Andorra Explained

History

Andorra is a small principality in the Pyrenees Mountains, with France to its north and Spain to its south. As it's located completely in a high mountain range, Andorra's average elevation is just under 2,000 meters, making it the sixth most mountainous country in the world.

As you can see from the map above, the WHOLE of Andorra is surrounded by mountains. Mountains mean that it is colder here than most other places. The average summer temperature is around 65 F and the average winter temperature is around 36 F.

Andorra was conquered by the Romans as they swept through Europe. But when it fell, Andorra was easily influenced by many of its neighbors. The Visigoths might be the most important group of influencers. They stayed for a good 200 years, and while they were there, Christianity spread. Soon, most of Europe was fighting against the Muslim invaders (the ones that took over Algeria in yesterday's article) and Andorra joined. But soon, the Moors captured most of the Iberian Peninsula. Andorra became part of the County of Barcelona, a buffer state between the Moors and the Frankish Empire.

Andorra might have one of the most unique governments in the whole world: it is a co-principality (meaning it has two princes that rule the country). Strangely enough, one of the princes is elected: this prince is also known as the President of France. The other prince also holds a title: he is the Bishop of Urgell. The first prince used to be the King of France, but, you know, a revolution happened in France and the king was overthrown and stuff... yeah, so now it's the President of France. As for the Bishop of Urgell, well Urgell is in Spain (specifically Catalonia) and when Urgell was an independent nation it bought territories that are now part of Andorra, so the bishop now gets the title. The co-principality was established in 1095. Soon, a general assembly was established where people elect representatives.

Interestingly, Andorra was one of the nations to declare war on Germany during WWII but was left out of the Paris Peace Conference, and was technically at war with Germany until 1959 when Germany officially surrendered to Andorra.

In the 1930s, Andorra was in chaos. There was a revolution and the French invaded to try to calm the situation. A man named Boris Skossyreff tried (and failed) to seize the Andorran government. This prompted the French to send an army to Andorra to try to maintain peace and not let anything from Spain (which was having a civil war) spill into Andorra. In fact, Andorrans welcomed troops from both sides of the Spanish Civil War.

Andorra was neutral during WWII. Spain was recovering from a civil war in which the nationists, supported by Germany and Italy, and beat the republicanists. Germany had invaded France, annexing the northern part, and leaving the south as a puppet state. However, there were many people who smuggled things between France and Spain and stopping in Andorra.

Andorra is one of a few nations that use the Euro as currency but aren't part of the EU. Its closest allies are probably France and Spain, along with Portugal.

Thanks for reading!