ANDORRA. — The largest of the smallest European states (452 sq. km.), on the southern slope of the Pyrenees between France (Ariège department) and the Bishopric of Urgell (Catalonia), under their joint high sovereignty. Economy is agricultural (cereals, tobacco) and pastoral. It had (1934) 6,200 inhabitants, about a thousand of whom lived in the capital, Andorra la Vella.
Giuseppe Caraci
The first records of Andorra date back to the Carolingian age. It was part of the “Spanish March,” established by the Frankish kings to defend the frontier. In 819 Louis the Pious granted Andorra as a fief to the Bishop of Urgell, a concession recognized by the Popes until 1909. In 1156 it returned to the Bishop after having been under other rule for 46 years.
During the first half of the 13th century Andorra was the scene of bitter disputes between the Counts of Foix and the Bishops of Urgell. The agreement reached in 1278 and ratified by Martin IV in 1282 definitively recognized feudal sovereignty to the Bishop of Urgell, who, however, had always retained the title of “Prince of Andorra.” The Count of Foix retained a kind of co-sovereignty, which, through the kings of Navarre, was incorporated into the French crown by Henry IV. In its present form the state of Andorra dates from 1231. The religion is Catholic. Andorra is divided into 6 parishes. Each has its own council presided over by a consul. There is also, as executive and legislative body, a General Council of 24 members, in which the 6 parishes are equally represented. Andorra belongs ecclesiastically to the Diocese of Urgell.
Ignazio Ortiz de Urbina