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| Geography |
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| Andorra is a small country located in the southwestern Europe, between Spain and France. It is basically located in the eastern Pyrenees Mountains. Andorra is completely landlocked with no access to the coasts. Geologically the country has rugged mountains which are dissected by narrow valleys in a Y shape that combines into one as the main stream, the Valira River that leaves the country for Spain. |
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| Climate |
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The climate is temperate. In the higher altitude the climate during winters are invigoratingly dry, chill yet sunny, with average temperatures between -1°C and 6°C and warm and dry during summers with temperature around 26°C.
Chief natural resources are mineral water, hydropower, timber, lead and iron ore. |
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| People |
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The population of Andorra is about 71,822 according to 2007 estimates. The ethnic groups can be classified into 43% Spanish, 11% Portuguese, 7% French, 33% Andorrans and 6% others, making Andorrans a minority in their own native land. According to US censes Andorra has the longest life expectancy in the world with 83.5 years.
The predominant religion is Roman Catholic and Catalan is the official language, other spoken languages are French, Castilian and Portuguese.
Literacy rate is 100%, equal for both male and female. |
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| History |
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| Andorra has not been a part of European history, the reason it has been not very heard of historically, and had only few ties to countries other than France and Spain. However in the recent times, the tourism industry along with developments in transportation and communications has removed the country from its isolation. In the year 1993, the political system was thoroughly modernized in 1993, and in the same year it became a member of the United Nations. |
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| Government |
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The form of Government in Andorra is parliamentary democracy, where the Prime Minister is the head of the Government and a Pluriform multiparty system. The Government exercises the executive powers and the legislative powers are in the equitable interest of both the government and the Parliament. The two princes are the president of France and bishop of Seo de Urgel, Spain, who are represented locally by Copernicus' representatives. Andorra was formed under the joint suzerainty of the French Count of Foix and the Spanish Bishop of Urgel in the year 1278
Executive Council president is elected by the General Council and formally appointed by the Copernicus for a four-year term, after with the election are held.
Andorra is administratively divided into 7 parish that are Andorra la Vella, Encamp, Escaldes-Engordany, Ordino, Sant Julia de Loria, Canillo, La Massana
Capital: Andorra la Vella
Prime Minister: Albert Pintat Santolaria |
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| Economy |
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The economy of Andorra is dominated by tourism, which accounts upto 80% of the economy. The banking sector also contributes to the economy. 79.4% of the labor force is in the service sector, 20.3% are in the industrial sector and only 0.3% in the agricultural sector, as Andorra as only 2% of arable land. Therefore, most of the food has to be imported from Spain and France. The agricultural products that are grown are small quantities of rye, barley, oats, wheat, vegetables and sheep. The chief industries are tourism- particularly skiing, timber, tobacco, furniture, cattle raising and banking.
Andorra has very little generation of hydropower, so majorly the electricity is supplied by Spain and France. Manufacturing output (i.e. the export commodity) consists mainly of cigarettes, cigars, and furniture
Andorra is although not a full member of the European Union, but it enjoys a bond with it, to an extent of being treated as an EU member for trade in manufactured goods and as a non-EU member for agricultural products.
Currency: Euro
Being a tourism dominated country, a must visit sights are Església de Santa Coloma, which is a religious and spiritual place, a church built in 12th Century, another must visit is Museu Nacional de l'Automòbil a National Automobile museum and Plaça del Poble a modern government office building amidst the views of valley and mountains. |
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