facts of Andorra country
smuggling has been a long problem (tradition) in Andorra—people would head to the mountaintops to take smokes into Spain or France. Andorra is also one of the few places in Europe where you can still smoke indoors in public places.
4. Andorra is the world’s only co-principality.
A principality is a place ruled by a prince. Monaco is an example of a principality. Andorra, however, is a co-principality. They have two princes who jointly share the title of prince. Surprisingly, neither of the two princes are from Andorra. One prince is the President of France, Emmanuel Macron. The other co-prince is the Bishop of Urgell, who is currently Joan Enric Vives Sicília. The position is a constitutional one similar to the British Monarchy and holds no real power. Except for limited things, the two princes must exercise their authority together, not separately. This is the only country where one of their heads of state (the President of France) is democratically elected by another country. The other prince, the bishop, is appointed by the head of state of another country (the Pope).
5. Andorra is the only country in the world with Catalan as its official language.
Catalan is spoken in regions of Spain, bits of France, and an even smaller chunk of Sardinia. However, Andorra is the only country using Catalan as the official language. I’m sure there are many people in Catalonia, however, who would like there to be at least one more country with that designation. :)
6. Andorra has never been in a war in almost 1,000 years
Given its non-strategic location in the Pyrenees Mountains and lack of natural resources, Andorra has been without conflict almost since Charlemagne came through to fight the Moors. Technically, Andorra did declare war on Germany in WWI, but it never sent anyone into the conflict. Given Andorra’s lack of participation in WWI, they were forgotten about in the Treaty of Versailles and didn’t officially declare peace with Germany until 1957!
7. Andorra has no national bank and has never had its own currency.
Andorra currently uses the Euro as its currency. Before that, it primarily used the Spanish Peseta and sometimes the French Franc. There is no national bank in Andorra, so it has to use private banks if the country wants to incur debt.
8. Andorra is not part of the EU, EFTA, or the Eurozone.
Andorra is not a member of most of the major European associations. Even though it uses the Euro, the country is not technically part of the Eurozone. It has a special relationship with the EU in which it follows the trade rules for industry, but not for agriculture. It’s also not a party to the Schengen Treaty, however, you can only access Andorra via Spain and France, which are party to the treaty. And since Andorra doesn’t have an airport, it’s de facto subject to the agreement.
9. Andorra la Vella is the highest capital city in Europe.
At an elevation of 1,023 meters (3356 feet), there is no higher elevation capital in all of Europe. In fact, it’s the 10th highest city of any kind in Europe, and boasts a population over 10,000.
10. The flag of Andorra is strikingly similar to the flags of Chad, Romania, and Moldova.
All four of the flags have the same color combination. They have three vertical strips of blue, yellow, and red. The flags of Andorra and Moldova have their national crest on the flag, which is really the only way you can tell the flags apart if you see them flying.
11. Andorra has the 8th highest life expectancy in the world.
With a life expectancy of 82.9 years, Andorra has the 8th highest life expectancy in the world. With the exception of Japan, every other country with a higher life expectancy is also a small country or a small territory: Monaco, Singapore, Macau, San Marino, Iceland, and Hong Kong.
12. Andorra has the most tourists per capita in the world.
With over 10,000,000 visitors per year and a population of only 77,000, Andorra has the most visitors in the world per capita. The vast majority of the visitors to Andorra are Spanish and French citizens who go there to shop and purchase fuel at cheaper prices.
13. Andorra was late in joining the United Nations.
Even though the United Nations was founded soon after the end of WWII, Andorra didn’t join the UN until 1993. Andorra waited 48 years to join the UN. In particular, they waited until the end of the Cold War so as to not violate their neutrality. They also joined the Council of Europe in 1993, the same year they adopted a new constitution and formally became a parliamentary
source: https://everything-everywhere.com/8-facts-about-andorra/
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