Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembourg City, is one of the four institutional seats of the European Union and hosts several EU institutions, notably the Court of Justice of the European Union, the highest judicial authority in the EU. As part of the Low Countries, Luxembourg has close historic, political, and cultural ties to Belgium and the Netherlands. Luxembourg's culture, people, and languages are greatly influenced by France and Germany: Luxembourgish, a Germanic language, is the only recognized national language of the Luxembourgish people and of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; French is the sole language for legislation; and both languages along with German are used for administrative matters. With an area of 2,586 square kilometres (998 sq mi), Luxembourg is Europe's seventh-smallest country. In 2025, it had a population of 690,947, which makes it one of the least-populated countries in Europe, albeit with the highest population growth rate; foreign nationals account for almost half the population. Luxembourg is a representative democracy headed by a constitutional monarch, Grand Duke Guillaume V, making it the world's only remaining sovereign grand duchy. The County of Luxembourg was established in the 11th century as a state within the Holy Roman Empire. Its ascension culminated in its monarch, Henry VII, becoming the Holy Roman Emperor in the 14th century. Luxembourg came under Habsburg rule in the 15th century, and was annexed by France in the 18th century.