Transversal Themes

Luxembourg education system is strongly influenced by the country’s specific characteristics, whether they are geographical, demographic and above all linguistic.

  • A small territory: with 2,586 km2, Luxembourg is one of the smallest countries in the European Union, with a relatively modest population: 590,700 on 1January 2017.
  • A large diversity of origins: 47.7% of Luxembourg residents are foreigners. The most important groups are people of Portuguese origin (16.3% of the total population), followed by French (7.5%), Italian (3.6%), Belgian (3.3%) and German (2.2%). In addition, about 150,000 cross-border workers from France, Belgium and Germany come to Luxembourg on a daily basis (source: STATEC). This growing cultural heterogeneity is reflected in the first language spoken at home by children in fundamental/elementary education.
  • Multilingualism: Luxembourg is a trilingual country like its education system (French, German and Luxembourgish). Languages spoken by foreign residents, in particular Portuguese and English, become increasingly important (see page Languages in Luxembourg schools).

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