10 Things You Didn’t Know About This Underrated European Destination

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If you’re not familiar with it, Andorra is a kickass European destination. Sandwiched between Spain and France, this landlocked microstate is tiny, but believe us when we say there is so much to Andorra that you probably don’t know. And we can guarantee you’ll have your eye on it going forward.

1. Andorra is technically a co-principality, or to be more technical, the only co-principality in the world.

Though Andorra looks a lot like a country (it has a functioning government, prime minister and representative), it is a monarchy led by two princes, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and Bishop of Urgell Joan Enric Vives Sicília. Similar to the British monarchy, the positions are more constitutional and have no real power.

2. According to Andorra’s website, over 90 percent of the principality’s territory is undeveloped.

Andorra’s mountainous terrain makes for some incredible hiking, mountain biking and skiing among other outdoor activities. There are also a variety of lakes, rivers and valleys to explore, so the options are endless.

3. Andorra is the only “country” with Catalan as its official language.

Catalan comes from (you guessed it) Catalonia, an autonomous community in Spain. Since Catalonia and Andorra are so close, it’s no wonder the country has been speaking this near-ancient language for its entire existence. Other recognized languages are Portuguese, Spanish and French.

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4. The principality relies on voluntary donations for its military budget.

Since Andorra hasn’t been in a war in over 700 years, its military budget is on a voluntary donation scale only. Crazy, right?

5. Andorra is not an official member of the European Union.

Andorra uses the euro, but it doesn’t have an official stake in the EU. It’s managed to work out how its government can remain autonomous: it can’t have an airport, so you have to fly to Spain or France to get to Andorra. Plus, Andorra has a special relationship with the EU in which it follows trade rules for industry, but not for agriculture. Somehow, it all works out.

6. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe and the sixteenth-smallest nation in the world.

Damn.

7. Andorra has a lot of immigrants…no, seriously.

Approximately two-thirds of residents are non-Andorran. Non-Andorrans can’t vote or be elected as president, so that leaves less than 30,000 people who can.

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8. Andorra ranks at #8 in best life expectancy in the world.

On average, Andorrans live to be about 82.8 years old, landing it number 8 of all the countries/principalities in the world. Wanna know where the U.S. is ranked? #42. WOMP.

9. Andorrans drink the most wine of any “country” in the world.

Leave it to the ones who live longer than most, right? According to the Wine Institute, Andorra consumes the most wine in the world, having guzzled 3,936,000 litres of wine in 2014 collectively. That sounds like a lot, but remember that the total population is only approximately 85,000 residents. That’s 76 bottles of wine per person per year. Crazy.

10. Andorra’s capital city, Andorra la Vella, is the highest global capital city based on elevation.

The capital city sits 3,356 feet above sea level, and approximately 22,000 residents live there.