ANDORRA: THE MICROSTATE OF THE PYRENEES

One of the fun things about analyzing and researching nation states is learning about a country that most people on the planet have very little knowledge about. This is the case for Andorra; a country I had no idea existed until my adulthood. Andorra is one of Europe’s few remaining micro-states and its existence like the others served a political purpose in history that allowed its formation. Other functioning microstates in Europe are:

Monaco (Inside Southern France)

San Marino (One of the oldest countries in the world surrounded by Italy)

Liechtenstein (Nestled between Switzerland and Austria)

Luxembourg (Between France, Belgium and Germany)

The Holy See (Also known as Vatican City, the small nation housing the Pope)
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Three of the European microstates are located on a mountain range or solitary mountain. Andorra’s average elevation is over 6000 feet making it one of the highest elevated nations on the planet. Liechtenstein is a mountain country as well as San Marino whose entire nation is based around one mountain, Mount Titane. One defining aspect of micro-states is that many of them are some of the richest nations on Earth per capita. Due to its location between two historical empires, Andorra has benefitted from that relationship as well as being located high in the scenic Pyrenees mountains, the range that separates France from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and a tourist haven.

​Andorra's Flag

Andorra is only 180 square miles and a little over 30 miles wide at its largest width. This ranks it as the 178th largest nation in the world. Because of its free trade history, Andorra is one of the richest nations in Europe ranking 18th per capita in the world. The population is currently a little under 90,000 people. Because of its location between two Catholic nations, over 85% of Andorrans are Catholic. Andorra La Vella, its largest city of only a little over 22,000 residents, is its capital. The main language of Andorra is Catalan, but Spanish is also increasingly common. Native Andorrans make up only about a third of the population with the Spanish being the majority ethnicity at 40%. The country also has a significant French population. So how did this little nation stuck high up in the Pyrenees come into existence?

The history of this nation can be traced back to Hannibal going over the Pyrenees with his army during the Punic Wars of 218 BC. While scaling the Pyrenees, he encountered a pre-Roman Iberian native tribe called the Andosinis living in the region that is now Andorra. They were pastoral people using the natural resources of the mountains to survive. The Andosinis are often thought to have moved down the mountain and integrated with the northern Basque population of Spain who became world famous for their agricultural techniques. During the Gothic migrations from Germany at the end of the Roman Empire, medieval Spain was founded by the Visigoths in the late 400s who were eventually conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate in 721 leading to Spain being ruled by Muslims until 1492. But for the area in the Pyrenees, the rule of the Muslims was short lived. Due to their preference for the northern Franks, the people in the Pyrenees sided with Charlemagne in the 800s to form the Marca Hispanica, a neutral region that kept the Islamic Moors out of France. The first recognition of Andorra was by Charlemagne’s grandson Charles who gave the land to the Count of Urgell who would later transfer it to the Diocese of Urgell which remains one of the rulers of modern-day Andorra. Andorra’s current territory was fixed in 1278 when the French Count of Foix in Southern France and the Bishop of Urgell (Catalonia) signed a treaty giving them both equal rule over the territory. Over the years, the Spanish have migrated into the territory and have become the majority. But the Andorran people that live inside the country today can be traced back to the nation’s founding in 1278 when they were first identified with that title. Andorra has been neutral through almost every key war in history including the recent Spanish Civil War and World War II. Like other micro-states, Andorra thrives off being a financial services hub with low taxes and a constitution that emphasizes privacy and civil rights. Over time, the Count of Roix transferred his management of Andorra to the French crown while the Bishop of Urgell remains the ruler from the Spanish side. Andorra has been occupied a few times in history due to regional wars in either France or Spain. But because of its economic output and high quantity of skilled workers in various industries like metallurgy, textiles and service (Evolving into tourism), the country was always granted its autonomy back. It gained independence from the Kingdom of France in 1652, the Principality of Catalonia in 1715 and again from the French Empire by decree in 1814. In 1993, the country officially created its Constitution and became a member of the United Nations. One of the most famous historical moments for Andorra is that it became a hub for banned art and anti-censorship in opposition to the fascist rule of Franco in Spain to the south which helped it evolve into the free-market economy that currently thrives inside the nation today. Next week, a country that has a genetic tie in my family line, Vietnam. Until then.