ANDORRA. - The largest of the smallest European states (452 sq. km.), on the southern slope of the Pyrenees between France (department of Ariège) and the bishopric of Urgel (Catalonia) and under their joint high sovereignty. Agricultural (cereals, tobacco) and pastoral economy. It has (1934) 6,200 inhabitants, of whom about a thousand are in the capital, Andorra la Vella.
Giuseppe Caraci
The first reports about A. go back to the Carolingian age. It formed part of the "Spanish March," established by the Frankish kings for the defense of the frontier. In 819 Louis the Pious ceded A. as a fief to the bishop of Urgel, which was 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 13th century A. was the theater of bitter disputes between the counts of Foix and the bishops of Urgel. With the agreement reached in 1278 and ratified by Martin IV in 1282, feudal sovereignty was definitively recognized 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 Henry IV into the crown of France. In its present form the State of A. dates back to 1231. The religion is Catholic. A. is divided into 6 parishes. Each has its own council presided over by a consul. There is then, as executive and legislative power, a General Council of 24 members, in which the 6 parishes are equally represented. A. belongs ecclesiastically to the diocese of Urgel.
Ignazio Ortiz de Urbina