Country	Liechtenstein
Capital	Vaduz
Continent	Europe
Currency	Swiss franc(CHF)
Languages	German

Locaion

Central Europe, between Austria and Switzerland

Geographic Co ordinates

47 16 N, 9 32 E

Land Boundries

Total:76 km
Border countries:Austria 34.9 km, Switzerland 41.1 km

Geography - note

along with Uzbekistan, one of only two doubly landlocked countries in the world; variety of microclimatic variations based on elevation

Population

35,002 (July 2010 est.)
Country comparison to the world:210

Nationality

Noun:Liechtensteiner(s)
Adjective:Liechtenstein

Ethnic groups

Liechtensteiner 65.6%, other 34.4% (2000 census)

Religions

Roman Catholic 76.2%, Protestant 7%, unknown 10.6%, other 6.2% (June 2002)

Languages

German (official), Alemannic dialect

Country Name

Conventional long form:Principality of Liechtenstein
Conventional short form:Liechtenstein
Local long form:Fuerstentum Liechtenstein
Local short form:Liechtenstein

Government Type

constitutional monarchy

Capital

Name:Vaduz
Geographic coordinates:47 08 N, 9 31 E
Time difference:UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions

11 communes (Gemeinden, singular - Gemeinde); Balzers, Eschen, Gamprin, Mauren, Planken, Ruggell, Schaan, Schellenberg, Triesen, Triesenberg, Vaduz

Independence

23 January 1719 (Principality of Liechtenstein established); 12 July 1806 (independence from the Holy Roman Empire)

National Holiday

Assumption Day, 15 August

Constitution

5 October 1921; amended 15 September 2003

Legal system

local civil and penal codes based on civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch

Chief of state:Prince HANS ADAM II (since 13 November 1989, assumed executive powers on 26 August 1984); Heir Apparent Prince ALOIS, son of the monarch (born 11 June 1968); note - on 15 August 2004, HANS ADAM transferred the official duties of the ruling prince to ALOIS, but HANS ADAM retains status of chief of state
Head of government:Head of Government Klaus TSCHUETSCHER (since 25 March 2009)
Cabinet: Cabinet elected by the Parliament, confirmed by the monarch
(For more information visit the World Leaders website)
Elections:the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party in the Landtag usually appointed the head of government by the monarch and the leader of the largest minority party in the Landtag usually appointed the deputy head of government by the monarch if there is a coalition government

Legislative branch

unicameral Parliament or Landtag (25 seats; members elected by popular vote under proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
Elections:last held on 8 February 2009 (next to be held in February 2013)
Election results:percent of vote by party - VU 47.6%, FBP 43.5%, FL 8.9%; seats by party - VU 13, FBP 11, FL 1

Judicial branch

Supreme Court or Oberster Gerichtshof; Court of Appeal or Obergericht

Political Parties and Leaders

Die Freie Liste (The Free List) or FL [Wolfgang MARXER]; Fortschrittliche Buergerpartei (Progressive Citizens' Party) or FBP [Alexander BATLINER]; Vaterlaendische Union (Fatherland Union) or VU [Adolf HEEB]

Political pressure groups and leaders

NA

International organization participation

CE, EBRD, EFTA, IAEA, ICCt, ICRM, IFRCS, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention (de facto member), UN, UNCTAD, UPU, WIPO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US

Chief of mission:Ambassador Claudia FRITSCHE
Chancery:2900 K Street, NW, Suite 602B, Washington, DC 20007
Telephone:[1] (202) 331-0590
FAX:[1] (202) 331-3221

Diplomatic representation from the US

the US does not have an embassy in Liechtenstein; the US Ambassador to Switzerland is accredited to Liechtenstein

Flag description

two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and red with a gold crown on the hoist side of the blue band; the colors may derive from the blue and red livery design used in the principality's household in the 18th century; the prince's crown was introduced in 1937 to distinguish the flag from that of Haiti

