Andorra

La Balma de la Margineda, found by archaeologists at Sant Julià de Lòria, was settled in 9500 BC as a passing place between the two sides of the Pyrenees. The seasonal camp was perfectly located for hunting and fishing by the groups of hunter-gatherers from Ariege and Segre.

During the Neolithic, a group of people moved to the Valley of Madriu (the present-day Natural Park located in Escaldes-Engordany declared UNESCO World Heritage Site) as a permanent camp in 6640 BC. The population of the valley grew cereals, raised domestic livestock, and developed commercial trade with people from Ségre and Occitania.

Other archaeological deposits include the Tombs of Segudet (Ordino) and Feixa del Moro (Sant Julià de Lòria), both dated in 4900–4300 BC as an example of the Urn culture in Andorra. The model of small settlements began to evolve to complex urbanism during the Bronze Age. Metallurgical items of iron, ancient coins, and reliquaries can be found in the ancient sanctuaries scattered around the country.

The sanctuary of Roc de les Bruixes (Stone of the Witches) is perhaps the most important archaeological complex of this age in Andorra, located in the parish of Canillo, about the rituals of funerals, ancient scripture and engraved stone murals.

The inhabitants of the valleys were traditionally associated with the Iberians and historically located in Andorra as the Iberian tribe Andosins or Andosini (Ἀνδοσίνους) during the 7th and 2nd centuries BC. Influenced by the Celtic, Aquitanian, Basque and Iberian languages, the locals developed some current toponyms. Early writings and documents relating to this group of people goes back to the second century BC by the Greek writer Polybius in his Histories during the Punic Wars.

Some of the most significant remains of this era are the Castle of the Roc d'Enclar (part of the early Marca Hispanica), l'Anxiu in Les Escaldes and Roc de L'Oral in Encamp.

The presence of Roman influence is recorded from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. The places with the most Roman presence are in Camp Vermell (Red Field) in Sant Julià de Lòria, and in some places in Encamp and in the Roc d'Enclar. …

Andorra is a small landlocked country in the eastern Pyrenees mountain range, between France and Spain. It covers 468 km (181 sq mi), has an average elevation of 1,996 m (6,549 ft), and shares borders of 56.6 km (35.2 mi) with France and 63.7 km (39.6 mi) with Spain. Its terrain is predominantly mountainous; its highest point is Coma Pedrosa, at 2,942 m (9,652 ft), and its lowest is at the Riu Runer confluence, at 840 m (2,756 ft). The rivers Valira del Nord in the west and Valira d'Orient in the east flow through the country's two principal valleys and converge in Escaldes-Engordany to form the Gran Valira, Andorra's principal river. The population is concentrated mainly along the valley floors. At an elevation of 1,023 m (3,356 ft), Andorra la Vella is the highest capital city in Europe.

Andorra has a high-mountain Mediterranean climate influenced by Mediterranean and Atlantic atmospheric circulation patterns. Summers are generally mild and winters are long and cold, while differences in altitude, relief and valley orientation create numerous microclimates. Temperatures decrease with elevation, and mean annual temperatures are estimated to fall below 0 °C (32 °F) above about 2,600 m (8,530 ft); the proportion of precipitation falling as snow increases with altitude. The Pas de la Casa area, on the Atlantic side of the drainage divide, is particularly exposed to moist northerly air, whereas the Valira valleys on the Mediterranean side are generally more sheltered and sunnier. Precipitation is generally most abundant during spring and summer and may remain high into autumn; winters are drier, except in northern and high-altitude areas exposed to Atlantic fronts, where snowfall is heavier.

Long-term records show significant warming: between 1950 and 2015, Andorra's annual mean temperature increased by 0.18 °C (0.32 °F) per decade, with the strongest seasonal increase occurring in summer, at 0.29 °C (0.52 °F) per decade. Further warming is expected to reduce snowfall and shorten the ski season, posing risks to Andorra's winter tourism sector. Greater reliance on artificial snowmaking may also increase pressure on water resources.

The 2012 national land-cover map classified about 40% of the country as dense woodland, 25% as meadows and grassland, 13% as scree and 9% as shrubland. …

Under the 1993 Constitution, Andorra is a parliamentary co-principality in which sovereignty is vested in the Andorran people. The Bishop of Urgell and the president of France serve as the co-princes, who jointly and indivisibly constitute the head of state and have equal constitutional powers. They represent the state and arbitrate and moderate the functioning of its public authorities. Except where the Constitution provides otherwise, their acts require the countersignature of the head of government or the syndic general, and political responsibility rests with the countersigning official.

Andorra is a unitary state and a constitutional diarchy. Its political system is also described as a parliamentary monarchy. The French co-prince holds the office by virtue of being the elected president of France, whereas Andorran voters do not participate in selecting either co-prince.

