Liechtenstein ( , LIK-tən-stine; German pronunciation: [ˈlɪçtn̩ʃtaɪn] ; Alemannic German: Liachtaschta), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (German: Fürstentum Liechtenstein [ˈfʏʁstn̩tuːm ˈlɪçtn̩ʃtaɪn] ), is a doubly landlocked country in the Central European Alps. A microstate, it is located between Austria to the east and north-east and Switzerland to the north-west, west and south.
Formed in 1719, Liechtenstein became fully independent upon the dissolution of the German Confederation in 1866. Liechtenstein is a monarchy headed by the prince of Liechtenstein. Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein has reigned over Liechtenstein since 1989. Liechtenstein is Europe's fourth-smallest country, with an area of just over 160 square kilometres (62 square miles) and a population of 41,389. It is the world's smallest country to border two countries. The official language of Liechtenstein is German.
Liechtenstein is divided into 11 municipalities. Its capital is Vaduz, and its largest municipality is Schaan. It is a member of the United Nations, the European Free Trade Association, and the Council of Europe. It is not a member state of the European Union, but it participates in both the Schengen Area and the European Economic Area. It has a customs union and a monetary union with Switzerland, with its usage of the Swiss franc. It is one of the few countries with no debt. A constitutional referendum in 2003 granted the monarch greater powers, including the power to dismiss the government, nominate judges and veto legislation. This was reaffirmed in 2012. As such, the monarch is not a figurehead.
Liechtenstein has a strong financial sector centred in Vaduz. It was once known as a billionaire tax haven, culminating in a tax affair in 2008, but the principality has since made significant efforts to shed this reputation. An Alpine country, Liechtenstein is mountainous, making it a winter sport destination.
The oldest traces of human existence in the area that later became Liechtenstein date back to the Middle Paleolithic era. Neolithic farming settlements appeared in the valleys around 5300 BC.
The Hallstatt and La Tène cultures flourished during the late Iron Age, from around 450 BC—possibly under some influence of both the Greek and Etruscan civilisations. During the Iron Age and into the Roman era, the Vennones occupied the Alpine Rhine valley. In 58 BC, at the Battle of Bibracte, Julius Caesar defeated the Alpine tribes, thereby bringing the region under Roman subjugation. By 15 BC, Tiberius—later the second Roman emperor—with his brother, Drusus, conquered the entire Alpine area.
The lands that would later become known as Liechtenstein then became integrated into the Roman province of Raetia. The area was garrisoned by the Roman army, which maintained large legionary camps at Brigantium (Bregenz, Austria), near Lake Constance, and at Magia (Maienfeld, Switzerland). The Romans built and maintained a road which ran through the territory. Around 260 AD Brigantium was destroyed by the Alemanni, a Germanic people who later settled in the area around 450.
In the Early Middle Ages, the Alemanni settled the eastern Swiss plateau by the 5th century and the valleys of the Alps by the end of the 8th century. The territory that would later be known as Liechtenstein was located at the eastern edge of Alamannia. In the 6th century, the area became part of the Frankish Empire following Clovis I's victory over the Alemanni at Tolbiac in 504.
The area that later became Liechtenstein remained under Frankish hegemony (Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties) until the Treaty of Verdun divided the Carolingian empire in 843, following the death of Charlemagne in 814. The territory that later became Liechtenstein formed part of East Francia and would later be reunified with Middle Francia under the Holy Roman Empire, around 1000. Until about 1100, the predominant language of the area was Romansch; thereafter, German began to gain ground in the territory. In 1300, another Alemannic population—the Walsers, who originated in Valais—entered the region and settled; the mountain village of Triesenberg today preserves features of the Walser dialect.
By 1200, dominions across the Alpine plateau were controlled by the Houses of Savoy, Zähringer, Habsburg, and Kyburg. Other regions were accorded the Imperial immediacy that granted the empire direct control over the mountain passes. When the Kyburg dynasty fell in 1264, the Habsburgs under King Rudolph I, the Holy Roman Emperor in 1273, extended their territory to the eastern Alpine plateau.
In 1396, Vaduz, which would later become the southern region of Liechtenstein, gained imperial immediacy, i.e. it became subject to the Holy Roman Emperor alone.
The family from which Liechtenstein takes its name originally came from Liechtenstein Castle south of Vienna in Lower Austria, which they had possessed since at least 1140 until the 13th century, and again from 1807 onwards. The Liechtensteins acquired land, predominantly in Moravia, Lower Austria, Silesia, and Styria. As these territories were all held in feudal tenure from more senior feudal lords, particularly various branches of the Habsburgs, the Liechtenstein dynasty was unable to meet a primary requirement to qualify for a seat in the Imperial Diet (parliament), the Reichstag. Even though several Liechtenstein princes served several Habsburg rulers as close advisers, without any territory held directly from the Imperial throne, they held little power in the Holy Roman Empire.
For this reason, the family sought to acquire lands that would be classed as unmittelbar, or held without any intermediate feudal tenure, directly from the Holy Roman Emperor. During the early 17th century, Karl I of Liechtenstein was made a Fürst (prince) by the Holy Roman Emperor Matthias after siding with him in a political battle. Hans-Adam I was allowed to purchase the minuscule Herrschaft ('Lordship') of Schellenberg and the county of Vaduz (in 1699 and 1712, respectively) from the Hohenems. Tiny Schellenberg and Vaduz had exactly the political status required: no feudal superior (suzerain) other than the emperor.
On 23 January 1719, after the lands had been purchased, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, decreed that Vaduz and Schellenberg were united and elevated the newly formed territory to the dignity of Reichsfürstentum (imperial principality) with the name "Liechtenstein" in honour of "[his] true servant, Anton Florian of Liechtenstein". On this date, Liechtenstein became a mostly-sovereign immediate member state of the Holy Roman Empire.
By the early 19th century, as a result of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, the Holy Roman Empire came under the effective control of France, following the crushing defeat at Austerlitz by Napoleon in 1805. In 1806, Emperor Francis II abdicated and dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, ending more than 960 years of feudal government. Napoleon reorganized much of the Empire into the Confederation of the Rhine. This political restructuring had broad consequences for Liechtenstein: the historical imperial, legal, and political institutions had been dissolved. The state ceased to owe an obligation to any feudal lord beyond its borders.
Due to these events, the prince of Liechtenstein ceased to owe an obligation to any suzerain. From 25 July 1806, when the Confederation of the Rhine was founded, the Prince of Liechtenstein was a member, in fact a vassal, of its hegemon, styled protector, the French Emperor Napoleon I, until the dissolution of the confederation on 19 October 1813. Soon afterward, Liechtenstein joined the German Confederation (20 June 1815 – 23 August 1866), which was presided over by the Emperor of Austria.
In 1818, Prince Johann I granted the territory a limited constitution. In that same year Prince Aloys became the first member of the House of Liechtenstein to set foot in the principality that bore their name. The next visit would not occur until 1842.
In 1862, a new constitution was adopted.