Where is LIECHTENSTEIN located on the map?
Liechtenstein is an alpine country of central Europe (or of the West according to some definitions), without access to the sea, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and Austria to the east and north. Its area is 160 km2, with an estimated population of 38 000 inhabitants. Its capital is Vaduz and its largest city Schaan. Liechtenstein has the highest GDP per capita in the world in 2008 according to The World Factbook. The country also has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world (2.5% in 2011).
Liechtenstein is the smallest and richest of the German-speaking countries, and the only one to be located entirely in the Alps. Politically, it is a principality and a constitutional monarchy, with a prince as head of state. The country is divided into eleven municipalities and two regions which are called Unterland and Oberland. Its territory is mostly mountainous, making it a destination for winter sports. Cultivated fields and small farms characterize southern landscapes, higher (Oberland), and northern, lower (Unterland). The country’s economy is mainly based on the powerful financial sector located in its capital, Vaduz, but it is no longer identified by the OECD as a tax haven. He is a member of the European Free Trade Association, the European Economic Area and the Schengen Area, but not of the European Union.
Despite its small size and limited natural resources, Liechtenstein benefits from a prosperous economy, based on the free market and a high level of industrialization (industrial equipment, tools, etc.). The financial sector of the Principality, as well as the standard of living of its population, can quite be compared to the richest urban areas of its major European neighbors.
A very advantageous corporate tax (the maximum rate is 18%, the European average being around 30%) and various other facilities have encouraged nearly 74,000 multinationals to set up operations in Liechtenstein, most often under the form of a simple post box. The principality derives 30% of its income and was removed from the last tax havens of the OECD blacklist in 2009, following a commitment on its part to follow the recommendations of the OECD on transparency and tax cooperation.
Liechtenstein, forced to import more than 90% of its energy, participates in a customs and monetary union with Switzerland and therefore uses the Swiss franc as its national currency. The Principality has also been a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) since May 1995, and the government seeks to harmonize its economic policy with that of the European Union. Unemployment, although doubling since 2000, was only 2.2% in the third quarter of 2004, the lowest rate in the entire EEA. In 2008, his NFB reached 3.97 billion US dollars, which for the same year had a per capita GNP of $ 111 488, the second highest in the world after Monaco.
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