2020-03-01 Reader\'s Digest AUNZ

LUXEMBOURG

AREA: 2586 sqkm

POPULATION:around600,000

T

aking our lead from the

EurovisionSongContest,we’re

happytosayour 12 pointsgo

toLuxembourg,whichhaswonthe

famoussongcompetitionnofewer

thanfivetimes.Butwe’reafraidit’s

nullpointsforthenation’sfootball

team,whichhasyettoqualifyfora

majortournamentdespitenearlya

centuryoftrying.

Luxembourgisawelcomingkind

ofplace,andvisitorstendtostaya

while.Inthepast,thatappliedtothe

Habsburgs,Burgundians,Prussians,

Spanish,Dutch,BelgiansandFrench,

whoalldecidedtocalltheGrand

Duchyhome.Today,visitorscome

heretowork,withforeignersmaking

upnearlyhalftheveryyouthfulpopu-

lation,whichhasanaverageageof39.

Thosewhoarejustpassingthrough

come for the Michelin-starred

restaurants,forthemanyimposing

castlesandthehistoriccharmsof

LuxembourgCity.

It’sawell-to-doplace,withthe

world’shighestGDPpercapita.The

officiallanguagesareFrench,German

andLuxembourgish.Thelattergoes

backtoFrankishtimesandtradition-

allyisonlyspokenathome.A 2013

studyshowedthat 70 percentof

peopleuseitatwork,schooland/or

home,and 56 percentsaidit wastheir

principallanguage.

TOURISTAPPEAL:thefood,the

wine,beautifulcastles,thecountry-

side,thehistory...

DidYouKnow?

‘Bluetooth’technologywasnamedaftera tenthcenturyking,

KingHarald‘Bluetooth’Gormsson.HeunitedDenmarkand

Norway– justlikethewirelesstechnologyunitedcomputers

andmobilephones.thefactsite.com

Well-fortified walls defended

Luxembourg City for many centuries

106 march 2020

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