economy has also shown major developments in the services sector, particularly IT and industries supporting its major transportation industries. Major firms include automobile manufacturer VLT Group, aerospace group Monteluci Aeronautica e Difesa and IT services firm Walter Technologies.

As a result of its large automobile manufacturing base, the national government has previously run both investment and tourism campaigns based on the Automobile Nation Number One slogan, where it pushed either investment in relevant industry sectors or the considerable number of automotive-related tourist destinations within the country. This has however also lead to the common criticism that national politics are too much influenced by the manufacturing industries and their interests, even going as far as suggestions that the Grand Duchy is actively defending Van Luxemburger commercial interests through military power projection abroad, for example due to considering a threat on foreign investments as a threat to Van Luxemburg's neutrality.

In recent years, the shift to increased automation in factories and offshoring of manufacturing facilities to countries with lower labour costs has meant that the number of lower-educated jobs in manufacturing has decreased, but the number of vacancies for research and development-related functions in the industries has increased. Both employers and the national government are trying to stimulate the transfer to a more knowledge-based economy through subsidizing further education, and actively providing development opportunities for both current and future layoffs in the manufacturing sector, which are expected to continue as automation and offshoring continues. The Grand Duchy has stated it expects that the employment split between services and manufacturing will almost completely be reversed in the next 30 years, whilst maintaining or increasing industrial output. This is expected to lead to considerable stress on the labour market, despite aforementioned initiatives to stimulate further education. Aging of the general population will also play a role in this, is the expectation.

Transport

Even though Van Luxemburg has its roots as a seafaring nation thanks to its location, in the recent century it has mostly developed an extensive land and air-based strcuture. Even though a system of ferries and shipping lines exists to get around its peninsula and the numerous islands, most transport and travel takes place either by land (rail or road) or air. Van Luxemburg was early to recognize the effects these (newer) mode of transports could have on their infrastructure by actively funding the development of both airlines and a national railway and motorway network. Investments have continued in recent years, mostly also due to developments within the considerable domestic transportation industry. It should however be noted that the Canton of Lëtzebuerg hosts an important part of the population in the Alzette bay basin, and the majority of daily movements are relatively confined to this area.

In terms of ports, the port of Esch remains the largest shipping port in the Grand Duchy, being among one of the largest Ro-Ro shipping ports in the region whilst also processing approximately 12 million TEU worth of twenty-foot container equivalents. The port of xxxxxx in Sint-Annabeek is the largest shipping port in the country for bulk goods, as well as liquids such as gas and oil.

The country has an extensive railway network, where in the last 30 years new construction has taken place to connect the largest cities with high-speed rail lines. A number of important railway connections throughout the archipelago are made through a combination of tunnels and bridges, often shared with one of the many motorways. Most of these major infrastructural works were completed in the last 50 years, before which railway ferries were common. Most of the network is maintained through the now state-owned NEB Railstructure, whereas train services themselves are often operated by the Nationaleisenbunn (NEB), a corporation in which the national government and all cantons hold the majority of shares. NEB operates most of the national rail services, including a host of high-speed train services as well as both express and overnight service, including motorail services. Other, privately operated services exist and operate freely on both national infrastructure as well as locally or privately owned infrastructure.

Shortly after the intial completion of major sections of railway network in the 1920's, the development of individual mobility by motor vehicle took a massive flight in the Grand Duchy. First (private) initiatives were taken through the development of the Luxembourg-Esch motorway, a controlled-access highway between the capital and the country largest city and one of the first regional attempts at a motorway. With the defintion of standards by the Federale Autobunn Inspectioun (FAI) the Autobunn was created in the 1930's, after which a national network was developed until completion of the initial plans in the 1990's. A two-tiered system was created in the 1970's, where major arterial routes were defined as the A-category of roads with a minimum of 3 lanes in each direction and no speed limit, together with a secondary B-category of lower design standard with a minimum of 2 lanes in each direction and an optional speed limit. This system has remained in use today, with the Cantons maintaining regional road networks below this level. Roadway maintenance and development remains one of the largest focuses of Van Luxemburg's infrastructure budget.

