Luxembourg - People
Today, the Grand Duchy is a country of immigration. This was not always the case. Prior to the takeoff of the steel industry, Luxembourg was a poor and rural country, with its agriculture unable to feed an increasing population. Driven by the hope of carving out a better life elsewhere, numerous inhabitants left their homeland. From 1825 onwards, Luxembourgers emigrated first towards Brazil and Argentina, then primarily to the United States of America. Others went to France to work as craftsmen or, in the case of young girls, as maids and governesses. Between 1841 and 1891, approximately 72,000 Luxembourgers left their country (of a total population amounting to 212,800 inhabitants in 1891). Significant Luxembourg colonies formed abroad. For instance, 16,000 Luxembourg emigrants lived in Chicago in 1908!
Some achieved fame in their new homeland, such as Hugo Gernsbach (1884-1967), inventor of the term "science fiction", and photographer Edward Steichen, creator of the photographic exhibition "The Family of Man".
At the dawn of the 21st century, the Grand Duchy is a pluralist society, a prosperous country integrated into the European Community. Today, the rapid increase of its population is due almost exclusively to immigration. In contrast, the number of Luxembourgers has remained almost constant, owing to low birth rates. The result is an increasing imbalance between "nationals" and foreign residents as well as a risk of a fragmentation of society. Current authorities are therefore counting on political participation and the use of Lëtzebuergesch as the common language for all nationalities living in Luxembourg as powerful factors of integration. But in a context of increased globalisation, will Luxembourg succeed in preserving its collective identity and the specificities of its socioeconomic model?
Luxembourg has consistently ranked among the overall safest or lowest risk countries and most politically stable in the world (longest-serving Prime Minister in the EU for example, Jean-Claude Juncker). There have been no recent serious incidents involving politically motivated damage to projects or installations (with the notable exception of a contained labor union demonstration in front of ArcelorMittal headquarters in 2009 against planned lay-offs). The environment is not growing increasingly politicized such that civil disturbances would be likely, with the possible exception of specialized non-governmental organizations (NGO's) such as Greenpeace. Of note is that many of the demonstrations which occur in Luxembourg are not aimed at the Grand-Duchy, but rather at the EU offices located within Luxembourg (for example, the European Court of Justice and the European Court of First Instance). There are no known nascent insurrections, belligerent neighbors or other politically motivated activities.
According to World Markets Research Centre of London, Luxembourg is rated consistently high as one of the "least risky places to do business" in the world. The risk ratings were all noted "insignificant" for the following reasons: political risk (existence of institutional permanence, internal and external political consensus); economic risk (existence of forward planning, a diverse and resilient economy); legal risk (existence of innovative legislation, transparency, independence and experience); tax risk (coherent and fair taxation system, low "effective" corporate and personal income tax rates below EU average); and operational risk (supportive attitudes toward foreign investment, high quality of infrastructure, existence of "social peace" with Tripartite system of negotiation process involving labor, employers and government, low bureaucracy and corruption).
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