Andorra

It is one of the mini-states (micro-states) existing in Europe , a principality located in the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain . The capital is Andorra la Vella (Andorra la Vella).[9], the Catalan ll is pronounced as a lingual palatal approximation / ʎ/ rather than a palatal fricative /ʝ/. The French spelling is Andorre-la-Vieille.]

The land area is about 470㎢ and the population is around 85,000, making it a very small country. Nevertheless, it is not a city-state consisting of one city , but several villages divided by mountain ranges. The capital, Andorra la Vella, has a population of approximately 20,000.[10]

Naturally, it is different from Andora in Italy , which has a similar name.

There are several theories about the origin of the country's name, but it seems to have originated from the name of the Andosini people that the Carthaginian army encountered while passing through this region during the Second Punic War, which means 'big, huge' in Basque . It proves that the region belongs to the Basque language group.

 more detailsAndora/flag documentcastPlease note.

The entire country is embedded in the Pyrenees Mountains . Because it is located between Spain and France , some people think that this country is located at a point where it can pass through a mountain range, but that is not the case; it is located in a valley where a river flows toward Spain. Nowadays, there is a road to France that crosses the 2,400m hill where the main ski resort is located, but it is only for those who want to cross into France or Spain through Andorra, and usually passes through Pucerda, which is about 20km east of Andorra.

The capital , Andorra la Vella , is so high that it is located at the highest point in Europe (1,409m), and the average altitude of the entire country is almost 2,000m. Therefore, if you want to visit this place, you must be careful of altitude sickness . However, the average temperature ranges from -2℃ to 24℃ and the weather is clear all year round. Andorra is divided into seven parishes (parròquia): Canillo, Encamp, Ordino, La Massana, Andorra la Vella, Sant Julià de Lòria, and Escaldes- Engordany .

In 1950 , the population was only about 6,000. Currently, two-thirds of Andorra's 80,000 population are foreigners, mainly from neighboring countries such as Spain , Portugal , and France . They do not even have the right to vote in local elections. The official language is Catalan .

It began with the County of Urgel, one of the Spanish frontier territories established by Emperor Carolus during the Frankish Kingdom . Borel II, Count of Urgel, handed Andorra over to the Diocese of Urgel in exchange for Cerdanya, and since then the bishop of the Diocese of Urgel has ruled Andorra . Therefore, there was no physical military power in Andorra, and in a situation where it was obvious that Count Urgel would take Andorra again by force, Bishop Urgel gave defense and partial governance to the Caboet family. The sovereignty of Andorra held by the Cabo family was transferred to the Count of Foix in southern France through several marriages. Count Foix and Bishop Urgel finally agreed to become joint rulers of Andorra in 1278 .

Since 1278, the sovereignty of Bishop Urhel is due to the nature of the bishop.[12] Bishop Urhel continues, and the sovereignty of Count Poa will be inherited. Count Poa Gas Tong IV is married to Leonor I, the queen of the kingdom of Navara, and his descendants become the royal family of Navara, leading to King Navara. The throne of Navarra leads to the Bourbon family, where the French-Navara- dong alliance was formed as King Navara III of the Bourbon family was crowned Henry III of France.

During the French Revolution , there was no Grand Duke of Andorra on the French side for a while, but when Napoleon Bonaparte ascended the throne as Emperor of France, he became the Grand Duke of Andorra again. Afterwards, in France, despite the eventual abolition of the monarchy through the Bourbon Restoration, the Orléans Dynasty, and the Second French Empire,[13] Since it was impossible to exclude the French influence that had lasted for hundreds of years, he was given the ex officio position of French President , the head of state of France , and still serves as the Grand Duke of Andorra.[14]

It was a feudal state until a constitution was enacted by referendum in 1993 . Because it was a small country, there were no serious human rights abuses or oppression, so the old system was able to continue to be maintained. Andorra alternately sent 960 francs (approximately 140,000 won) in cash to the French president each year , and 460 pesetas (approximately 3,000-4,000 won) in cash, 6 hams, 6 cheeses, and 12 chickens to Bishop Urgel. This was a tribute to their lord. The abolition of the constitutional joint monarchy system. Joined the United Nations in 1993 .

