Prehistory (detail) La Balma de la
Margineda, found by archaeologists at
Sant Julià de Lòria, was settled in 9,500 BCE as a passing place between the two sides of the Pyrenees. The seasonal camp was perfectly located for hunting and fishing by the groups of hunter-gatherers from
Ariege and
Segre. During the
Neolithic, a group of people moved to the
Valley of Madriu (the present-day Natural Park located in
Escaldes-Engordany declared
UNESCO World Heritage Site) as a permanent camp in 6640 BCE. The population of the valley grew cereals, raised domestic livestock, and developed commercial trade with people from
Ségre and
Occitania. Other archaeological deposits include the Tombs of
Segudet (
Ordino) and Feixa del Moro (Sant Julià de Lòria), both dated in 4900–4300 BCE as an example of the
Urn culture in Andorra. The model of small settlements began to evolve to complex urbanism during the
Bronze Age.
Metallurgical items of iron, ancient coins, and reliquaries can be found in the
ancient sanctuaries scattered around the country. The sanctuary of Roc de les Bruixes (Stone of the Witches) is perhaps the most important archaeological complex of this age in Andorra, located in the parish of
Canillo, about the rituals of funerals, ancient scripture and engraved stone
murals.
Iberian and Roman Andorra 's route (red) during the
Second Punic War. The Iberian tribes (green) fought against the
Carthaginian army in the Pyrenees. The inhabitants of the valleys were traditionally associated with the
Iberians and historically located in Andorra as the Iberian tribe Andosins or Andosini () during the 7th and 2nd centuries BC. Influenced by the
Celtic,
Aquitanian,
Basque and
Iberian languages, the locals developed some current toponyms. Early writings and documents relating to this group of people goes back to the second century BC by the Greek writer
Polybius in his
Histories during the
Punic Wars. Some of the most significant remains of this era are the Castle of the Roc d'Enclar (part of the early
Marca Hispanica), l'Anxiu in
Les Escaldes and Roc de L'Oral in
Encamp. The presence of
Roman influence is recorded from the 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE. The places with the most Roman presence are in Camp Vermell (Red Field) in
Sant Julià de Lòria, and in some places in Encamp and in the Roc d'Enclar. People continued trading, mainly with wine and cereals, with the Roman cities of
Urgellet (the present-day
La Seu d'Urgell) and across Segre through the
via romana Strata Ceretana (also known as Strata Confluetana).
Visigoths and Carolingians instructing his son,
Louis the Pious After the
fall of the Roman Empire, Andorra came under the influence of the
Visigoths, the
Kingdom of Toledo, and the
Diocese of Urgell. The Visigoths remained in the valleys for 200 years, during which time
Christianity spread. When the
Muslim Empire of Al-Andalus replaced the ruling Visigoths in most of the Iberian Peninsula, Andorra was under the jurisdiction of the
Franks. Tradition holds that Charles the Great (Charlemagne) granted a charter to the Andorran people for a contingent of 5,000 soldiers under the command of Marc Almugaver, in return for fighting against the
Moors near
Porté-Puymorens (
Cerdanya). , as depicted in the ''Acta de Consagració i Dotació de la Catedral de la Seu d'Urgell'' (839) Andorra remained part of the
Frankish Marca Hispanica, the buffer zone between the
Frankish Empire and the Muslim territories, Andorra being part of the territory ruled by the
Count of Urgell and eventually the bishop of the Diocese of Urgell. Tradition also holds that it was guaranteed by the son of Charlemagne,
Louis the Pious, writing the
Carta de Poblament or a local
municipal charter . The first document that mentions Andorra as a territory is the ''Acta de Consagració i Dotació de la Catedral de la Seu d'Urgell'' (Deed of Consecration and Endowment of the Cathedral of La Seu d'Urgell). The document, dated 839, depicts the six old
parishes of the Andorran valleys that made up the country's administrative division. In 988, Count
Borrell II of Urgell gave the Andorran valleys to the Diocese of Urgell in exchange for land in
Cerdanya. Since then, the bishop of Urgell, based in Seu d'Urgell, has been
co-prince of Andorra.
