PRINCIPALITY OF ANDORRA

Welcome  Benvinguts
Andorra's ski areas are some of the most extensive, best equipped and most modern in Europe. The country attracts as many British and Irish snowsports holiday visitors as the USA and Canada combined!

Yet, ask most northern Europeans where Andorra is and nine times out of ten you will be met with blank looks. The country may be a tiny dot on the map of Europe (so small that its own name doesn't fit inside its borders on most standard maps) but far from being a poor forgotten backwater, the country is a wealthy, modern, independent state, with its capital Andorra la Vella often described as a high-altitude Monte Carlo.

El Pais dels Pirineus
Andorra (official name Principat d'Andorra) is situated high in the eastern Pyrenees between France and Spain. Although small, the country is still bigger than all the other European microstates with similar characteristics put together:

Liechtenstein 157 sq km (60 sq miles)
San Marino 61 sq km (23.5 sq miles)
and Monaco 1.5 sq km (0.58 sq miles).

With an area of just 468 sq km (<181 sq miles) Andorra is still tiny (the Isle of Man is over 20 per cent bigger), yet it attracts over 11 million visitors per annum.

Statistics
Population 76,875
Maximum Altitude 2942 m (9653 ft)
Minimum Altitude 840 m (2756 ft)

Residents
True Andorrans are actually outnumbered in their own country by residents of other nationalities: most inhabitants are of Spanish or French origin, with a sizeable Portuguese community and quite a few UK expats too. At the last census, there were 87 different nationalities recorded amongst Andorra's inhabitants.

Languages
Catalan is the state's official first language, but locals also speak Spanish and French and frequently switch between all these languages mid-sentence.

ANDORRA
THE PYRENEAN COUNTRY

Edition 1
[Published 17/07/2008
Updated 17/01/2010]

by

Francis Johnston


Ski-Ride Productions retains the copyright in the original edition (2005) and in all subsequent editions, updates and amendments.

The right of Francis Johnston to be identified as the author
of this work has been asserted.

Original photography and graphics by the author, unless otherwise credited
(credits for out-sourced images are given in image ‘alt tags’ text)