Size doesn’t matter Luxembourg: an overview Official designation Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Geographic coordinates Located in mainland Europe, latitude 49° 37’ North and longitude 6° 08’ East Area 2,586 km2 LUXEMBOURG Neighbouring countries Belgium (148 km border) Germany (135 km border) France (73 km border) Capital Luxembourg Population 493,500 inhabitants (comprising 278,000 Luxembourg nationals and 215,500 foreign residents) Languages • Lëtzebuergesch (the national language) • French, German and Lëtzebuergesch (administrative and legal languages) • English (spoken by a large proportion of the population) Currency Euro Political system Parliamentary democracy within the system of a constitutional monarchy Head of state HRH Grand Duke Henri Head of government Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister Luxembourg is a founder member of Benelux, the United Nations (UN), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Council of Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). 2 Preserving an environmental asset One of the main attractions of Luxembourg is its greatly varied landscape, which is astonishing for such a small country. The northern part of the Grand Duchy is dominated by vast forests and deep valleys. The east of the country is a wine- producing region, where vineyards, which have been cultivated for thousands of years, flank the Moselle river forming the border with Germany. In the centre of the country there are striking rock formations, especially in the heart of a region called Mullerthal, Luxembourg’s Little Switzerland. Lastly, even in the south, the industrial basin and most densely populated area of Luxembourg, nature is reclaim- ing land in the midst of former opencast mines. This variety of landscapes also promotes an impressive biological diversity of flora and fauna. The Luxembourg pavilion emphasises this natural heritage: the timber used inside the building has been specially imported from Luxembourg. The country has relatively low levels of urban development – the largest city, the capital Luxembourg, has fewer than 90,000 inhabitants – and large expanses of woodland ensure a quality of life which is valued by the popula- tion. The existence of green spaces everywhere, even in towns, is a fundamental asset of Luxembourg. 1 Although Luxembourg is a grand duchy, it nevertheless remains one of the smallest countries in the world, owing the designation “grand” entirely to the title of its monarch. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, with an area of 2,586 km2 and a population of fewer than half a million inhabitants, hardly impresses by its size. Fortunately, however, life is not 2 all about statistics. This is summed up in the slogan of the Luxembourg pavilion: “Small is beautiful too”. At its 21st universal exhibition since 1851, Luxembourg presents itself with a pavilion which displays the country’s natural assets, history, and economy, whilst emphasising its efforts to respond to the demands of environmental issues and to rise to the 3 challenges of sustainable development and also its role in the construction of 1 The Schießentümpel waterfall is situated the European Union. in the Mullerthal, Luxembourg’s Little Switzerland, a region offering enchanting walks through rocks, gorges and chasms © SIP 2 Visitors to the village of Bech-Kleinmacher can learn about viticulture thanks to its wine and culture discovery trail and the folklore and wine museum “A Possen” © ONT 3 Located in the north of the country, Esch-sur-Sûre is a picturesque small town dominated by a ruined manor and sheer cliffs plunging down to the river Sûre © SIP 3 Protecting quality of life for future generations Luxembourg has established a series of measures to meet the important environmental challenges the planet has to face. Protected zones constitute 15 % of the country’s area, consisting of sites which are essential for protecting natural habitats, fauna and flora. These environmental measures apply not only to rural areas, but also to towns. Therefore a consistent ex- pansion of public transport services is taking place across the country. The aim is to encourage the popula- tion to give up car travel wherever possible in order to reduce CO2 emissions, because quality of life is of course dependent on air quality... “Better city, better life”. The Luxembourg pavilion puts this respect for the environment into practice, as it has been designed entirely with recyclable materials: wood, glass and steel. Sustainability inevitably entails optimal use of raw materials and better waste manage- ment. However, this is only one aspect of the essential work required to ensure sustainable development. 