Aviation developed itself as a major alternative to land or seabourne transport in the 20th century and nowadays the country has an extensive network of domestic routes, however the advent of high-speed rail and the extensive coverage of the motorway network has resulted in a decline in the number of domestic routes over the last 20 years. Major airports include Venezia's Gilberto Monteluci airport, coincidentally also the home of aircraft manufacturer Monteluci, as well as Luxembourg's Courtemanche International Airport which also serves the city of Esch and is generally considered the largest and most modern airport facility of the country. National carrier Groussherzogliche Fliger Gesellschaft (GFG) operates from both airports as hub airports and covers the wider region with both domestic (RegioJet) and international services, among which supersonic flights to select important destinations using its small fleet of Monteluci Bora SST's.

Demographics

In 2020 the Van Luxemburger population stood just over 111 million, according to official statistics. This is a slight increase from the previous year, however the country continues to see an ageing population (with an average of 40.1 years) with a decreasing fertility rate, only to be slightly boosted by immigration. A slow but growing population decrease is projected to take place from 2035 onwards. Van Luxemburg continues to see immigration, primarily for economic reasons, from countries across the wider region. Due to a lack of technical and healthcare staff, numerous firms have actively recruited from abroad in recent years to fill vacancies such as for nurses and geriatric caretakers as well as mechanics and electricians.

Traditionally, the Van Luxemburger population was not centered in major urbanized areas and was decidedly rural in nature, with low population densities in all regions. Over the last 150 years however, industrialization has formed effectively 3 strong conurbations; the greater Luxembourg-Esch area (generally also named the Alzette Basin), the greater Annabeek area (sometimes also referred to as Sint-Annabeekpolder) and the greater Venezia area. The three tend to account for just under 50% of the national population and house a majority of the industrial centres in the country. The remainder of the population is very much spread out across the remaining landmass, across a number of larger cities but the vast majority in smaller towns. With recent access to internet, working from home has become increasingly popular for office workers, resulting in a push towards the countryside, away from the larger cities. It has been estimated this movement started in the early 2010's and has only gained momentum in the last few years.

Languages

Due to its federative origins, Van Luxemburg is inherently multilingual. 95% of its inhabitants indicated they could speak 3 or more languages proficiently in a 2018 study; this often includes the national and official language Vun Lëtzebuergesch, which is often used at national government levels and in major corporations, whereas they also generally speak the language of their own canton, being either Dutch, French, German or Italian. In addition to this, all schools teach English, with primary schools starting earlier with English language classes in recent years. Other language classes are available, but may only be mandatory in particular forms of education. For instance, vocational education for technical courses does not require any other languages to be taught besides the national and regional language, alongside with English. Students may elect to take them, however.

In everyday life, the choice and use of language is very much dependent on the location and employment of an individual. Studies have indicated that at least 80% of citizens use the regional language of their canton at home and in everyday social life, however at work this decreases to about 60%. Nevertheless, regional languages have very rapidly standardized over the last century due to the advent of radio and television, as well as urbanization. Where almost every municipality was recorded as having a local dialect only 70 years ago, differences have rapidly decreased as younger generations tend to focus on the officially taught languages and often study elsewhere, requiring them to be mutually intelligible.

Health

Van Luxemburg has a mandatory health insurance, which offers access to healthcare at a monthly fee covered by employers, the insured and the cantonal government. The mandatory health insurance is offered by a number of private health insurances, who must accept any applicant regardless of medical condition. The fee for the insured is highly dependent on the funding provided by the cantonal government and the employers, even though a minimum level of funding exists for both. In case of the unemployed, the national government covers the employer share and may cover up to 100% of the insured's payable depending on conditions. The same is applied to employees working minimum to median wage, even though the national government pays progressively less in this case as the insured is expected to shoulder more of the costs as he/she earns more.

Despite the risk sharing aspect between the three parties, the cost of the healthcare system in Van Luxemburg is among the highest in the region. This can mostly be attributed to an ageing population and low barriers to access to healthcare, as well as generally well-equipped hospitals. The universitary hospital in Enzersdorf (EUMC) is highly regarded and generaly considered the best in the country for advanced medical treatments; furthermore, in recent studies, only 5% of hospitals received a patient rating less than 6 out of 10 (i.e. not satisfactory).