Luxembourg

Capital: Luxembourg
Area: 2,586 sq km
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Rhode Island
Population (July 2011 estimate): 503,302
Official language(s): Luxembourgish (national language), German and French (administrative languages)
International Organizations and Agreements: NATO, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), European Union

Luxembourg is a small state that is very active in international security and economic organizations as a contributing member to both NATO and the European Union. It not only hosts the Secretariat of the European Union, but deploys its Armed Forces to NATO operations such as ISAF in Afghanistan and KFOR in Kosovo. Furthermore, Luxembourg is one of the founding members of EUROCORPS Headquarters in Strasbourg.

The Luxembourg Army is under civilian control. The country has no navy or air force. It has participated in the European Corps (EUROCORPS) since 1994. Luxembourg has contributed a small number of troops to EU missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and off the coast of Somalia; NATO missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo; and the UN mission in Lebanon. Luxembourg financially supported international peacekeeping missions during the 1991 Gulf War and in Rwanda and Albania and provided humanitarian aid to Iraq.

Luxembourg’s official development assistance (ODA) in 2009 reached €298 million ($415 million), or about 1.04% of its gross national income. This reportedly was the third-highest level of any country. Luxembourg ranked 16th among the top world donors of development aid to Afghanistan, with total aid of $1,488,399,000 as of 2010. In 2010 it donated $700,280 to the Afghanistan program, as well as $123,305 toward improving maternal and infant health in Kabul and Kandahar. It also donated $650,000 to help the flood victims of the tragedy in Pakistan in summer 2010.