The Government consists of the head of government and the ministers. Under the direction of the head of government, it conducts Andorra's national and international policy, directs the state administration and exercises regulatory powers. The head of government is elected by the General Council and appointed by the co-princes, while the Government as a whole is politically accountable to the Council. Xavier Espot Zamora of Democrats for Andorra has served as head of government since 16 May 2019.

The General Council is Andorra's unicameral legislature. It has 28 councillors elected for four-year terms: 14 from a single nationwide constituency and two from each of the seven parish constituencies. The Council represents the Andorran people, exercises legislative power, approves the state budget and oversees the Government.

Andorra is divided into seven parishes (parròquies), which constitute its territorial and administrative divisions. The parishes are listed in their traditional protocol order:

Each parish is represented and administered by a democratically elected local council, known as a comú. The Constitution grants these councils legal status, local regulatory powers, and administrative and financial autonomy. Some parishes are further divided into quarts and veïnats, whose powers and relationship with the local councils are determined by law according to local custom. …

Tourism, the mainstay of Andorra's economy, accounts for roughly 80% of GDP. An estimated 8 million tourists visit annually, attracted by Andorra's duty-free status and by its summer and winter resorts.

One of the main sources of income in Andorra is from ski resorts, which total over 175 km (109 mi) of ski grounds. The sport brings in over 7 million visitors annually and an estimated 340 million euros per year, sustaining 2,000 direct and 10,000 indirect jobs at present since 2007.

The banking sector, with its tax haven status, also contributes substantially to the economy with revenues raised exclusively through import tariffs (the financial and insurance sector accounts for approximately 19% of GDP). However, during the Euro area crisis, the tourist industry suffered a decline, partly caused by a drop in the prices of goods in Spain, undercutting duty-free shopping and increasing unemployment. On 1 January 2012, a business tax of 10% was introduced, followed by a sales tax of 2% a year later, which raised just over 14 million euros in its first quarter.

Agricultural production is limited; only 1.7% of the land is arable, and most food has to be imported. Some tobacco is grown locally. The principal livestock activity is domestic sheep raising. Manufacturing output consists mainly of cigarettes, cigars, and furniture. Andorra's natural resources include hydroelectric power, mineral water, timber, iron ore, and lead.

Andorra is not a member of the European Union, but enjoys a special relationship with it, such as being treated as an EU member for trade in manufactured goods (no tariffs) and as a non-EU member for agricultural products. Andorra lacked a currency of its own and used both the French franc and the Spanish peseta in banking transactions until 31 December 1999, when both currencies were replaced by the EU's single currency, the euro. Coins and notes of both the franc and the peseta remained legal tender in Andorra until 31 December 2002. Andorra negotiated to issue its own euro coins, beginning in early 2015.

Andorra has historically had one of the world's lowest unemployment rates. In 2023 it stood at 1.5%.

On 31 May 2013, it was announced that Andorra intended to legislate for the introduction of an income tax by the end of June, against a background of increasing dissatisfaction with the existence of tax havens among EU members. …

The population of Andorra is estimated at 79,034 (2021). The Andorrans are a Romance ethnic group of originally Catalan descent. The population has grown from 5,000 in 1900.

Two-thirds of residents lack Andorran nationality and do not have the right to vote in communal elections. Moreover, they are not allowed to be elected as prime minister or to own more than 33% of the capital stock of a privately held company.

The largest national groups in Andorra are Spanish (34.3%), Andorrans (32.1%), Portuguese (10%), and French (5.6%). The remaining 18% of the population includes British, Dutch, Germans, Italians, and other Europeans, as well as Argentinians, Chileans, Indians, Moroccans, and Uruguayans. Population growth in Andorra in mainly due to young workers finding jobs in the tourism, hospitality and services sectors. Recent waves of immigrations come from South America, mainly Colombia and Peru.

Catalan (and specifically its North-Western variety) is the traditional language of Andorra and its only official language. It is a Romance language also spoken in Spain, France and Italy.

Under Andorra's 2024 language law, Catalan is a "fundamental element of the identity, personality and cultural heritage of Andorra". The government promotes Catalan through free language courses, guided self-learning and sector-specific courses for businesses. The law also requires media outlets to use Catalan in programming and advertising, and requires public media to promote Andorra's linguistic heritage. It recognizes Catalan Sign Language as a linguistic system and establishes the right of deaf and deafblind people to learn and use it.

Because of immigration, historical links and geographic proximity, Spanish, Portuguese and French are also widely used. In the 2022 government survey, Catalan was reported by 44.1% of respondents as a mother tongue and by 63.7% as a usual language; Spanish by 40.3% and 48.6%, Portuguese by 13.5% and 6.6%, and French by 10.0% and 5.7%. English accounted for 3.0% of mother-tongue responses and 2.7% of usual-language responses. …