The Diocese of Urgel is not a diocese (archdiocese) of a diocese, so the diocese is in principle a ‘bishop’.[15] Perhaps due to his characteristics as the monarch of Andorra, Archbishop Joan Enrique Vives of Sicily, former head of the Diocese of Urgel, was elevated to the rank of archbishop in his personal capacity by Pope Benedict However, not all past bishops of the Diocese of Urhel were ex officio promoted to archbishop. As a similar example, looking at the process by which Cardinal Yoo Heung-sik became a cardinal may be helpful in understanding.

The head of state is a two-headed government with the President of France and the Catholic Archdiocese of Urgel serving as both heads of state. Bishop Urgel is Spanish, but according to the Catholic Church's diocesan administration, the Diocese of Urgel includes Andorra. Since the Joint Duke is the symbolic head of state and the parliamentary cabinet system is implemented, all government affairs are run by the Prime Minister. The joint authorities each send their own representatives to Andorra on their behalf. In terms of the Commonwealth , it can be seen as equivalent to a Governor-General , but there is a critical difference in that the Governor-General of a Commonwealth Kingdom today is a local person, not a British person.

A bill passed by the National Assembly receives the signature of the head of state and is promulgated as an official law. In the case of Andorra, it only needs to receive the signature of one of the two co-officials to become effective as a law, making it a secular country even though the Catholic bishop is one of the heads of state.[16]

Andorra elects 28 members of the Andorra parliament in elections held every four years. The entire country is divided into seven electoral districts, and 14 members are elected in each constituency, and the remaining 14 are elected as proportional representation according to the party's vote. The right to vote is given to all Andorran citizens over the age of 18.

The main political parties are the Democratic Party , the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party .

In the past, an army existed. Because it is a landlocked country, it does not have a navy . In modern times, only a portion of the army was maintained for decoration purposes , and military uniforms were handed down and worn as unit uniforms rather than newly created. This was possible because I only wore it during events. The army personnel who had been maintained as part-time soldiers secretly wanted to become a standing army, but this was thwarted when the Andorra Police (El Cos de Policia d'Andorra) was created in 1931. The French Gendarmerie helped create the force, and 11 members of the Andorran Army became advisers to the police.

Currently, only about 20 honor guards remain as part of the Army's legacy. Since defense expenses are covered by donations and all soldiers are volunteers, it is difficult to call it a regular army. However, in preparation for sudden changes in the future, the entire military is made up of officers and non-commissioned officers . In reality, it is physically impossible to invade here in the first place unless you are France , Spain , or, limited to air raids, the United States or Russia .

In 1934, a Russian explorer from Lithuania named Boris Skóssirev (Борис Скосырев; Borís Skóssirev) acquired Andorra's citizenship in 1933, declared himself king of Andorra and representative of the King of France, and declared war on the Bishopric of Urgel. The Spanish military and police arrested Skóssirev. I went to Bossam. After that, he lived a turbulent life, but most of the time, he was forced to do things that he should not have done, which led to his death . After settling in Boppard, Germany in 1956, he lived a long life until 1989, at the age of 102. In 1933, the French Army briefly occupied the area due to social unrest, and from 1936 to 1940, the French Army was stationed there again due to the Spanish Civil War. As far back as the Middle Ages, the Kingdom of Aragon claimed sovereignty and occupied the area twice, but both times lasted only a few weeks to two years at most.

Germany is a country that did not end World War I or World War II until 1958 . It declared war in 1914 during World War I and became an enemy country, but after Germany was defeated, Andorra was forgotten when other countries signed at Versailles. At this time, Costa Rica was also forgotten as a bonus, and after the end of World War II, the Allied Forces added it to the victorious country, ending the war, but the Allied Forces again forgot and did not include Andorra. Finally, in 1958, Andorra unilaterally notified the end of the war .

