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Top-level
 2/ First up, Luxembourg π±πΊ is a constitutional monarchy headed up by a Grand Duke. It is a last remnant of a time when central Europe was a patchwork of tiny fiefdoms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_duchy Long-time followers will recall we asked about "non-kingdom monarchies" as our March 2023 #fridaygeotrivia question. 9 comments
4. Luxembourg π±πΊ has three languages: German, French, and Luxembourgish (a Germanic language with many French loan words), and multilingualism is an every day part of life, with different languages being used in different situations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilingualism_in_Luxembourg Same topic but in Luxembourgish: https://lb.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9isproochegkeet_zu_L%C3%ABtzebuerg 5. In southeastern Luxembourg π±πΊ at the point where the country borders Germany π©πͺ and France π«π· we find the village of Schengen (pop. 4200) which was the site of the signing of the 1985 "Schengen Agreement" paving the way for free movement within what is today known as "The Schengen Area" (pop. 423M) 6. On a related note Luxembourg π±πΊ is one of four institutional seats of the European Union πͺπΊ (along with Brussels π§πͺ, Strasbourg π«π·, and Frankfurt π©πͺ). Luxembourg City hosts various EU institutions including the European Court of Justice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_seats_of_the_European_Union 7. Despite the country's motto of "Mir wΓ«lle bleiwe wat mir sinn" ("We want to stay what we are"), following the Second World War Luxembourg π±πΊ briefly expanded to claim a small part of Germany π©πͺ. In 1959 it was returned to Germany in exchange for a settlement payment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg_annexation_plans_after_the_Second_World_War 8. In what can only be explained as a deliberate attempt to infuriate the writers of geocoding software, we note that immediately to the west of Luxembourg π±πΊ, Belgium π§πͺ has a province also named "Luxembourg" which is actually larger than the entire country of Luxembourg! 9. Besides being part of the EU πͺπΊ and NATO, Luxembourg π±πΊ is a member of the Benelux Union (with π§πͺπ³π±) and the SaarLorLux "Euroregion" (with regions of π©πͺπ«π·π§πͺ) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benelux 10. The flag of Luxembourg π±πΊ is very similar to the flag of nearby Netherlands π³π± (though with a different shade of blue, and slightly different proportions). This has lead to a movement to change the flag to the "red lion" flag currently used as the civil ensign |
Gregory's Server
3. π±πΊ Luxembourg's capital is ... Luxembourg City, thus also making it a correct answer in our July 2022 #fridaygeotrivia question, where we asked for countries whose capital has the same as the country.
https://blog.opencagedata.com/post/geotrivia-july-2022
#geoweirdness