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 olding
0.67% of Catalonian territory, Andorra is the only independent
state. At the heart of the Pyrénées and in the
middle of South Catalonia, North Catalonia and Languedoc, the
Principality of Andorra assembles 70 000 residents over 468km2.
Two thirds of its population live in the capital Andorra la
Vella. 33km separates the extremities of this high altitude
state where Catalan in the official language.
Occupied
by the Saracens from 725 to 785 AD the Andorran territory wrote
itself into the dynamic Catalan origins. At the end of the 8th
Century it was made part of the Marca Hispanica – the embryo
of Catalonia. This mountainous region is dominated by the peak
of Coma Pedrosa at 2946m. Andorra structured its territory into
six parishes, geographic divisions which are still used today.
Coveted by its neighbours the country adopted an unusual dual
regime from the time 1278-1288: the Bishop of Urgell and the
President of the Republic of France function symbolically as
the co-princes of Andorra. In the 15th Century the Andorran-led
negotiations between the French and Spanish sovereigns opened
the way for the free circulation of merchants between the two
kingdoms, and since that time fiscal matters have been at the
centre of Andorra’s development. A decisive evolution towards
full independence was put into effect in the course of the 20th
Century: an Executive Council was created in 1981, and a National
Constitution was adopted in 1993. Today the administration of
Andorra is overseen by the Govern, a government organised by
a presidency and ministries. The neutral state of Andorra, included
in the Euro, bestowed with foreign representatives, sporting
federations and a national media is an international showcase
of ‘Catalanity.’
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