ANDORRA. - The largest of the smallest European States (452 sq. km.), on the southern slope of the Pyrenees between France (the department of Ariège) and the bishopric of Urgel (Catalonia), and under their joint high sovereignty. Its economy is agricultural (cereals, tobacco) and pastoral. It has (1934) 6,200 inhabitants, about a thousand of whom live in the capital, Andorra la Vella. Giuseppe Caraci
The earliest information on A. dates back to the Carolingian age. It formed part of the “Spanish March,” established by the Frankish kings for the defence of the frontier. In 819 Ludovico il Pio granted A. as a fief to the bishop of Urgel, a grant recognized by the Popes until 1099. In 1156 it returned to the bishop, after having been for 46 years
under another dominion. During the first half of the thirteenth century A. was the scene of bitter disputes between the counts of Foix and the bishops of Urgel. By the agreement reached in 1278 and ratified by Martino IV in 1282, feudal sovereignty was definitively recognized as belonging to the bishop of Urgel, who, moreover, had always retained the title of “prince of A.” The count of Foix, however, retained a kind of condominium, which, through the kings of Navarre, was incorporated by Enrico IV into the crown of France. In its present form, the State of A. dates from 1231. The religion is Catholic. A. is divided into 6 parishes. Each has its own council, presided over by a consul. There is also, as executive and legislative authority, a General Council of 24 members, in which the 6 parishes are equally represented. Ecclesiastically, A. belongs to the diocese of Urgel. Ignazio Ortiz de Urbina