Andorra, one of the smallest countries in Europe, is situated high in the Pyrenean Mountains between France to the north and Spain to the south. Administratively, it is run as a joint venture between the two neighbouring countries.
It is mostly a single road throught the Valira Pass joining France and Spain with an additional dead-end road running north to El Serrat.
Its official name is the Principality of Andorra (Catalan: Principat d'Andorra). There are seven parishes in Andorra. The official language is Catalan, however Spanish and French are widely spoken, and English is usually understood. Andorra does not have its own currency therefore it uses the Euro.
For 715 years, from 1278 to 1993, Andorrans lived under a unique co-principality, ruled by French and Spanish leaders (from 1607 onward, the French chief of state and the Spanish bishop of Urgel). In 1993, this feudal system was modified with the titular heads of state retained, but the government transformed into a parliamentary democracy. Long isolated and impoverished, mountainous Andorra achieved considerable prosperity since World War II through its tourist industry. Many immigrants (legal and illegal) are attracted to the thriving economy with its lack of income taxes.