Andorra
Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra (Catalan: Principat d'Andorra), also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, is a small country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of 468 km2 (181 sq mi) and an estimated population of 83,888 in 2009. Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, being at an elevation of 1023 metres. The official language is Catalan, although Spanish, French, and Portuguese are also commonly spoken.
The Principality was formed in 1278. The role of monarch is shared between the President of the French Republic and the Bishop of Urgell, Catalonia, Spain. It is a prosperous country mainly because of its tourism industry, which services an estimated 10.2 million visitors annually, and also because of its status as a tax haven. It is not a member of the European Union, but the euro is the de facto currency. The people of Andorra have the 2nd highest human life expectancy in the world — 82 years at birth.
History
Tradition holds that Charles the Great (Charlemagne) granted a charter to the Andorran people in return for fighting against the Moors. Overlordship of the territory was by the Count of Urgell and eventually by the bishop of the Diocese of Urgell. In 988, Borrell II, Count of Urgell, gave the Andorran valleys to the Diocese of Urgell in exchange for land in Cerdanya. Since then the Bishop of Urgell, based in Seu d'Urgell, has owned Andorra.
Before 1095, Andorra did not have any type of military protection and the Bishop of Urgell, who knew that the Count of Urgell wanted to reclaim the Andorran valleys, asked for help and protection from the Lord of Caboet. In 1095, the Lord of Caboet and the Bishop of Urgell signed under oath a declaration of their co-sovereignty over Andorra. Arnalda, daughter of Arnau of Caboet, married the Viscount of Castellbò and both became Viscounts of Castellbò and Cerdanya. Years later their daughter, Ermessenda, married Roger Bernat II, the French Count of Foix. They became Roger Bernat II and Ermessenda I, Counts of Foix, Viscounts of Castellbò and Cerdanya, and also co-sovereigns of Andorra (shared with the Bishop of Urgell).
In the eleventh century, a dispute arose between the Bishop of Urgell and the Count of Foix. The conflict was resolved in 1278 with the mediation of Aragon by the signing of the first paréage which provided that Andorra's sovereignty be shared between the count of Foix[10] (whose title would ultimately transfer to the French head of state) and the Bishop of Urgell, in Catalonia. This gave the principality its territory and political form.
Over the years, the French co-title to Andorra passed to the kings of Navarre. After Henry of Navarre became King Henry IV of France, he issued an edict in 1607 that established the head of the French state and the Bishop of Urgell as co-princes of Andorra. In 1812–13, the First French Empire annexed Catalonia and divided it in four départements, with Andorra being made part of the district of Puigcerdà (département of Sègre).
20th century
Andorra declared war on Imperial Germany during World War I, but did not actually take part in the fighting. It remained in an official state of belligerency until 1957 as it was not included in the Treaty of Versailles.
In 1933, France occupied Andorra as a result of social unrest before elections. On July 12, 1934, adventurer Boris Skossyreff issued a proclamation in Urgell, declaring himself Boris I, sovereign prince of Andorra, simultaneously declaring war on the Bishop of Urgell. He was arrested by Spanish authorities on July 20 and ultimately expelled from Spain. From 1936 to 1940, a French detachment was garrisoned in Andorra to prevent influences of the Spanish Civil War and Franco's Spain. Francoist troops reached the Andorran border in the later stages of the war. During World War II, Andorra remained neutral and was an important smuggling route between Vichy France and Spain.
Given its relative isolation, Andorra has existed outside the mainstream of European history, with few ties to countries other than France and Spain. In recent times, however, its thriving tourist industry along with developments in transport and communications have removed the country from its isolation. Its political system was thoroughly modernised in 1993, the year in which it became a member of the United Nations and the Council of Europe.
Geography
Andorra is a small, landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountain range and bordered by Spain and France. With an area of 468 km², it is the sixth smallest country in Europe and also the largest of the European microstates.
Andorra consists predominantly of rugged mountains, the highest being the Coma Pedrosa at 2,942 metres (9,652 ft), and the average elevation of Andorra is 1,996 metres (6,549 ft). These are dissected by three narrow valleys in a Y shape that combine into one as the main stream, the Gran Valira river, leaves the country for Spain (at Andorra's lowest point of 840 m/2,756 ft).
