**LIECHTENSTEIN** – A tiny state (159 sq. km) enclosed between the borders of Austria (Vorarlberg) and Switzerland (St. Gallen and Grisons). Capital: Vaduz (2,000 inhabitants). Human settlements have existed in the territory of present-day Liechtenstein since the Stone Age. The area came under Roman rule in 15 BC and became an important transit zone along the Roman road from Chur to Bregenz. It was subject to the rule of the Ostrogoths in 493 and the Franks in 537, while between the 7th and 8th centuries the Alemanni passed through the territory. Various feudal dependencies concluded in 1396 when the entire plain and mountain territory, finally united under Count Enrico of Vaduz, came directly under the authority of the emperor.
When the Holy Roman Empire came to an end in 1806, Liechtenstein acquired full sovereignty and, as such, from 1806 to 1814 it was part of the Confederation of the Rhine, then from 1815 to 1866 it joined the German Confederation. After this political body was dissolved following the Battle of Sadowa, Liechtenstein continued to remain entirely independent, maintaining until 1919 only a customs union with Austria, which had been in place since 1852. Remaining neutral during both the First and Second World Wars, Liechtenstein has been part of the Swiss customs territory since 1923, and since 1924 Switzerland has assumed its diplomatic representation. Based on the Constitution of 5 October 1921, Liechtenstein is a hereditary constitutional monarchy in the male line of the princes of Liechtenstein; legislative power is exercised by a diet of 15 members elected by universal suffrage, while direct democracy is expressed through the referendum and the right of initiative.
The inhabitants, approximately 14,000, are 98% Catholic, and the territory of the principality forms part of the diocese of Chur.