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