1 2 4 Ambitious objectives in the field of sustainable development The planet hangs in a fragile balance and our environmental heritage is under threat, mainly due to population growth and economic activity. Environmentally-friendly measures alone are nevertheless insufficient to ensure a good quality of life for the current population and for future generations. In order to take up this challenge, the Luxembourg government estab- lished its first National Plan for Sustainable Development in 1999, which not only sets objectives for preserving biodiversity, forests, soil, water and air quality, but also provides for a gradual readjustment of eco- nomic activity. Henceforth, state mechanisms, including fiscal ones, must encourage the industrial and craft sectors to adapt to environmental demands without impeding competi- tion, notably by investing in new technologies. Ambitious targets have also been set for limiting greenhouse gas emissions and rationalising energy consumption, with increased use of renewable energy sources. The National Plan for Sustainable Development also includes a signifi- cant social component which applies to official development assistance as well. Luxembourg actually contributes 0.95 % of its gross national income (GNI) to the fight against poverty in the developing world, placing it second in the world in this area. The government target is to achieve 1 % in the next few years. In 2009, Luxembourg took a further step towards providing a more coordinated response in the different areas of sustainable development. The government established a ministry responsible for all the port- folios which are directly involved. The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Infrastructure actually brings together the depart- ments for town and country planning, the environment, transport and public works. 1 © Jérôme Peiffer/SIP 2 © SIP 3 Luxembourg has 38 wind farms on its territory 3 © SEO 5 A successful economy • The steel industry and finance, twin pillars of the economy Sustainable development in Luxembourg can rely on an economic activity which generates wealth and is in fact remarkably successful in certain sectors. The large number of steel components of the pavilion hark back to the early days of industry in Luxembourg, dating back to the second half of the 19th century, which marked the transition from an agrar- ian to an industrial state. With the discovery of phosphoric iron ore deposits in the south of the country in the 1840s, which were processed from 1879 using the Thomas-Gilchrist process to allow phosphoric pig iron to be transformed into steel, the steel industry has undergone such sig- nificant growth that it has radically changed both the economic and demographic structure of Luxembourg, making a significant contribution to its wealth. In 1911, several Luxembourg steel- works joined to form the ARBED group (Aciéries réunies de Burbach, Eich, Dudelange), which was to become one of the world leaders in the steel industry. In 2002, ARBED merged with the Spanish and French companies Aceralia and Usinor to form the Arcelor group. The latter then merged with the Mittal Steel group in 2006. Today, the ArcelorMittal group is the world’s number one steel company, with nearly 285,000 employees in some 60 countries and produces approximately 8 % of the world’s steel. The group, which has its main headquarters in Luxembourg City, is active in Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia, and has a stake amongst others in the Chinese companies Hunan Valin Steel Tube & Wire, BNA and the China Oriental Group Co. It is worth mentioning in this context that components of the Jin Mao Tower and World Financial Center in Shanghai as well as the New Poly Plaza Tower in Beijing were built using Luxembourg steel. Moreover, the steel industry encour- aged the emergence of a new pillar of the Luxembourg economy, the banking sector. The first two banks established in Luxembourg were in fact intended to finance the steel industry. This sector has grown considerably since then and today there are almost 150 banks, including two Chinese banks, the Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). The recent agreement signed between the Luxembourg and Chinese financial centres aims to increase cooperation, by allowing direct investment in financial products between the two countries. With its in-depth knowl- edge of international client needs, Luxembourg’s financial centre is the leader for private financial services in the euro area and one of the top ten financial centres in the world. Furthermore, Luxembourg lies in second place behind the United States for investment funds. ArcelorMittal production plants are located in more than 20 countries across four continents © Andrés Lejona 7 1 SES is the world leader in communications and broadcasting with a fleet of more than 40 satellites © Christof Weber/SIP 2 Cargolux is the biggest air freight company in Europe, transporting over 700 million tonnes annually © Cargolux 3 Luxembourg’s geographic location makes it an ideal hub for all logistics-related activities © MECO/Marc Schmit 4 An appropriate legal framework and substantial investment demonstrate the government’s commitment to promoting research © MECO/Luc Deflorenne 5 © Communautés européennes 1 2 3 4 • Broadcasting and partnership with China since the logistics, additional key 1970s and offers regular links between sectors of the economy Luxembourg and Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong.