15th August: Liechtenstein National Day

Today is Liechtenstein's National Day. 10 things you might not know:

1. Liechtenstein is one of only two doubly landlocked countries in the world, that is, a country surrounded by other landlocked countries (the other is Uzbekistan).
2. It is the only country whose boundaries lie entirely within the Alps.
3. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan.
4. It hasn't had an army since 1868. After the Austro-Prussian War, Liechtenstein was no longer obliged to have an army and so the Government decided not to fund one. Their last soldier died in 1939, aged 95.
5. During the 1980s the Swiss army fired off shells during an exercise and mistakenly burned a patch of forest inside Liechtenstein. The incident was said to be resolved "over a case of white Wine."
6. There is very little crime. There is one prison, with hardly any inmates, because if any are sentenced to more than two years, they are transferred to Austria.
7. There is no airport in Liechtenstein. The nearest airports are in Switzerland (Zurich or St Gallen) or Germany (Friedrichshafen).
8. Liechtenstein was the last European country to give women the vote - on 1 July 1984.
9. Though small (160 square kilometres) it is very prosperous - Liechtenstein has the highest gross domestic product per person in the world when adjusted by purchasing power parity. In terms of of GDP per capita it is the richest German speaking country. Liechtenstein also has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world at 1.5%.
10. The low business tax rate and easy incorporation rules have meant that huge numbers of foreign businesses have registered "letter box companies" there, making Liechtenstein a country which has more registered companies (about 73,700) than citizens (the population is 35,000).