"text":"<p>The Moorish invasion of Spain in the 8th century and subsequent incursions into France were finally stemmed at the Pyrenees by Frankish King Charlemagne, who in 795 created the Hispanic March, a series of buffer states to keep the Muslim Moors from advancing into Christian France. The landlocked Principality of Andorra, one of the smallest states in Europe and nestled high in the Pyrenees between the French and Spanish borders, is the last independent survivor of these March states. For 715 years, from 1278 to 1993, Andorrans lived under a unique coprincipality, ruled by French and Spanish leaders (from 1607 onward, the French chief of state and the Bishop of Urgell). In 1993, this feudal system was modified with the introduction of a modern constitution; the co-princes remained as titular heads of state, but the government transformed into a parliamentary democracy.</p> <p>Andorra has become a popular tourist destination visited by approximately 8 million people each year drawn by the winter sports, summer climate, and duty-free shopping. Andorra has also become a wealthy international commercial center because of its mature banking sector and low taxes. As part of its effort to modernize its economy, Andorra has opened to foreign investment, and engaged in other reforms, such as advancing tax initiatives aimed at supporting a broader infrastructure. Although not a member of the EU, Andorra enjoys a special relationship with the bloc that is governed by various customs and cooperation agreements and uses the euro as its national currency.</p>"
"text":"population is unevenly distributed and is concentrated in the seven urbanized valleys that make up the country's parishes (political administrative divisions)"
},
"Natural hazards":{
"text":"avalanches"
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"landlocked; straddles a number of important crossroads in the Pyrenees"
"text":"population is unevenly distributed and is concentrated in the seven urbanized valleys that make up the country's parishes (political administrative divisions)"
"text":"the origin of the country's name is obscure; the name may derive from the Arabic \"ad-darra\" meaning \"the forest,\" a reference to its location as part of the Spanish March (defensive buffer zone) against the invading Moors in the 8th century; an alternate explanation is that the name originates from a Navarrese word \"andurrial\" meaning \"shrub-covered land\""
"text":"parliamentary democracy (since March 1993) that retains its chiefs of state in the form of a co-principality; the two princes are the President of France and Bishop of Seu d'Urgell, Spain"
},
"Capital":{
"name":{
"text":"Andorra la Vella"
},
"geographic coordinates":{
"text":"42 30 N, 1 31 E"
},
"time difference":{
"text":"UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)"
},
"daylight saving time":{
"text":"+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October"
"text":"7 parishes (parroquies, singular - parroquia); Andorra la Vella, Canillo, Encamp, Escaldes-Engordany, La Massana, Ordino, Sant Julia de Loria"
},
"Independence":{
"text":"1278 (formed under the joint sovereignty of the French Count of Foix and the Spanish Bishop of Urgell)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"Our Lady of Meritxell Day, 8 September (1278)"
},
"Constitution":{
"history":{
"text":"drafted 1991, approved by referendum 14 March 1993, effective 28 April 1993"
},
"amendments":{
"text":"proposed by the coprinces jointly or by the General Council; passage requires at least a two-thirds majority vote by the General Council, ratification in a referendum, and sanctioning by the coprinces"
}
},
"Legal system":{
"text":"mixed legal system of civil and customary law with the influence of canon (religious) law"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction"
},
"Citizenship":{
"citizenship by birth":{
"text":"no"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"the mother must be an Andorran citizen or the father must have been born in Andorra and both parents maintain permanent residence in Andorra"
},
"dual citizenship recognized":{
"text":"no"
},
"residency requirement for naturalization":{
"text":"25 years"
}
},
"Suffrage":{
"text":"18 years of age; universal"
},
"Executive branch":{
"chief of state":{
