Population 492 thousand (estimate at July 2009) The population increased greatly in 20th century with immigration from rest of Europe. Life expectancy: 76.1 (male), 82.8 (female) (2009 est)
Ethnic groups: 63.1% Luxembourgish, 13.3% Portuguese, 4.5% French, 4.3% Italian, 2.3% German, 7.3% other, EU 5.2%, other (many Asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants). Ethnic figures are from the 2000 census so pre-EU enlargement. Migration rate 8.4 per 1000 population (2009 estimate) Languages – Tri-lingual territory. Luxembourgish, French, German. The first is the spoken language, the other two used administratively in specific domains. Primary education starts in Luxembourgish and moves to German. Secondary education is in French. All 3 languages figure in school leaving exams. German is the first language taught at school, with English increasingly popular. Italian and Portuguese are spoken by the largest immigrant groups. Religion: A secular state, where it is illegal for the government to collect statistics on religious beliefs or practices, but the state pays some running costs and wages to recognised religions. Roman Catholic 87%, Others – Judaism, Protestantism and Islam 13%.
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