Fast Facts
- Named for: “Light stone” Liechtenstein Castle in Southern Austria
- Capital: Vaduz
- Long/Lat: 47.1 N/9.3 E, 6000 miles or 11 hours East of Castro Valley
- Population: 41,232 or 0.8 CVs
- Size: 62 sq mi, 4 CVs
- Avg temp in April: 54F/12 C mountains!
- Median household income: ~$150,000
- Ethnicity: 67% Liechtensteiners, 9% Swiss, 7% German (pasty white people)
- Main industries: Precision manufacturing (e.g. dental equipment), financial services (low taxes)
We move from islands to mountains: Central Europe, on the other side of the world from Kiribati, literally and metaphorically. Liechtenstein is one of only two double land-locked countries, which is a thing because humans now must have special statistics for everything. Double land-locked means that it’s land-locked between two other land-locked countries, in this case between Switzerland and Austria. If they could carve out a country within Liechtenstein’s borders, that would be land-locked cubed.
Liechtenstein’s nickname is “The Principality,” which isn’t much shorter, so I’ll just have to learn to spell it. Liechtenstein means “light stone,” and it was what Hugo von Petronell called the castle he built after receiving a fief from the Babenburg margraves. Translating that medieval-speak, it means he did something good for the honchos who ran Austria in the 13th century. But here’s the rub: Liechtenstein Castle is in Austria. Was then, still is now.
Continue reading “L is for Liechtenstein”