LUXEMBOURG

Population: 502.000 (country)

88.600 (capital city)

     Besides its size and population the country of Luxembourg has many characteristics that make it a very particular country. Located between France, Germany and Belgium it is an European country unknown for most of people.

From the half million inhabitants in the country of Luxembourg, 37% are immigrants. Portuguese being the biggest community with 60.000 immigrants.

The country of Luxembourg is smaller than countries like Fiji and French Polynesia. A country with 2.586 km²  is smaller than the metropolitan area of São Paulo 7.943 km². So reduced size that the ticket used for the public transportation in the city of Luxembourg can be used to travel inside the whole country.

Being small in size, it impress by the fact that it has 3 official languages: Luxembourgish, French and German. Which means that the citizens of Luxembourg graduate from highschool speaking fluent all the 3 official languages plus English.

The amazing train station that plays classical music and has an art exhibition in the hall.

The history of this small country started with the today known as Luxembourg castle. A fort that centered the development of a town around it. Along the time not only the town developed but also the fortifications. The case mates Bock that nowadays is the main touristic sightseeing of this country is a network of underground fortifications built on the rock. The complex of fortifications are considered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Even being a small country Luxembourg has an active diplomatical position. It is one of the founding member of the United Nations in 1946 and NATO in 1949. In 1957 was one of the 6 founding countries of the European Economic Community (later the European Union).

The fact that the army of Luxembourg has around 800 people attracts a lot of attention, but what is even more impressive is its economical development. Until the 1960’s it was basically an industrial economy being steel the main component. Even nowadays Luxembourg host the headquarter of the largest steel company in the world, ArcelorMittal.

With the decline of the steel industry along the last decades the financial sector has more than successfully developed. Hosting almost 200 banks Luxembourg is the world’s 2^nd largest investment fund center and one of the biggest exporter of financial services. It has the 3^rd lowest unemployment rate in the EU besides the recent international crisis. Being the only remaining sovereign Grand Duchy in the world Luxembourg is placed on the 24th place in the United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI) and the world's highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

Luxembourg still is a place in between, a country where people pass by before their final destination. Few people travel to Europe or that part of Europe just because of Luxembourg, but it is definitely a small jewel to be discovered and explored. Besides its size there is a lot of things to be seen and options of things to do. If you are eager to explore the country it is small enough to travel during the day and be back to the capital on the same day. If you want to relax the tip is go to Grunt at Luxembourg capital or explore the countryside and stay in a small town. For example Clervaux, a small city in the north of the country. It host Edward Steichen’s Family of Man exhibition. It's composed by more than 500 photos from 273 photographers and is a UNESCO's Memory of the World. A really nice photo gallery about people. Life, death, family, happiness, no matter where you are we are all same human beings.

Good food too