LIECHTENSTEIN, a sovereign and independent principality, the smallest in Germany, is bounded on the N.E and E. by the Austrian Vorarlberg, on the S. by the Swiss canton of Grisons, and on the W. by the Rhine, while on the north it tapers almost to a point. The state, consisting of the lordships of Vaduz and Schellenberg, is only 15 miles in length, hardly over 5 miles in its average breadth, and comprises an area of 68 square miles. Excepting in the immediate neighbourhood of the Rhine, the surface of the country is mountainous, being traversed from south to north by spurs of the Rhaetian Alps, which at some points attain an altitude of about 7000 feet. The climate is mild, and the soil generally fertile and well watered. The chief products are corn, wine, fiax, fruit, and timber. Agriculture and the tending of cattle form the chief employment of the inhabitants. A branch of the Vorarlberg railway from Feldkirch to Buchs passes through the state. In 1876 the population amounted to 8664, of old German extraction, and Roman Catholics by confession. The capital is Vaduz or Liechtenstein, with 960 inhabitants....
Until 1866 Liechtenstein formed part of the German confederation, but from that date it has been constitutionally independent, although for the sake of convenience the postal system, customs, and currency are under the general Austrian administration, from which the principality receives annually some £1600 as its share in the customs dues. According to the charter of the 26th September 1862, Liechtenstein is a constitutional monarchy, the sovereign prince sharing the legislative power with a diet of fifteen members (elected sexennially), of whom three are nominated by the prince, and twelve elected by popular suffrage. The chief control of the principality is carried on at V ienna by a court chancellory, which also serves as the judicial court of appeal of first instance, the ultimate court of appeal being at Innsbruck. The immediate direction of the principality in administrative and judicial matters is at Vaduz. The inhabitants are free from military service and direct taxation. The annual revenue amounts to about £6000. Although the sovereignty of the prince is so small, his estates in Austria and elsewhere render him one of the wealthiest landed proprietors in Germany, his income from them amounting to nearly £140,000 sterling. The house of Liechtenstein, one of the oldest in Central Europe, was elevated to the princely dignity in the early part of the 17th century. Anthony Florian in 1713 obtained a vote and seat in the imperial diet, and after the union, in 1719, of the lordships of Vaduz and Schellenberg into one principality under the name of Liechtenstein, his privileges were, in 1723, confirmed to his successors. See Jacob von Falke, Geschichte des fürstlichen Hauses Liechtenstein, 2 vols. (Vienna, 1868-77).
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