LUXEMBURG. .111 itmdlependent grand duchy of bounded by the Prussian Rhine Province ou the north and east, German Lor raine and France on the south, and Belgium on the west Germany, B 4). Area, 998 square miles. The northern and more elevated part of the eountry belongs to the region of the Ardennes, and reaches an altitude of about 1800 feet. The southern part belongs to the plateau of Lorraine, is perceptibly lower, and is of re markable fertility. The district lies in the basin of the Moselle (which forms a part of the east ern boundary), and is watered by the Sauer and its tributaries. The climate is somewhat rawer than that of Belgium and more changeable.
Agriculture is the chief industry. Over one balf of the total area consists of arable land. Cereals, the vine, and fruits are grown on a large scale. Stock-raising is also important. Luxemburg is noted for its iron deposits, found chiefly along the southwestern frontier. In 1901 there were 75 iron-mines, employing over 4700 persons, with an output of 4,500,000 tons, valued at over $2,270,000. Copper, antimony, and lead also exist, but are not exploited. The output of building-stone is considerable.
The chief manufacturing industries are con nected with the mineral production. In 1901 the foundries and iron and steel mills of Luxem. burg employed nearly 5000 persons, and the pro duction of iron and steel for that year was valued at more than $16,700,000. Of less importance is the manufacture of woolens, gloves, pottery, paper, beer. and leather. For commercial pur poses the grand duchy has formed a part of the German Zollverein since 1843. It exports chiefly minerals and manufactures, and imports coke, coal. and grain. The railway lines have a total length of 290 miles.
Luxemburg is a constitutional monarchy. hereditary in the male line, and administered under the Constitution promulgated in 184S and revised in 1856 and 1S68. The legislative power is vested in a House of Representatives of 45 members, elected for six years by restricted suf frage. The executive power is in the hands of a Minister of State, assisted by the directors of finance, justice, and interio•—all nominated by the Grand Duke. There is also a nominated Council of State, whose functions are only ad visory, and from which seven members are select ed to form a court of administration. Luxem has been a neutral territory since 1667.
Military service is not obligatory. The armed force consists of less than 200 volunteers and of about 150 gendarmes. The revenue and expen ditures for 1900 amounted to $1.801,400 and $2,277,400, respectively, the deficit having been met by the surplus of the preeeding years. Lux emburg has a debt of about $2.400,000, con tracted mainly for the eonstruetion of railways. and converted in 1893 into a single loan at 31/, per cent. The grand duchy has no separate eur reney, with the exception of fractional coins based on the franc, which is the legal unit. Ed ueation is obligatory and well provided for.
Luxemburg forms a separate bishopric. Popula tion, in 1890. 211,0SS; in 1900, 2311.543, almost exclusively Catholics. The inhabitants are of German origin and generally speak a German dialect, modified by an admixture of corrupt French, Capital, Luxemburg (q.v.).
IltsTour. The medifeval counts of Luxemburg took their name from the Castle of Lfitzelburg, around which the town of Luxembnrg (originally called Liitzelburg) grew up. The County of Luxemburg. which formed one of the petty prin cipalities of the Holy Roman Empire of the Germans, first collies into prominence in 130S, in which year the German princes elected Count Henry to fill the Imperial throne. In 1310 his son, John the Blind, who had married the sister of Wenceslas III., of Bohemia, became King of that country. (See BOHEMIA.) John's son, Charles, King of Bohemia and German Emperor (Charles IV.). gave the country to his step brother, Wenceslas, and raised it in 1353 to the rank of a duchy. In 1443 Luxemburg fell to Bur gundy, and with the possessions of that house came into the hands of Spain, remaining, how ever, part of the German Empire. In the Peace of Utrecht in 1713, it was transferred to Aus tria. By the Peace of Campo-Formio (q.v.) it was ceded to France in 1797. it was ele vated by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to the rank of a grand duchy, and became a mem ber of the German Confederation, but under the personal sovereignty of the Icing of the Neth erlands as indemnity for the loss of Nassau. When Belgium became an independent kingdom (1831) Luxemburg was divided between it and Holland—the latter, however. retaining little more than the city of Luxemburg till 1539, when, by a treaty signed in London. another part of the territory was taken from Belgium and added to the city, forming the present Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, which remained subject to the King of the Netherlands. After the dissolu tion of the Germanic Confederation in 1866, the King of Holland wished to sell Luxemburg. which had been garrisoned since 1815 by Prussian troops, to France; but the summary action of Bismarck, who guided the policy of Prussia, pre vented this barter, and in 1867 an international conference at London made Luxemburg a neutral sovereign State, under a guarantee of the Powers. Iu 1S90 the death of William III. of Holland rendered the House of Orange extinct in the direct line of succession, and Luxemburg, passed to the nearest collateral male line, represented by Adolphus, Duke of Nassau, who in December of that year assumed the title of Grand Duke of Luxemburg, thus ending the personal union that had previously made Luxemburg an appanage of the Netherlands.
Consult: Bonnardot, Les a rehires de retet de Luxembourg, col. xli. of the publication of the History Section of the Luxemburg, Institute ( : Cost er, Gesehiehte der Fest any Luxem burg ( Luxemburg, ISO) ; also bibliography under BELGIUM ; FRANCE; GERMANY ; NETIIERLANDS.