"text":"Co-prince Emmanuel MACRON (since 14 May 2017); represented by Patrick STROZDA (since 14 May 2017); and Co-prince Archbishop Joan-Enric VIVES i Sicilia (since 12 May 2003); represented by Josep Maria MAURI (since 20 July 2012)"
"text":"head of government indirectly elected by the General Council (Andorran parliament), formally appointed by the co-princes for a 4-year term; election last held on 2 April 2023 (next to be held in April 2027); the leader of the majority party in the General Council is usually elected head of government"
"text":"<em><br>2023: </em>Xaviar Espot ZAMORA (DA) re-elected head of government; percent of General Council vote - 57.1%<em><br>2019:</em> Xaviar Espot ZAMORA (DA) elected head of government; percent of General Council vote - 60.7"
"text":"unicameral General Council of the Valleys or Consell General de les Valls (a minimum of 28 seats; 14 members directly elected in two-seat constituencies (7 parishes) by simple majority vote and 14 directly elected in a single national constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms); note - voters cast two separate ballots - one for a national list and one for a parish list"
"text":"percent of vote by party - DA 57.1%, Concord 17.8%, Forward 10.7%, SDP 10.7%, L'A 3.6%; seats by party - DA 16, Concord 5, Forward 3, SDP 3, L'A 1; composition - men 15, women 13, percent of women 46.4%"
"text":"Supreme Court of Justice of Andorra or Tribunal Superior de la Justicia d'Andorra (consists of the court president and 8 judges organized into civil, criminal, and administrative chambers); Constitutional Court or Tribunal Constitucional (consists of 4 magistrates)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"Supreme Court president and judges appointed by the Supreme Council of Justice, a 5-member judicial policy and administrative body appointed 1 each by the coprinces, 1 by the General Council, 1 by the executive council president, and 1 by the courts; judges serve 6-year renewable terms; Constitutional magistrates - 2 appointed by the coprinces and 2 by the General Council; magistrates' appointments limited to 2 consecutive 8-year terms"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"Tribunal of Judges or Tribunal de Batlles; Tribunal of the Courts or Tribunal de Corts"
"text":"Concord [Cerni ESCALE Cabre]<br>Democrats for Andorra or DA [Xaviar ESPOT ZAMORA]<br>Forward Andorra [Carine Montaner RAYNAUD]<br>Liberals of Andorra or L'A [Joseph Maria CABANES]<br>Social Democracy and Progress or SDP [Pere Lopez AGRAS]",
"text":"the US does not have an embassy in Andorra; the US ambassador to Spain is accredited to Andorra; US interests in Andorra are represented by the US Consulate General's office in Barcelona (Spain); mailing address: Paseo Reina Elisenda de Montcada, 23, 08034 Barcelona, Espana; telephone: [34] (93) 280-22-27; FAX: [34] (93) 280-61-75; email address: Barcelonaacs@state.gov"
"text":"three vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red, with the national coat of arms centered in the yellow band; the latter band is slightly wider than the other 2 so that the ratio of band widths is 8:9:8; the coat of arms features a quartered shield with the emblems of (starting in the upper left and proceeding clockwise): Urgell, Foix, Bearn, and Catalonia; the motto reads VIRTUS UNITA FORTIOR (Strength United is Stronger); the flag combines the blue and red French colors with the red and yellow of Spain to show Franco-Spanish protection",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> similar to the flags of Chad and Romania, which do not have a national coat of arms in the center, and the flag of Moldova, which does bear a national emblem"
"text":"high GDP; low unemployment; non-EU Euro user; co-principality duty-free area between Spain and France; tourist hub but hit hard by COVID-19; modern, non-tax haven financial sector; looking for big tech investments; new member of SEPA and IMF"
"text":"Andorra has a modern telecommunications system with microwave radio relay connections between the exchanges and land line circuits to France and Spain (2020)"
"text":"1 public TV station and 2 public radio stations; about 10 commercial radio stations; good reception of radio and TV broadcasts from stations in France and Spain; upgraded to terrestrial digital TV broadcasting in 2007; roughly 25 international TV channels available (2019)"