Prior to 2007, the police alternated between the French police and the Spanish police, and the relevant taxes alternated to Spain and France every two years. In 2007, Andora National Police was founded and the number of people was maintained. Although it is written in a small country, there are also police commandos called traffic police, explosive processing groups , and even GIPA .





In line with the trend of the World Police Commando, a high -cut helmet is used and drones are displayed. #

 more detailsAndorra/Economy documentcastPlease note.

Prior to the introduction of the euro , Spanish Peseta and France Franc , the country's country, were mixed without their own currency . Most of the government budget, salary and bank deposits were made of pesetta, most of them were priced in pesetta, and the franc exchange rate was presented next to it.

Tourism accounts for 80% of GDP. The main sources of income are shopping at duty-free shops and skiing. Sales of duty-free goods are so active that it is called the supermarket of Europe, and there are duty-free shops all over the city.

Like many mini-countries , Andorra is a tax haven , where many corporations and rich people establish paper companies . The finance and insurance industry accounts for 19% of total GDP. At one time the French president Nicolas Sarkozy even threatened to pull France out of the common monarchy if Andorra's excessively low tax rates were not raised to normal levels. If this happens, the Andorran government will be shocked because, according to the current law, it will become a theocracy with Bishop Urgel as the only head of state.

It is impossible for foreigners to approach Andora without cars or buses . The road itself is very well laid.

The land area is small and the country itself is located in the highlands of the Pyrenees Mountains , so it is difficult to find flat land where an airport can be built. So, since it doesn't have its own airport, you have to go to a nearby country to board it. The nearest airport is France This is Toulouse Blagnac Airport .

There are no railways or train stations, so you have to go to neighboring countries to solve the problem. Just 2km away by bus from the eastern border of Andorra, you can use the Gare d'Andorre-L'Hospitalet station of SNCF (French National Railways) .

The only transportation in the city is by bus , but there are only a few routes. Bus company website The bus terminal located in the capital city of Andorra la Vella is named "National Bus Station (Estació nacional d'autobusos)" and is almost the only passage that operates regular international transportation to and from the country. The terminal was recently renovated and boasts the capacity to accommodate 10 buses at a time. Andorra's international buses require a passport.[17] Please note that it is available. However, due to the nature of being sandwiched between France and Spain and having to pass through those two countries anyway, they tend not to do any special investigation, such as only checking formal passports at the border or simply sending them on their way without stopping them. However, when leaving Andorra and entering France or Spain, customs officials inspect at the border. This is because there are many people who buy cigarettes or alcohol in Andorra and resell them illegally in France or Spain, where the prices are much higher due to taxes.

A number of bus operators, including ALSA, ANDBUS # and Directbus # , are connecting bus terminals along the river in downtown Andorra la Vella or other provinces within Andorra with neighboring countries such as Toulouse in France , Barcelona in Spain and Zaragoza in Spain. Due to the nature of the country, where only road transportation is available, fares are slightly expensive.

During the winter ski season, SKIBUS, which connects the ski resort base and various parts of the village, is operated for free. During the operating period, ski resort users, villagers and tourists can all use it freely.

There is no Uber in Andorra, but there is CityXerpa , which can be called Andorra's Uber . Ride service and food delivery are also available. You can get the app by searching for CityXerpa in the app store or scanning the QR code provided at the Andorra la Vella Tourism office. It's not cheap, but it's good to use when you need a ride. Taxi services are also available, but for areas outside Andorra la Vella, taxis have to depart from Andorra la Vella, so you may have to wait for up to 45 minutes, so it is better to use CityXerpa rather than a taxi.

If you want to use public transportation, download the FEDA Mou-te app ( Apple App Store / Google Play Store ). If you enter the start and end point and search, possible routes will be provided in real time, and you can also purchase tickets within the app. Single ticket price is 2024 As of June , 1.90 euros.

Soccer is a popular sport, but the Andorra national soccer team is a score vending machine in World Cup qualifiers and Euro tournament qualifiers.

However, they defeated Moldova 1-0 in the 7th match of Group H of the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers, earning their first ever win and 3 points after 56 consecutive losses in the Euro tournament qualifiers. In the 9th match against Albania , they also added 1 point with a 2-2 draw, putting them on the brink of escaping from the bottom of the group.

