ent (Prime Minister) Otmar HASLER
(since 5 April 2001); Deputy Head of Government (Deputy Prime
Minister) Klaus TSCHUETSCHER (since 21 April 2005)
cabinet: Cabinet elected by the Parliament, confirmed by the monarch
elections: the monarch is hereditary; following legislative
elections, the leader of the majority party in the Landtag is
usually appointed the head of government by the monarch and the
leader of the largest minority party in the Landtag is usually
appointed the deputy head of government by the monarch if there is a
coalition government

Legislative branch:

unicameral Parliament or Landtag (25 seats; members are elected by
popular vote under proportional representation to serve four-year
terms)
elections: last held 11 and 13 March 2005 (next to be held by 2009)
election results: percent of vote by party - FBP 48.7%, VU 38.2%, FL
13%; seats by party - FBP 12, VU 10, FL 3

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court or Oberster Gerichtshof; Court of Appeal or Obergericht

Political parties and leaders:

Patriotic Union or VU [Adolf HEEB] (was Fatherland Union);
Progressive Citizens' Party or FBP [Marcus VOGT]; The Free List or
FL [Claudia HEEB-FLECK and Egon MATT]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

NA

International organization participation:

CE, EBRD, EFTA, IAEA, ICCt, ICRM, IFRCS, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ITSO,
ITU, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UPU, WCL, WIPO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Claudia FRITSCHE
chancery: 888 17th Street NW, Suite 1250, Washington, DC 20006
telephone: [1] (202) 331-0590
FAX: [1] (202) 331-3221

Diplomatic representation from the US:

the US does not have an embassy in Liechtenstein; the US Ambassador
to Switzerland is 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

Economy
Liechtenstein

Economy - overview:

Despite its small size and limited natural resources, Liechtenstein
has developed into a prosperous, highly industrialized,
free-enterprise economy with a vital financial service sector and
living standards on a par with its large European neighbors. The
Liechtenstein economy is widely diversified with a large number of
small businesses. Low business taxes - the maximum tax rate is 20% -
and easy incorporation rules have induced many holding or so-called
letter box companies to establish no