205 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
205 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
LIECHTENSTEIN
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GEOGRAPHY
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Total area: 160 km2; land area: 160 km2
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Comparative area: about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC
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Land boundaries: 78 km total; Austria 37 km, Switzerland 41 km
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Coastline: none--landlocked
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Maritime claims: none--landlocked
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Climate: continental; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow or
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rain; cool to moderately warm, cloudy, humid summers
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Terrain: mostly mountainous (Alps) with Rhine Valley in western
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third
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Natural resources: hydroelectric potential
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Land use: arable land 25%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures
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38%; forest and woodland 19%; other 18%
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Environment: variety of microclimatic variations based on elevation
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Note: landlocked
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PEOPLE
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Population: 28,476 (July 1991), growth rate 0.6% (1991)
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Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1991)
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Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
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Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
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Infant mortality rate: 5 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
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Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 81 years female (1991)
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Total fertility rate: 1.5 children born/woman (1991)
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Nationality: noun--Liechtensteiner(s); adjective--Liechtenstein
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Ethnic divisions: Alemannic 95%, Italian and other 5%
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Religion: Roman Catholic 87.3%, Protestant 8.3%, unknown 1.6%,
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other 2.8% (1988)
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Language: German (official), Alemannic dialect
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Literacy: 100% (male 100%, female 100%) age 10 and over can
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read and write (1981)
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Labor force: 12,258; 5,078 foreign workers (mostly from
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Switzerland and Austria); industry, trade, and building 54.4%; services
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41.6%; agriculture, fishing, forestry, and horticulture 4.0%
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Organized labor: NA
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GOVERNMENT
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Long-form name: Principality of Liechtenstein
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Type: hereditary constitutional monarchy
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Capital: Vaduz
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Administrative divisions: 11 communes (gemeinden,
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singular--gemeinde); Balzers, Eschen, Gamprin, Mauren, Planken, Ruggell,
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Schaan, Schellenberg, Triesen, Triesenberg, Vaduz
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Independence: 23 January 1719, Imperial Principality of
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Liechtenstein established
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Constitution: 5 October 1921
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Legal system: local civil and penal codes; accepts compulsory ICJ
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jurisdiction, with reservations
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National holiday: Saint Joseph's Day, 19 March
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Executive branch: reigning prince, hereditary prince, head
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of government, deputy head of government
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Legislative branch: unicameral Diet (Landtag)
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Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof) for criminal
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cases and Superior Court (Obergericht) for civil cases
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Leaders:
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Chief of State--Prince HANS ADAM II (since 13 November 1989;
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assumed executive powers 26 August 1984);
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Heir Apparent Prince ALOIS von und zu Liechtenstein (born 11 June 1968);
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Head of Government--Hans BRUNHART (since 26 April 1978);
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Deputy Head of Government Dr. Herbert WILLE (since 2 February 1986)
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Political parties and leaders:
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Fatherland Union (VU), Dr. Otto HASLER;
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Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP), Emanuel VOGT;
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Free Electoral List (FW)
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Suffrage: universal at age 18
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Elections:
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Diet--last held on 5 March 1989 (next to be held by March 1993);
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results--percent of vote by party NA;
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seats--(25 total) VU 13, FBP 12
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Communists: none
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Member of: CE, CSCE, EBRD, EFTA, IAEA, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC,
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ITU, LORCS, UN, UNCTAD, UPU, WIPO
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Diplomatic representation: in routine diplomatic matters,
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Liechtenstein is represented in the US by the Swiss Embassy;
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US--the US has no diplomatic or consular mission in Liechtenstein,
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but the US Consul General at Zurich (Switzerland) has consular
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accreditation at Vaduz
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Flag: two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and red with a
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gold crown on the hoist side of the blue band
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ECONOMY
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Overview: The prosperous economy is based primarily on small-scale
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light industry and tourism. Industry accounts for 54% of total
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employment, the service sector 42% (mostly based on tourism), and
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agriculture and forestry 4%. The sale of postage stamps to collectors is
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estimated at $10 million annually. Low business taxes (the maximum tax
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rate is 20%) and easy incorporation rules have induced about 25,000
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holding or so-called letter box companies to establish nominal offices in
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Liechtenstein. Such companies, incorporated solely for tax purposes,
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provide 30% of state revenues. The economy is tied closely to that of
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Switzerland in a customs union, and incomes and living standards parallel
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those of the more prosperous Swiss groups.
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GDP: $630 million, per capita $22,300; real growth rate NA% (1990
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est.)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.0% (1989 est.)
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Unemployment rate: 0.1% (December 1986)
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Budget: revenues $240 million; expenditures $197 million, including
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capital expenditures of NA (1988)
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Exports: $1.28 billion (1988);
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commodities--small specialty machinery, dental products, stamps,
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hardware, pottery;
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partners--EC 40%, EFTA 22% (Switzerland 18%) (1988)
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Imports: $NA;
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commodities--machinery, metal goods, textiles, foodstuffs, motor
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vehicles;
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partners--NA
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External debt: $NA
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Industrial production: growth rate NA%
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Electricity: 23,000 kW capacity; 150 million kWh produced,
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5,340 kWh per capita (1989)
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Industries: electronics, metal manufacturing, textiles, ceramics,
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pharmaceuticals, food products, precision instruments, tourism
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Agriculture: livestock, vegetables, corn, wheat, potatoes, grapes
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Economic aid: none
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Currency: Swiss franc, franken, or franco (plural--francs, franken,
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or franchi); 1 Swiss franc, franken, or franco (SwF) = 100 centimes,
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rappen, or centesimi
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Exchange rates: Swiss francs, franken, or franchi (SwF) per
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US$1--1.2724 (January 1991), 1.3892 (1990), 1.6359 (1989), 1.4633 (1988),
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1.4912 (1987), 1.7989 (1986), 2.4571 (1985)
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Fiscal year: calendar year
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COMMUNICATIONS
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Railroads: 18.5 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, electrified; owned,
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operated, and included in statistics of Austrian Federal Railways
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Highways: 130.66 km main roads, 192.27 km byroads
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Civil air: no transport aircraft
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Airports: none
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Telecommunications: automatic telephone system; 25,400 telephones;
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stations--no AM, no FM, no TV
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DEFENSE FORCES
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Branches: Police Department
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Note: defense is responsibility of Switzerland
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