Luxembourg, Luxembourg.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Notre-Dame
Cathedral and a portion of the fortress wall in Luxembourg
city.S.E. Hedin/Ostman Agencycountry in northwestern Europe. One
of the world’s smallest countries, it is bordered by Belgium on
the west and north, France on the south, and Germany on the
northeast and east. Luxembourg has come under the control of
many states and ruling houses in its long history, but it has
been a separate, if not always autonomous, political unit since
the 10th century. The ancient Saxon name of its capital city,
Lucilinburhuc (“Little Fortress”), symbolized its strategic
position as “the Gibraltar of the north,” astride a major
military route linking Germanic and Frankish territories.
Luxembourg is a point of contact between the Germanic- and
Romance-language communities of Europe, and three languages are
regularly employed in the grand duchy itself: Luxembourgish,
German, and French. The peoples of Luxembourg and their
languages reflect the grand duchy’s common inte