Andorra

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Capital: Andorra La Vella (20.724 people)
Area: 468 sq km
Population: 70,549
Official language: Catalan (also Spanish and French are spoken)
Religion: Catholics 86%, Others 14%
Currency: Euro
Government: Constitutional co-principality
Inhabitants per doctor: 467

The absolute location of Andorra is 42 30 N, 1 30 E.
Andorra’s relative location is bordered France and Spain, in the eastern Pyrenees mountains. France is in the north and Spain in the south. Andorra is a very small country with no coastline, because it’s right in the middle of the earlier mentioned countries and that means that Andorra is landlocked. But even if it is a very small country it has a very varied climate. Andorra is about 2.5 times the size of Washington DC.

In Andorra there are mostly mountains (practically, its’ located on a mountain!), but the central area of the country is in a valley.
The winters are snowy and cold but the summers are warm and dry. Average temperatures ranges are from -1 to 6 degrees Celsius in January to 12 to 26 degrees Celsius in July.
Average annual precipitation is 808 m.
The country´s terrain is rugged with little level ground and mostly consists of gorges, narrow valleys and defiles which are surrounded by mountain peaks. The country is well drained by a single basin and mountain pastures account for 44% of the land area, while forests consisting of pine, fir, oak, birch and box trees cover 41% of the land area.
Natural hazard that are quite common in Andorra are avalanches in the snowy mountains, were many people goes to ski.
A current environment issue is deforestation; overgrazing of mountain meadows contributes to soil erosion, which is very bad, because the farming is a quite significant part of the economy.

Andorra has a few natural resources, such as Hydropower, mineral water, timber, iron ore and lead.

In the Andorran economy now, is tobacco, grazing and some other traditional crops a vital part. Cattle are the mainstay of livestock farming. But the most important sector nowadays, is the tourism. Andorra’s main exports are Cigarettes, Cigars, Furniture, Mineral Water, Postage Stamps. France, Spain, Germany and Portugal are Andorra’s main commercial partners.

The principal objective of the current economy is the diversification of resources. The fact that there is a reduced taxation burden on consumption means that the country is attractive for luxury goods (jewellery, furs, clothing, perfumery, etc.). Industry is insignificant, although the new strategy of economic diversification is trying to encourage the introduction of small and medium specialised businesses.

It’s easy to understand that tourism is Andorra’s most important incomes, because the have climate, you can go skiing during the winter, and have a summer holiday during the summer with lovely shopping. As you know now, Andorra is a duty-free country so it’s really cheap to buy things there, and it’s located in Europe, that’s why many Europeans go there. But it’s mostly Spanish and French people who spend their holiday in Andorra.

Since the Second World War has the population of Andorra increased a lot. Of the
70 000 inhabitants it is just every third man that is Andorran, most of the population are Spanish, French or Portuguese. You have to live in Andorra for 25 yeas before you can have an Andorran citizenship, unless your parents are Andorran.
Andorra has no formal constitution, no income tax and no army.