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Google News

This RSS feed URL is deprecatedThis RSS feed URL is deprecated, please update. New URLs can be found in the footers at https://news.google.com/news Map fail: Swiss airline places Liechtenstein capital in Switzerland - The Local Switzerland The Local Switzerland Map fail: Swiss airline places Liechtenstein capital in Switzerland The Local Switzerland The blink-and-you'll-miss it principality of Liechtenstein may share a currency with Switzerland and have the same air of comfortable, alpine wealth, but it is most definitely its own country, with its own passports, country code and political system ... Liechtenstein To Support Blockchain With New Regulations - Cointelegraph Cointelegraph Liechtenstein To Support Blockchain With New Regulations Cointelegraph The government of Liechtenstein will introduce new legislation to regulate Blockchain business models and underlying Blockchain systems, Prime Minister Adrian Hasler announced during a speech at the Finance Forum in Vaduz, Cointelegraph auf Deutsch ... and more » Local democracy in Liechtenstein - Council of Europe (press release) Council of Europe (press release) Local democracy in Liechtenstein Council of Europe (press release) The Congress calls on the Liechtenstein authorities to clarify the allocation of powers between central government and the municipalities as regards planning and development and to abolish the system of government approval of local budgets. The ... and more » Liechtenstein to Avoid 'Excessive' Blockchain Regulation: Prime Minister - CoinDesk CoinDesk Liechtenstein to Avoid 'Excessive' Blockchain Regulation: Prime Minister CoinDesk Blockchain technology is driving economic transformation and Liechtenstein wants to be in the front seat, according to the country's prime minister. As such, the Liechtenstein government has set out to draw up "sensible," comprehensive blockchain ... and more » Pierin Vincenz Affair: Now Liechtenstein is Involved - finews.com finews.com Pierin Vincenz Affair: Now Liechtenstein is Involved finews.com The investigations against former Raiffeisen head Pierin Vincenz are well under way, and state prosecutors from Liechtenstein have now joined the probe. The former head of the Raiffeisen group has been in custody for one and a half months as ... Liechtenstein PM Proposes Friendly Crypto Regulation With New “Blockchain Act” - CCN CCN Liechtenstein PM Proposes Friendly Crypto Regulation With New “Blockchain Act” CCN There's promising news from European regulators as Liechtenstein announces that they'll be taking a light-handed approach when it comes to blockchain technology. Liechtenstein is one of many small European nations establishing itself as a blockchain ... Liechtenstein to get on board with Blockchain Regulationscryptona.co (press release) all 2 news articles » Chinese Firm Wraps Up Liechtenstein Bank - finews.asia finews.asia Chinese Firm Wraps Up Liechtenstein Bank finews.asia A Chinese finance firm has wrapped up a deal to buy a private bank in Liechtenstein. It is the most recent of a spate of Chinese deals in Europe's finance hubs. What is the attraction? Hong Kong's Mason Group has cemented its purchase of Raiffeisen ... VP Bank and LLB Implement Thomson Reuters Wealth Management Solution - finews.com finews.com VP Bank and LLB Implement Thomson Reuters Wealth Management Solution finews.com VP Bank and the Liechtensteinische Landesbank have decided to switch to the Eikon financial information system from Thomson Reuters. This was the result of an evaluation which was accomplished by Information Performance AG. The innovative wealth ... Co-Working Space “House of Blockchain” Launches In Liechtenstein - CoinJournal (blog) CoinJournal (blog) Co-Working Space “House of Blockchain” Launches In Liechtenstein CoinJournal (blog) A new co-working space has been launched in Liechtenstein to support blockchain startups. House of Blockchain is an initiative of Aeternity, an open source, blockchain-based distributed computer platform, and aims to attract blockchain-focused ... ćternity's House of Blockchain supports Liechtenstein startupsBankless Times all 2 news articles » ''Happy Birthday, Bitch!'' Damian Hurley Is Back as Hansel von Liechtenstein to Celebrate the Queen's Birthday on ... - E! Online E! Online ''Happy Birthday, Bitch!'' Damian Hurley Is Back as Hansel von Liechtenstein to Celebrate the Queen's Birthday on ... E! Online He's back in action! The Royals is welcoming back a familiar face. Hansel von Liechtenstein (Damian Hurley) is back in the palace to celebrate Queen Helena's (Elizabeth Hurley) birthday. Hopefully he'll be a great buffer for the craziness that is about ... and more »