Luxembourg and Belgium, while highly urbanised, share a wilderness area rich in natural and man-made attractions
LUXEMBOURG IS A remarkably young country by West European standards, having attained full independence as recently as 1867.
But it has come a long way since Karl Marx noted the poverty of Luxembourger wine-makers in the Moselle Valley in the 19th century, an observation that partly helped inspire his radical socio-economic theories.
Luxembourg is now the richest nation in the world, based on gross domestic product per capita.
The country's affluent citizens enjoy, in common with their EU neighbours, protection from economic exploitation by a raft of EU regulations.
Previously an industrial powerhouse, primarily in steel production, Luxembourg has for many years been growing as a banking centre.