It also operates Primera Divisio , a domestic professional league in which eight teams participate , but FC Andorra , based in Andorra la Vella, the capital of Andorra, is unusually a member of La Liga 2 , Spain's second division, as of 2025 .[18]

In this case, it can be seen as a similar case to AS Monaco FC of the Principality of Monaco , which participates in the French league . However, Monaco is much smaller than Andorra and is the only soccer team, whereas Andorra participates in the Spanish league even though it has its own soccer league. It could be said to be similar to the cases of Cardiff City and Swansea City, Welsh clubs participating in the English league .

Andorra is a place with a huge ski resort, so much so that the entire country can be considered a ski resort, but skiing skills are not that good(?). Nevertheless, it stands out in mountain skiing. It has been adopted starting from the 2026 Milan/Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, so there is a possibility of winning a medal.

Because it has a low maximum income tax rate of 10%, low prices and real estate compared to Monaco , many cyclists live there. In particular, there are a lot of French players, and unlike Monaco, they don't seem to have signed an agreement... …
The Vuelta a España stage race is also held every year.

 more detailsAndorra/Culture documentcastPlease note.

Little in the Mountains - Andorra .

Andorra entered the international diplomatic arena only in 1993, when feudalism was abolished. This is because there was no independent diplomatic authority until then.

Although diplomatic relations with Korea were established in 1995, there is no Andorra embassy or consulate in Korea. This country has embassies in only six countries ( Spain , France , Belgium , Austria , Portugal , and the United States ). Even this is kept to a minimum only where absolutely necessary, which is natural because Spain and France are neighboring countries that share a border; the United States and Austria are home to the United Nations headquarters; and Belgium is home to European Union organizations such as the European Parliament and the European Commission. Portugal would be an exception, not just because it is on the same Iberian Peninsula , but also because there are many Portuguese immigrants in Andorra. For reference, the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York also serves the United States, Canada , and Mexico .

The only foreign missions presided over in Andora are the French and Spanish embassies and Catalan representatives. #

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The Republic of Korea has a consulate general in Andorra.

Japan has established diplomatic ties with Andorra, but there is no embassy there yet. Instead, the Japanese Embassy in France has Andorra as an adjunct country.

 more detailsSpain-Andorra relations documentcastPlease note.

Ando's internationally recognized independent country is the only official of Catalan and Bishop Ur Herhel in Catalonia , but he is reigning as a common lord of Andora, but when the Catalan government declared independence in 2017, he had no choice but to see the Spanish central government and the EU's central government and the EU . It has not approved the independence of Catalonia, and the Andora government has made a statement that Catalonia is still part of Spain. In fact, Spain accounts for 53.2%of trade in 2018. #

However, Catalonia 's declaration of independence was treated not only by Andora but also by other provinces, central governments and other countries in the EU . In particular, they were used in the same catalonia , but because they refused to propose the solidarity of Valencia and Valeaz, which are somewhat poor, they were also in the Catalonia culture, so they were independent and eventually broke out by the Spanish central government. Ando, ​​so he responded to Catalonia's declaration of independence, and it is not necessarily to see Spanish.

Spanish (Castilla) is a major foreign language in Andora. Andora has joined the Ibero American community founded by Spain , and is also participating in the Ibero-America summit . It is also subscribed to the Latin Union .

In 2021 , King Felipe VI visited Andorra for the first time among all Spanish kings . #

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The President of France serves as co-lord of Andorra together with the Bishop of Urgell. Andorra has French as its main foreign language and is therefore a member of both the Francophonie and the Latin Union.

Since Andorra's legislation requires the signature of only one of the two co-lords, the French president is the de facto reason why Andorra can remain a secular state.

Andorra established diplomatic relations with the United States. However, since the United States does not have an embassy in Andorra, the US embassy in Spain has jurisdiction over Andorra. The US has an embassy in Andorra.

Because of the lack of awareness, there is almost no appearance in the media.