Andorra's climate is similar to that of its neighbours' temperate climates, but its higher elevation means there is, on average, more snow in winter, lower humidity, and it is slightly cooler in summer. There are, on average, 300 days per year of sunshine.
Phytogeographically, Andorra belongs to the Atlantic European province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF, the territory of Andorra belongs to the ecoregion of Pyrenees conifer and mixed forests.
Landslides and avalanches are the main natural hazards. There are frequent earthquakes below Richter magnitude 2. There is no historical record of any damaging earthquakes in Andorra, but the Andorran government has studied the possibility of a future one.
Other info
Oficial name:
Principat d'Andorra
Independence :
Paréage 1278
Area:
468 km2
Inhabitants:
77.600
Languages:
Catalan-Valencian-Balear [cat] 39,000 in Andorra. Alternate names: Català, Catalán, Bacavès. Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Ibero-Romance, East Iberian
French [fra] 4,000 in Andorra Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Gallo-Romance, Gallo-Rhaetian, Oïl, French
Spanish [spa] 24,600 in Andorra. Alternate names: Castilian. Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Ibero-Romance, West Iberian, Castilian
Capital city:
Andorra-la-Vella
Origin of the name:
Etymology unknown and contested; of pre-Roman, possibly Iberian or Basque origin. The name Andorra may be derived from al-Darra, the Arabic word for forest. When the Moors invaded Spain, the valleys of the Pyrenees were especially wooded, and the title Andorra can be found linked to villages in other parts of Spain which had been under Moorish domination. Still others claim that it comes from the Spanish andar, meaning "to walk", which gave name to the nomadic tribe of Andorrisoe which ostensibly migrated to the valleys in and around present-day Andorra, or could possibly originate from a Navarrese word andurrial, which translates as "shrub-covered land." An oft-told legend is that the name came from the archaic "Endor", which Louis le Debonnaire christened what he referred to as the "wild valleys of Hell" after defeating the Moors – wild and desolate mountain ranges have been associated with the Devil throughout much European literature
Discription Flag:
The national flag of the Principality of Andorra was adopted in 1866. The flag is a vertical tricolor of blue, yellow, and red with the coat of arms of Andorra in the center. Although the three vertical bars may at first appear to be of equal width, the center yellow bar is slightly wider than the other two so that the ratio of bar widths is 8:9:8. The overall flag ratio is 7:10.
The flag of Andorra is based on the flags of France and Spain, the two states that protect the independence of the small state. The design of vertical bars is taken from the French Tricolore, as is the blue and red. Yellow and red are taken from the Spanish and Catalan flags. The motto in the coat of arms in the middle stripe Virtus Unita Fortior means "Strength United is Stronger".
Coat of arms
The coat of arms of Andorra has existed for centuries. It supposedly violates the Rule of tincture. This coat of arms has been the national coat of arms of Andorra since 1969. Below the shield arms stands Andorra's national motto Virtus Unita Fortior (Latin for "United virtue is stronger"). The coat of arms also appears on the flag of Andorra.
The arms are:
Quarterly I Gules a bishop's mitre Or lined Argent (for La Seu d'Urgell)
II Or three pales Gules (for Foix)
III Or four pallets Gules (for Aragon)
IV two cows passant per pale Gules (for Béarn)
Motto:
"Virtue United is Stronger"
National Anthem: El gran Carlemany
Catalan
El gran Carlemany,
mon Pare dels alarbs em deslliurà,
I del cel vida em donà de Meritxell,
la gran Mare,
Princesa nasquí i Pubilla
entre dues nacions neutral
Sols resto l'única filla de
l'imperi Carlemany.
Creient i lliure onze segles,
creient i lliure vull ser.
Siguin els furs mos tutors
i mos Prínceps defensors!
I mos Princeps defensors!
English Translation
The great Charlemagne,
my Father, liberated me from the Saracens,
And from heaven he gave me life of Meritxell,
the great Mother.
I was born a Princess,
a Maiden neutral between two nations.
I am the only remaining daughter
of the Carolingian empire
Believing and free for eleven centuries,
believing and free I will be.
The laws of the land be my tutors,
and Princes my defenders!
And Princes my defenders!
