Andorra
Andorra,[e] officially the Principality of Andorra,[1][f] is a sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees, bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south. Believed to have been created by Charlemagne, Andorra was ruled by the count of Urgell until 988, when it was transferred to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell. The present principality was formed by a charter in 1278. It is currently headed by two co-princes: the bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain and the president of France. Its capital and largest city is Andorra la Vella.
Not to be confused with the Italian town of Andora.
Principality of Andorra[1]Principat d'Andorra (Catalan)
- 48.3% Andorrans
- 24.8% Spaniards
- 11.2% Portuguese
- 4.5% French
- 1.4% Argentines
- 9.8% others
- 90.8% Christianity
- 85.5% Catholicism (official)[4]
- 5.3% other Christian
- 90.8% Christianity
- 6.9% no religion
- 2.3% others
Unitary parliamentary diarchic constitutional co-principality
1814
2 February 1993
467.63 km2 (180.55 sq mi) (178th)
179.8/km2 (465.7/sq mi) (71st)
2023 estimate
2023 estimate
27.21[b]
low
dd/mm/yyyy
right[13]
Andorra is the sixth-smallest state in Europe, with an area of 468 square kilometres (181 sq mi) and a population of approximately 79,034.[15][16] The Andorran people are a Romance ethnic group closely related to Catalans.[17] Andorra is the world's 16th-smallest country by land and 11th-smallest by population.[18] Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres (3,356 feet) above sea level.[19] The official language is Catalan, but Spanish, Portuguese, and French are also commonly spoken.[3][20]
Tourism in Andorra brings an estimated 10.2 million visitors to the country annually.[21] Andorra is not a member state of the European Union. It has been a member of the United Nations since 1993.[22]
Etymology[edit]
The origin of the word Andorra is unknown, although several hypotheses have been proposed. The oldest is one put forward by the Greek historian Polybius (The Histories III, 35, 1), who describes the Andosins, an Iberian Pre-Roman tribe, as historically located in the valleys of Andorra and facing the Carthaginian army in its passage through the Pyrenees during the Punic Wars. The word Andosini or Andosins (Ἀνδοσίνοι) may derive from the Basque handia, meaning "big" or "giant".[23] The Andorran toponymy shows evidence of Basque language in the area. Another theory suggests that the word Andorra may derive from the old word Anorra that contains the Basque word ur ("water").[24]
Another theory suggests that Andorra may derive from Arabic ad-dārra (الدَّارَة), indicating a vast land which is located among mountains or a thickly wooded place[25] (with ad- being the definite article). When the Moors conquered the Iberian Peninsula, the valleys of the High Pyrenees were covered by large tracts of forest. These regions were not administered by Muslims, because of the geographic difficulty of direct rule.[26]
Other theories suggest that the term derives from the Navarro-Aragonese "andurrial", which means "land covered with bushes" or "scrubland".[27]
The folk etymology holds that Charlemagne had named the region as a reference to the Biblical Canaanite valley of Endor or Andor (where the Midianites had been defeated), a name bestowed by his heir and son Louis the Pious after defeating the Moors in the "wild valleys of Hell".[28]
Andorran flag on a balcony, Ordino
Altar of Sant Romà de Vila
