Country name:
conventional long form: Principality of Andorra
conventional short form:
Andorra
local long form:
Principat d'Andorra
local short form:
Andorra
Government type:
parliamentary democracy (since March 1993) that retains as its chiefs of state a co-principality; the two princes are the President of France and Bishop of Urgell, whose diocese is located in neighboring Spain; both co-princes maintain offices and representatives in Andorra
Capital:
name:
Andorra la Vella
geographic coordinates:
42 30 N, 1 31 E
time difference:
UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time:
+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Administrative divisions:
7 parishes (parroquies, singular - parroquia); Andorra la Vella, Canillo, Encamp, Escaldes-Engordany, La Massana, Ordino, Sant Julia de Loria
Independence:
1278 (formed under the joint sovereignty of the French Count of Foix and the Spanish Bishop of Urgell)
National holiday:
Our Lady of Meritxell Day, 8 September (1278)
Constitution:
drafted 1991, approved by referendum 14 March 1993, effective 28 April 1993 (2013)
Legal system:
mixed legal system of civil and customary law with the influence of canon law
International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
:
chief of state:
French Co-Prince Francois HOLLANDE (since 15 May 2012); represented by Christian FREMONT (since September 2008) and Spanish Coprince Archbishop Joan-Enric VIVES i Sicilia (since 12 May 2003); represented by Nemesi MARQUES i Oste (since 30 July 2003)
head of government:
Head of Government (or Cap de Govern) Antoni MARTI PETIT (since 12 May 2011)
cabinet:
Executive Council of nine ministers designated by the Head of Government
elections:
Head of Government elected by the General Council (Andorran Parliament) and formally appointed by the co-princes for a four-year term; election last held on 3 April 2011 (next to be held in April 2015)
election results:
Antoni MARTI PETIT was elected Head of Government; percent of General Council vote - 79%; note - the leader of the party which wins a majority of seats in the General Council is usually elected Head of Government
Legislative branch:
unicameral General Council of the Valleys or Consell General de las Valls (a minimum of 28 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote, 14 from a single national constituency and 14 to represent each of the seven parishes; to serve four-year terms); note - each voter casts two separate ballots - one for the national list, one for the parish list
elections:
last held on 3 April 2011 (next to be held in April 2015)
election results:
percent of vote by party - DA 55%, PS 35%, Andorra for Change 7%, VA 3%; seats by party - DA 22, PS 6; note - numbers of votes and percentages are for the respective national list; number of seats include seats won by the parish lists
Judicial branch:
highest court(s):
Supreme Court of Justice of Andorra or Tribunal Superior de la Justicia d'Andorra (consists of the court president and 8 judges organized into civil, criminal, and administrative chambers); Constitutional Court or Tribunal Constitucional (consists of 4 magistrates)
judge selection and term of office:
Supreme Court president and judges appointed by the Supreme Council of Justice, a 5-member judicial policy and administrative body appointed 1 each by the co-princes, 1 by the General Council, 1 by the executive council president, and 1 by the courts; judges serve 6-year renewable terms; Constitutional magistrates appointed 2 by the co-princes and 2 by the General Council; magistrates' appointments limited to two consecutive 8-year terms
subordinate courts:
Tribunal of Judges or Tribunal de Batlles; Tribunal of the Courts or Tribunal de Corts
Political parties and leaders:
there are four political parties at the national level:
note: there are also several smaller parties at the Parish level (one is Lauredian Union)
International organization participation:
CE, FAO, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICRM, IFRCS, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ITU, OIF, OPCW, OSCE, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, Union Latina, UNWTO, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WTO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Narcis CASAL de Fonsdeviela (since 2 November 2009)
chancery:
2 United Nations Plaza, 25th Floor, New York, NY 10017
telephone:
[1] (212) 750-8064
FAX:
[1] (212) 750-6630
Diplomatic representation from the US: the US does not have an embassy in Andorra; the US Ambassador to Spain is accredited to Andorra; US interests in Andorra are represented by the US Consulate General's office in Barcelona (Spain); mailing address: Paseo Reina Elisenda de Montcada, 23, 08034 Barcelona, Spain; telephone: [34] (93) 280-2227; FAX: [34] (93) 280-6175
Flag description:
three vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red, with the national coat of arms centered in the yellow band; the latter band is slightly wider than the other two so that the ratio of band widths is 8:9:8; the coat of arms features a quartered shield with the emblems of (starting in the upper left and proceeding clockwise): Urgell, Foix, Bearn, and Catalonia; the motto reads VIRTUS UNITA FORTIOR (Strength United is Stronger); the flag combines the blue and red French colors with the red and yellow of Spain to show Franco-Spanish protection
note:
similar to the flags of Chad and Romania, which do not have a national coat of arms in the center, and the flag of Moldova, which does bear a national emblem
National anthem:
name:
"El Gran Carlemany" (The Great Charlemagne)
lyrics/music:
Joan BENLLOCH i VIVO/Enric MARFANY BONS
note:
adopted 1921; the anthem provides a brief history of Andorra in a first person narrative
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Andorra on this page is re-published from the 2015 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Andorra Government 2015 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Andorra Government 2015 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 10-Feb-15