1988 Edition

Climate

continental; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow or rain; cool to moderately warm, cloudy, humid summers

Comparative area

slightly smaller than Washington, D.C.

Environment

variety of microclimatic variations based on elevation

Land boundaries

76 km total

Land use

25% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 38% meadows and pastures; 19% forest and woodland; 18% other

Member of

AfDB, Arab League, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDE— Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OAU, QIC, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG

Other political or pressure groups

various Arab nationalist movements and the Arab Socialist Resurrection (Ba'th) party with almost negligible memberships may be functioning clandestinely, as well as some Islamic elements

Special notes

landlocked

Terrain

mostly mountainous (Alps) with Rhine Valley in western third

Total area

160 km2; land area: 160 km2

Ethnic divisions

95% Alemannic, 5% Italian and other

Infant mortality rate

6.3/1,000 (1985)

Labor force

12,258; 5,078 foreign workers (mostly from Switzerland and Austria); 54.4% industry, trade, and building; 41.6% services; 4.0% agriculture, fishing, forestry, and horticulture; no unemployment

Language

German (official), Alemannic dialect

Life expectancy

men 65, women 74

Literacy

100%

Nationality

noun — Liechtensteiner(s); adjective — Liechtenstein

Population

27,074 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 0.59%

Religion

82.7% Roman Catholic, 7.1% Protestant, 10.2% other

Administrative divisions

1 1 communes

Branches

unicameral legislature (Diet) with 15 deputies elected to four-year terms, hereditary Prince, independent judiciary

Capital

Vaduz

Communists

none

Elections

every four years; last election Political parties and leaders: Fatherland Union (VU), Dr. Otto Hasler; Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP), Dr. Herbert Batliner; Christian Social Party, Fritz Kaiser

Government leaders

FRANZ JOSEF II, Prince (since 1938); Hans BRUNHART, Head of Government (Prime Minister; since May 1978); the Prince transferred most of his executive powers to his son, Prince HANS ADAM, in August 1984

Legal system

principality has its own civil and penal codes; lowest court is county court (Landgericht) which decides minor civil cases and summary criminal offenses; criminal court (Kriminalgericht) is for major crimes; the court of assizes is for misdemeanors; Superior Court (Obergericht) and Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof) are courts of appeal for civil and criminal cases; an administrative court of appeal from government actions and the State Court determine the constitutionality of laws; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Member of

Council of Europe, EFTA, IAEA, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, UNCTAD, UNIDO, UNICEF, UPU, WIPO; considering UN membership; has consultative status in the EC; under several postWorld War I treaties Switzerland handles Liechtenstein's customs and represents the principality abroad on a diplomatic and consular level whenever requested to do so by the Liechtenstein

Official name

Principality of Liechtenstein

Suffrage

universal adult

Type

hereditary constitutional monarchy

Voting strength

(1986) VU 50.2% (8 seats), FBP about 41.9% (7 seats)

Agriculture

wheat, barley, olives, dates, citrus fruits, peanuts; 65% of food is imported

livestock, vegetables, corn, wheat, potatoes, grapes

Budget

revenues, $10 billion; expenditures, $9.9 billion, including development expenditure of $5.7 billion (1985 est.)

revenues, $108 million; expenditures, $86 million (1983)

Electric power

4,110,000 kW capacity; 12,600 million kWh produced, 3,250 kWh per capita (1986)

23,000 kW capacity; 150 million kWh produced, 5,360 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$5.0 billion (f.o.b., 1986); petroleum

(1984) $440 million; 39% EC, 32% EFTA (24% Switzerland), 29% other

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

roughly $20 billion (1986 est), $6,260 per capita; inflation rate 15% (1986)

GNP

about $15,000 per capita (1984)

Imports

$5.0 billion (f.o.b., 1986); manufactures, food

Major industries

petroleum, food processing, textiles, handicrafts

electronics, metal manufacturing, textiles, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, food products

Major trade partners

imports — Italy, FRG; exports— Italy, FRG, Spain, France, Japan, UK

Monetary conversion rate

.317 dinars=US$l (November 1986)

1.69 Swiss francs=US$l (November 1986)

Natural resources

petroleum, natural gas, gypsum

hydroelectric power

Note

Liechtenstein has a prosperous economy based primarily on small-scale light industry and some farming; industry accounts for 54% of total employment, service sector 42%, and agriculture and forestry 4%; the sale of postage stamps to collectors, estimated at $10 million annually, provides for 10% of state budget; companies incorporated in Liechtenstein solely for tax purposes provide an additional 30% of the state budget; low business taxes (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 there; economy is tied closely to that of Switzerland in a customs union; no national accounts data are available

Airfields

127 total, 115 usable; 45 with permanent-surface runways, 8 with runways over 3,659 m, 25 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 38 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

none

Branches

Armed Forces of the Libyan Arab Jamahariya (including Army, Arab Air Force, Air Defense Command, Arab Navy)

Police Department

Civil air

75 major transport aircraft

no transport aircraft

Highways

19,300 km total; 10,800 km bituminous and bituminous treated, 8,500 km gravel, crushed stone and earth

130.66 km main roads, 192.27 km byroads

Military manpower

males 15-49, 905,000; 532,000 fit for military service; 44,000 reach military age (17) annually; conscription now being implemented Ruggell See ref lonil map V

Pipelines

crude oil 4,383 km; natural gas 1,947 km; refined products 443 km (includes 256 km liquid petroleum gas)

Ports

4 major (Tobruk, Tripoli, Benghazi, Mi$r3tah), 2 secondary, 15 minor, and 6 petroleum terminals

Railroads

none

18.5 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, electrified; owned, operated, and included in statistics of Austrian Federal Railways

Telecommunications

16 AM, 3 FM, 12 TV stations; 175,000 TV sets; 167,000 receiver sets; 1 satellite ground station Defense Forces

automatic telephone system serving about 21,400 telephones (77.0 per 100 popl.); no broadcast facilities Defense Forces Defense is responsibility of Switzerland