Happy birthday

last updated 8 January 2015

Liechtenstein

The unusual little nation of Liechtenstein celebrated its bicentennial this week. The principality, about the size of Washington, D.C., was created by Napoleon in 1806, and kept its neutrality through both world wars. It is now best known as a tax haven. But its ruler, Prince Alois von und zu Liechtenstein, 38, says he hopes to use the bicentennial to change the country’s image. In the past few years, the prince says, Liechtenstein has enacted tough regulations to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. There’s still far less regulation than in most countries, though; tax evasion, for example, is not a crime.