Cantons of Luxembourg

The 12 cantons (French: canton [kɑ̃tɔ̃] ^ⓘ; German: Kanton [kanˈtoːn] ^ⓘ; Luxembourgish: Kanton [ˈkɑnton]) of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are subdivisions at the first level of local administrative unit (LAU-1) in the European Union's Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics for Eurostat purposes. They were subdivisions of the three districts of Luxembourg until 2015, when the district level of government was abolished. The cantons are in turn subdivided into 100 communes (i.e. municipalities).

Function

Unlike in Switzerland and similarly to France, Luxembourgish cantons have no administrative structure of their own—rather, they are used to delimitate electoral constituencies and judicial districts. Until 2015, they also served to delimitate Luxembourg's three districts.

History

The origins of the cantons of Luxembourg lie in the decree of 31 August 1795 by the Committee of Public Safety during the French Revolutionary period. This established 37 cantons in the Département des Forêts, grouped into 4 arrondissements (districts): Bitbourg, Diekirch, Luxembourg, and Neufchâteau. The old feudal territorial divisions were replaced with a system of uniform administrative division into cantons of approximately equal size and population.

The decree of 6 March 1802 reduced the number of cantons in the department to 28.

This situation lasted until 1815, when the Congress of Vienna re-organised Europe's borders. The Duchy of Luxembourg lost its territories east of the Our, the Sauer and the Moselle rivers to Prussia. The subsequent administrative reorganisation divided Luxembourg into 32 cantons, grouped into five arrondissements: Marche, Saint-Hubert, Neufchâteau, Diekirch, and Luxembourg.

By royal decree of 2 January 1832, arrondissements were reduced in size, but their number increased from 5 to 8. They were now named quarters, and later, districts.

List

Clervaux

Diekirch

Redange

Vianden

Wiltz

Echternach

Grevenmacher

Remich

Capellen

Esch-sur-Alzette

Luxembourg

Mersch

The following list gives the names of the cantons in French and Luxembourgish (in that order) which are both official languages of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg:

Name	Luxembourgish name	Namesake commune	Electoral district	Coat of arms	Area (km²)(2018)	Population (As of 2023)	Population Density Inhabitants/km2 (As of January 2023)	Highest point	Lowest point
Clervaux	Klierf	Clervaux	North		342.17	20,687	60.5	560	230
Wiltz	Wolz	Wiltz	North		264.55	19,209	72.6	537	233
Vianden	Veianen	Vianden	North		78.52	5,593	103.4	542	190
Redange	Réiden	Redange	North		267.49	20,874	78	554	232
Diekirch	Dikrech	Diekirch	North		204.51	35,150	171.9	525	175
Mersch	Miersch	Mersch	Centre		223.90	35,579	158.9	436	201
Echternach	Iechternach	Echternach	East		185.54	20,280	109.3	414	141
Capellen	Kapellen	Mamer	South		199.21	52,828	265.2	398	242
Luxembourg	Lëtzebuerg	Luxembourg City	Centre		238.46	204,358	857	429	228
Grevenmacher	Gréiwemaacher	Grevenmacher	East		211.37	35,524	153.9	411	132
Esch-sur-Alzette	Esch-Uelzecht	Esch-sur-Alzette	South		242.77	189,540	780.7	435	224
Remich	Réimech	Remich	East		127.87	24,186	189.1	368	140

Maps

Cantons of Luxembourg

[[file:

Cantons shaded by population density. Greater population density is reflected by darker shades of red.

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[[file:

Cantons shaded by area. Larger area is reflected by darker shades of green.

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[[file:

Cantons shaded by the highest point. Higher altitude is reflected by darker shades of orange.

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Cantons shaded by the lowest point. Lower altitude is reflected by darker shades of purple.

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[[file:

Cantons shaded by population. Larger population is reflected by darker shades of blue.

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See also

• Category:Lists of cantons of Luxembourg
• ISO 3166-2:LU
• List of cantons of Luxembourg by area
• List of cantons of Luxembourg by highest point
• List of cantons of Luxembourg by lowest point
• List of cantons of Luxembourg by population
• List of cantons of Luxembourg by population density

External links

• Media related to Cantons of Luxembourg at Wikimedia Commons