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Luxembourg Geography
Home » Luxembourg » Luxembourg: Overview and History » Luxembourg GeographyLuxembourg is sometimes referred to as “the Green Heart of Europe,” a title which refers both to its central location and its beautiful countryside. It is, however, a small heart. At less than one thousand square miles, it has a little over half the area of the smallest state in the US, Rhode Island. Luxembourg’s population is less than five hundred thousand (i.e. fewer residents than Jacksonville, Florida), and its capital, Luxembourg City, has little more than eighty thousand people.
The country is the only one of the Benelux countries (Belgium and the Netherlands being the other two) that is landlocked. On its southern and western borders is France, to the north lies Belgium, and Germany is on the east.
The northern half of Luxembourg (keep in mind that the country is only fifty-one miles long) is largely forested and mountainous, a continuation of the Belgian Ardennes. Southern Luxembourg, on the other hand, is an outgrowth of the French Lorraine, and is largely rolling countryside. Agriculture, however, is not a major industry, and only about half of Luxembourg is arable land.
The capitol, Luxembourg City, garners most tourist attention, but other areas are also beautiful. The Moselle Valley in the southeast is known for its wine tasting while other areas are particularly popular among hikers, campers, and castle hunters.
Luxembourg is within a six-hour train ride from Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, and Frankfurt, but it does not receive the droves of tourists that these other cities do. When the tourists do come, it is largely in the summer, when temperatures average about seventy degrees. Winter temperatures range around freezing (thirty-two degrees), and rain is plentiful (ten to thirteen days per month).
Related Luxembourg: Overview and History Articles
- Introduction to Luxembourg/Ten Things You Should Know about Luxembourg
- Luxembourg Geography
- Luxembourg History
- Luxembourg Today