Andorra

Map of Andorra Principality of Andorra Prime Minister: Antoni Martí Petit (2011) Chiefs of State (Coprinces):Francois Hollande for France and Joan Enric Vives Sicília for Spain Total area: 174 sq mi (451 sq km) Population (2014 est.): 85,458 (growth rate: 0.17%); birth rate: 8.48/1000; infant mortality rate: 3.69/1000; life expectancy: 82.65 Capital and largest city (2011 est.):Andorra la Vella, 23,000 Monetary units: Euro National name: Principat d'Andorra Current government officials Languages: Catalán (official), French, Castilian, Portuguese Ethnicity/race: Spanish 43%, Andorran 33%, Portuguese 11%, French 7%, other 6% (1998) Religion: Roman Catholic (predominant) National Holiday: Our Lady of Meritxell Day, September 8 Literacy rate: 100% Economic summary: GDP/PPP(2012): $3.163 billion; per capita $37,200. Real growth rate: -1.6%.Inflation: 1.1%. Unemployment:4% (2012 est.). Arable land: 5.32%.Agriculture: small quantities of rye, wheat, barley, oats, vegetables; sheep. Labor force: 36,060 (2012); agriculture 0.4% industry 4.7%, services 94.9%. Industries: tourism (particularly skiing), cattle raising, timber, banking. Natural resources:hydropower, mineral water, timber, iron ore, lead. Exports: $70 million f.o.b. (2011): tobacco products, furniture. Imports: $1.43 billion (2011): consumer goods, food, electricity. Major trading partners: Spain, France Communications: Telephones:main lines in use: 39,000 (2012); mobile cellular: 65,000 (2012).Broadcast media: 1 public TV station and 2 public radio stations; about 10 commercial radio stations; good reception of radio and TV broadcasts from stations in France and Spain; upgraded to terrestrial digital TV broadcasting in 2007; roughly 25 international TV channels available (2012).Internet hosts: 28,383 (2012).Internet users: 67,100 (2009). Transportation: Railways: 0 km.Highways: total: 320 km; Ports and harbors: none. Airports: none. International disputes: none. Major sources and definitions

Geography

Andorra is nestled high in the Pyrénées Mountains on the French-Spanish border.

Government

A parliamentary coprincipality composed of the bishop of Urgel (Spain) and the president of France. Their representatives are listed above. The principality was internationally recognized as a sovereign state in 1993.

History

An autonomous and semi-independent coprincipality, Andorra has been under the joint suzerainty of the French state and the Spanish bishops of Urgel since 1278. It maintains closer ties to Spain, however, and Catalán is its official language. In the late 20th century, Andorra became a popular tourist and winter sports destination and a wealthy international commercial center because of its banking facilities, low taxes, and lack of customs duties. In 1990 Andorra approved a customs union treaty with the EU permitting free movement of industrial goods between the two, but with Andorra applying the EU's external tariffs to third countries. Andorra became a member of the UN in 1993 and a member of the Council of Europe in 1994. In 2002, Andorra shut down an incinerator that was emitting 1,000 times the dioxin levels permitted by the EU.

On June 3, 2009, Jaume Bartumeu was elected the new head of government with 14 votes in the the 28-seat Parliament.

Military

Andorra has a small army, which has historically been raised or reconstituted at various dates, but has never in modern times amounted to a standing army. The basic principle of Andorran defence is that all able-bodied men are available to fight if called upon by the sounding of the Sometent. Being a landlocked country, Andorra has no navy.

Prior to World War I Andorra maintained an armed force of about 600 part-time militiamen. This body was not liable for service outside the principality and was commanded by two officials (viguiers) appointed by France and the Bishop of Urgel.[19]

Despite not being involved in any fighting during the First World War, Andorra was technically the longest combatant, as the country was left out of the Versailles Peace Conference, technically remaining at war with Germany from its original declaration of war in 1914 until the 24th of September 1958 when Andorra officially declared peace with Germany.[20] [24]

In the modern era, the army has consisted of a very small body of volunteers willing to undertake ceremonial duties. Uniforms were handed down from generation to generation within families and communities.

The army's role in internal security was largely taken over by the formation of the Police Corps of Andorra in 1931. Brief civil disorder associated with the elections of 1933 led to assistance being sought from the French National Gendarmerie, with a detachment resident in Andorra for two months under the command of René-Jules Baulard.[25] The Andorran Army was reformed in the following year, with eleven soldiers appointed to supervisory roles.[26] The force consisted of sixCorporals, one for each parish (although there are currently seven parishes, there were only six until 1978), plus four junior staff officers to co-ordinate action, and a commander with the rank of major. It was the responsibility of the six corporals, each in his own parish, to be able to raise a fighting force from among the able-bodied men of the parish.

Today a small, twelve-man ceremonial unit remains the only permanent section of the Andorran Army, but all able-bodied men remain technically available for military service,[27] with a requirement for each family to have access to a firearm. The army has not fought for more than 700 years, and its main responsibility is to present the flag of Andorra at official ceremonial functions.[28][29] According to Marc Forné Molné, Andorra's military budget is strictly from voluntary donations, and the availability of full-time volunteers.[30]

The myth that all members of the Andorran Army are ranked as officers is popularly maintained in many works of reference.[31][32] In reality, all those serving in the permanent ceremonial reserve hold ranks as officers, or non-commissioned officers, because the other ranks are considered to be the rest of the able-bodied male population, who may still be called upon by the Sometent to serve, although such a call has not been made in modern times.