Short facts about the government of Liechtenstein

Country name:

conventional long form:  Principality of Liechtenstein conventional short form:  Liechtenstein local long form:  Fuerstentum Liechtenstein local short form:  Liechtenstein

Government type:

hereditary constitutional monarchy

Capital:

Vaduz

Administrative divisions:

11 communes (gemeinden, singular - gemeinde); Balzers, Eschen, Gamprin, Mauren, Planken, Ruggell, Schaan, Schellenberg, Triesen, Triesenberg, Vaduz

Independence:

23 January 1719 Imperial Principality of Liechtenstein established; 12 July 1806 established independence from the Holy Roman Empire

National holiday:

Assumption Day, 15 August

Constitution:

5 October 1921

Legal system:

local civil and penal codes; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage:

20 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state:  Prince HANS ADAM II (since 13 November 1989, assumed executive powers 26 August 1984); Heir Apparent Prince ALOIS, son of the monarch (born 11 June 1968) head of government:  Head of Government Mario FRICK (since 15 December 1993) and Deputy Head of Government Michael RITTER (since 2 February 1997) cabinet:  Cabinet elected by the Diet; confirmed by the monarch elections:  none; the monarch is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party in the Diet is usually appointed the head of government by the monarch and the leader of the largest minority party in the Diet is usually appointed the deputy head of government by the monarch

Legislative branch:

unicameral Diet or Landtag (25 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote under proportional representation to serve four-year terms) elections:  last held on 9-11 February 2001 (next to be held by NA 2005) election results:  percent of vote by party - FBP 49.90%, VU 41.35%, FL 8.71%; seats by party - FBP 13, VU 11, FL 1

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court or Oberster Gerichtshof; Superior Court or Obergericht

Political parties and leaders:

Fatherland Union or VU [Dr. Oswald KRANZ]; Progressive Citizens' Party or FBP [Dr. Ernst WALCH]; The Free List or FL [Dr. Pepo FRICK, Karin JENNY, Rene HASLER]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

NA

International organization participation:

CE, EBRD, ECE, EFTA, IAEA, ICRM, IFRCS, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, OPCW, OSCE, UN, UNCTAD, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO (observer), WIPO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

Liechtenstein's Ambassador to the US, Claudia FRITSCHE, is dually accredited to the UN in New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:

the US does not have an embassy in Liechtenstein, but the US Ambassador to Switzerland is also accredited to Liechtenstein

Flag description:

two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and red with a gold crown on the hoist side of the blue band

Source: World Factbook