Grand-duchy, a small, independent territory at the corner where Belgium, France, and Rhenish Prussia meet, is a plateau watered by the Moselle on its eastern boundary, and the tributary Sauer; is well wooded and fertile, yielding wheat, flax, hemp, and wine. Iron ore is mined and smelted; leather, pottery, sugar, and spirits manufactured. The population is Low-German and Roman Catholic; the language of the educated, French. The government is in the hands of a grand-duke, the Duke of Nassau, and a house of 42 representatives. For commercial purposes Luxemburg belongs to the German Customs Union. The capital is
here is a Belgian province of
ntil 1839 part of the grand-duchy.