Andorra la Vella[a] is the capital and largest city ofAndorra. It is located high in the eastPyrenees, between France and Spain. It is also the name of theAndorran parish that surrounds the capital.
As of 2015[update], the city had a population of 22,886, and the urban area, which includesEscaldes–Engordany plus satellite villages, has over 40,000 inhabitants.[citation needed]
The principal industry is tourism, and the country also earns foreign income from being atax haven.[citation needed] It is at an elevation of 1,023 m (3,356 ft), and is the highest capital city in Europe.[citation needed] The city shares a border with Spain.
Andorra la Vella means "the city of Andorra", to distinguish it from the Principality of Andorra as a whole.[3] Although in Catalan the wordvella (like Frenchvieille) is derived from the Latin wordvetula which means "old", theVella here (like Frenchville and Catalanvila) is derived from the Latin wordvilla, meaning "city".[4]
The settlement of Andorra la Vella has been the principal city of Andorra since 1278 when the French and the Episcopal co-princesagreed to joint suzerainty. Andorra la Vella's old town—theBarri Antic—includes streets and buildings dating from this time. Its most notable building is theCasa de la Vall—constructed in the early sixteenth century—which has been the state's parliamentary house since 1702. Andorra la Vella was, during this period, the capital of a largely isolated andfeudal state, which retained its independence due to this principle of co-sovereignty.
Well into the twentieth century, the area around Andorra la Vella remained largely forgotten. After political turmoil in the 1930s and an attempted coup byBoris Skossyreff, an informal democracy developed.
In 1993, the country's first constitution formalised thisparliamentary democracy with executive, legislative, and judicial branches located in Andorra la Vella.
During this period, Andorra also developed as atax haven, resulting in the construction of modern banking offices in Andorra La Vella. The city also developed its skiing facilities, to the extent that Andorra la Vella was Andorra's applicant city for the XXI Olympic Winter Games, the2010 Winter Olympics. However, Andorra la Vella was not selected by theIOC as a candidate city, following the evaluation report of an IOC commission. It also hosted both the 1991 and2005 Games of the Small States of Europe.
Andorra la Vella has anoceanic climate (Köppen climate classification:Cfb), with warm days and cool nights in summer, and chilly to cold, snowy winters. The average annual precipitation is 812.3 mm (32 in). Temperatures in the city are lowered by the altitude (1,075 metres) compared with lowland areas.
Climate data for Andorra La Vella (Roc de Sant Pere), elevation: 1,075m (1971–2000, extremes 1934–present)
The city's old town is characterized by old stone streets and houses. The centralEsglésia de Sant Esteve (Saint Stephen) church is part of the area that guidebooks often label as a picturesque part of the city.[9] This was built in aRomanesque style in the eleventh century. As mentioned earlier, the old town also includes the country's historic parliament building. Probably the oldest building in the city is another church, dating from the ninth century, theChurch of Santa Coloma d'Andorra.[10]
NativeAndorrans account for only a third (33%) of the population, with the plurality being Spaniards (43%), and notable minorities of Portuguese (11%) and Frenchmen (7%). Most of the inhabitants areRoman Catholics. There is a high life expectancy of over 80 years.
The city is the country's cultural centre, with the Government Exhibition Hall acting as a main theatre and museum. Thepiazza outside the parliament building is also the location of a number of events, and the town hosts a music festival every winter.
Andorra la Vella is the country's commercial centre. In the country as a whole, 80% of theGDP is derived from the 10 million tourists who visit annually.[12] The city is also the centre for the manybanks and businesses that thrive from itstax haven status. The state is not a member of theEuropean Union, but has a customs arrangement with the EU, and uses theeuro.
Andorra la Vella has direct access to air transportation with commercial helicopter flights fromAndorra la Vella Heliport, located in the city centre.Andorra–La Seu d'Urgell Airport is located 24 kilometres (15 miles) south of the city; it is actually located in Spain and since July 2015 operates domestic routes to various airports across that country.[13] Nearby airports located in Spain and France provide access to international flights with the nearest airports beingPerpignan (156 km away) andLleida (160 km away). The largest nearby airports areToulouse (Tolosa),Girona andBarcelona.[14]
Andorra la Vella does not have a train station, although there are bus shuttle services linking the city to train stations atL'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre (France) andLleida in Spain. There are also shuttle buses from Barcelona,Girona andReus' airports to Andorra la Vella.[15]
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TheInstituto Español de Andorra (IEA), a Spanish international secondary school, is inLa Margineda in Andorra la Vella.[16] The Spanish primary school is Escuela Española de Andorra la Vella.[17]
^Roach, Peter (2011).Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-15253-2.
^"Andorra la Vella | enciclopèdia.cat".www.enciclopedia.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved2018-09-23."El sobrenomla Vella, és a dir,la vila, li fou afegit posteriorment per tal de distingir la vila del conjunt del territori homònim i potser també per a subratllar-ne la capitalitat" English: "The nicknameLa Vella, that is,the town, was later added to distinguish the town from the whole of the territory [of Andorra] and perhaps also to emphasize its role as the capital.
^Carrick, Noel (1988).Andorra. Chelsea House Publishers.ISBN9780791000991.The wordvella has been translated into both English and Spanish as meaning 'old'. In fact,vella is a corruption of the Latin wordvilla, meaning 'city'. ThusAndorra la Vella merely means 'the city of Andorra'
^"InicioArchived 2018-03-18 at theWayback Machine" Escuela Española de Andorra la Vella. Retrieved on May 2, 2015. "C/ CIUTAL DE VALLS, 33 AD500- ANDORRA LA VELLA"
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