| |||||
| Decades: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| See also: | |||||
Events in the year 2019 in the Principality of Andorra .
| |||||
| Decades: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| See also: | |||||
Events in the year 2019 in the Principality of Andorra .
Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees, bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south. Believed to have been created by Charlemagne, Andorra was ruled by the count of Urgell until 988, when it was transferred to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell. The present principality was formed by a charter in 1278. It is currently headed by two co-princes: the bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain and the president of France. Its capital and largest city is Andorra la Vella.
Andorra la Vella is the capital and largest city of Andorra. It is located high in the east Pyrenees, between France and Spain. It is also the name of the parish that surrounds the capital.
The politics of Andorra take place in a framework of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, and a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government, with the Head of Government of Andorra as chief executive. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The Liberals of Andorra is a conservative-liberal political party in Andorra. It is a member of the Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
The co-princes of Andorra are jointly the heads of state of the Principality of Andorra, a landlocked microstate lying in the Pyrenees between France and Spain. Founded in 1278 using a treaty between the bishop of Urgell and the Count of Foix, this unique diarchical arrangement has persisted through the Middle Ages to the present. Currently, the bishop of Urgell and the president of France serve as Andorra's co-princes, following the transfer of the count of Foix's claims to the Crown of France and, subsequently, to the head of state of the French Republic. Each co-prince appoints a personal representative, the episcopal co-prince by Josep Maria Mauri and the French co-prince currently being represented by Patrick Strzoda.
The Andorra national football team represents Andorra in men's international football and is controlled by the Andorran Football Federation, the governing body for football in Andorra. The team has enjoyed very little success due to the Principality's tiny population, the fifth smallest of any UEFA country.
FC Santa Coloma is an Andorran professional football club based in Santa Coloma, parish of Andorra la Vella, that competes in the Primera Divisió. It is the most successful team in both Primera Divisió and Copa Constitució, having won both titles thirteen and ten times respectively.
The Constitution of Andorra is the supreme law of the Principality of Andorra. It was adopted on 2 February 1993 and given assent by the Andorran people in a referendum on 14 March 1993. According to the Constitution itself, it was to enter into force on the day of its publication in the Butlletí Oficial del Principat d'Andorra, which occurred on 28 April 1993.
The historic and official language of Andorra is Catalan, a Romance language. Because of immigration, historical links, and close geographic proximity, Spanish and French are commonly spoken. There is a sizeable immigrant community that speaks Portuguese. Most Andorran residents can speak one or more of these, in addition to Catalan. Spanish was the most common mother tongue in Andorra according to mother tongue percentage statistics by the Andorran Government released in 2018. In 2022, Catalan became the most common mother tongue used by 55.2% of the Andorran population.
Futbol Club Andorra is a professional football club based in Andorra la Vella, Andorra, that currently competes in Primera Federación – Group 1, in the Spanish league system. The club was founded in 1942 and currently plays its home fixtures at Estadi Nacional. In spite of being based in the microstate of Andorra, the club, voluntarily affiliated to the Catalan Football Federation, has been allowed to compete in Spanish leagues since 1948.
The tax system of Andorra has evolved according to the country's economic activity and structure, and the tax bases have been expanded to optimally distribute the weight of the tax burden, going from an almost exclusively indirect tax system to a system with direct taxation that can be approved at the international level. Despite its taxes, Andorra ceased to be a tax haven for its neighboring countries years ago, and for the European Union and OECD recently.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Andorra since 17 February 2023. Andorra first established stable unions on 23 March 2005, providing same-sex couples with some of the rights and benefits of marriage, and later enacted civil unions on 25 December 2014, offering a greater set of rights. On 21 July 2022, the General Council voted to open civil marriage to same-sex couples. The law was promulgated by Co-Prince Emmanuel Macron on 17 August 2022, and came into effect six months later.
Antoni Martí Petit was an Andorran architect and politician who served as the prime minister of Andorra between 2011 and 2019, when he was elected on the ticket of the Democrats for Andorra.
Andorra and Spain are members of the Council of Europe, Organization of Ibero-American States and the United Nations.
The Principality of Andorra's honours system started developing very recently and it is still in development.
Xavier Espot Zamora is an Andorran judge and politician. He is a former minister of justice and the current prime minister of Andorra, serving since 16 May 2019.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Andorra was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Andorra on 2 March 2020, when a 20-year-old man returned to the country from Milan, Italy. With a total population of 77,543, on 7 December 2020, the infection rate was 1 case per 11 inhabitants, and the death rate was 1 case per 994 inhabitants.