Middle Ages: The Paréages and founding of the co-principality church, dating from the 11th century, part of the Andorran Romanesque heritage Before 1095, Andorra had no military protection, and the bishop of Urgell, who knew that the count of Urgell wanted to reclaim the Andorran valleys, married the
count of Foix,
Roger-Bernard II. Roger-Bernard II and Ermessenda shared rule over Andorra with the bishop of Urgell. In the 13th century, a military dispute arose between the bishop of Urgell and the count of Foix as aftermath of the
Cathar Crusade. The conflict was resolved in 1278 with the mediation of the
king of Aragon,
Peter III, between the bishop and the count, by the signing of the
first paréage, which provided that Andorra's sovereignty be shared between the count of Foix Although there are remains of ecclesiastical works dating before the 9th century (Sant Vicenç d'Enclar or
Església de Santa Coloma), Andorra developed exquisite
Romanesque Art during the 9th through 14th centuries, particularly in the construction of churches, bridges, religious murals and statues of the
Virgin and Child (
Our Lady of Meritxell being the most important). Nowadays, the
Romanesque buildings that form part of
Andorra's cultural heritage stand out in a remarkable way, with an emphasis on
Església de Sant Esteve,
Sant Joan de Caselles,
Església de Sant Miquel d'Engolasters,
Sant Martí de la Cortinada and the medieval bridges of
Margineda and
Escalls among many others. The Catalan Pyrenees were embryonic of the
Catalan language at the end of the 11th century. Andorra was influenced by this language, which was adopted locally decades before it expanded to the rest of the Crown of Aragon. The local economy during the
Middle Ages was based on livestock, agriculture, furs and weavers. Later, at the end of the 11th century, the first
iron foundries began to appear in Northern Parishes like
Ordino, much appreciated by the master artisans who developed the art of the forges, an important economic activity in the country from the 15th century.
16th to 18th centuries (High Court of Justice) inside
Casa de la Vall, the central Judiciary Court of Andorra In 1601 the
Tribunal de Corts (High Court of Justice) was created as a result of
Huguenot rebellions in
France,
Inquisition courts coming from
Spain and
witchcraft-related beliefs native to the area, in the context of the
Reformation and
Counter-Reformation. With the passage of time, the co-title to Andorra passed to the kings of
Navarre. After
Henry III of Navarre became
king of France, he issued an edict in 1607 that established the head of the French state and the bishop of Urgell as co-lords of Andorra. From the last quarter of the 17th century onwards, as political ties with the Principality of Catalonia and the Monarchy of Spain progressively weakened, the co-lords began to be referred and act as "
co-princes" (sovereigns), a political arrangement that still holds. During 1617, communal councils form the sometent (popular militia or army) to deal with the rise of bandolerisme (
brigandage) and the Consell de la Terra was defined and structured in terms of its composition, organisation and competences current today. Andorra continued with the same economic system that it had during the 12th–14th centuries with a large production of metallurgy (fargues, a system similar to Farga Catalana) and with the introduction of tobacco circa 1692 and import trade. In 1371 and 1448, the co-princes ratified the fair of Andorra la Vella, the most commercially important annual national festival ever since. of the Rossell family in
Ordino,
Casa Rossell, built in 1611. The family also owned the largest ironwork forges in Andorra as Farga Rossell and Farga del Serrat. The country had a unique and experienced guild of weavers, Confraria de Paraires i Teixidors, in
Escaldes-Engordany. Founded in 1604, it took advantage of the local thermal waters. By this time, the country was characterised by the social system of prohoms (wealthy society) and casalers (rest of the population with smaller economic acquisition), deriving from the tradition of
pubilla and
hereu. Three centuries after its foundation, the Consell de la Terra located its headquarters and the Tribunal de Corts in
Casa de la Vall in 1702. The
manor house built in 1580 served as a noble fortress of the Busquets family. Inside the parliament was placed the Closet of the Six Keys (Armari de les sis claus), representative of each Andorran parish, where the
Andorran constitution and other documents and laws were later kept. In both the
Reapers' War and the
War of the Spanish Succession, the Andorran people (while professing to be a neutral country) supported the rest of the
Catalans who ultimately saw most of their
rights suppressed in 1716 as a consequence of the promulgation of the
Nueva Planta decrees. In order to avoid the application of Nueva Planta to Andorra, the Bishop of Urgell,
Simeón de Guinda, convinced the new
Spanish Bourbon authorities that the Valleys of Andorra had always been neutral and unrelated to the
Principality of Catalonia, resulting in the definitive political separation of Andorra from Catalonia. Another direct reaction to the events was the promotion of Catalan writings in Andorra, with cultural works such as the
Book of Privileges (
Llibre de Privilegis de 1674),
Manual Digest (1748) by Antoni Fiter i Rossell or the
Polità andorrà (1763) by Antoni Puig.
19th century: New Reform and the Andorran Question led the New Reform of 1866. After the
French Revolution,
Napoleon I reestablished the Co-Principate in 1809 and removed the French medieval title. In 1812–1813, the
First French Empire annexed Catalonia during the
Peninsular War () and divided the region into four
departements, with Andorra as a part of the district of
Puigcerdà. In 1814, an imperial decree reestablished the independence and economy of Andorra. During this period, Andorra's late medieval institutions and rural culture remained largely unchanged. In 1866, the
syndic Guillem d'Areny-Plandolit led the reformist group in a Council General of 24 members elected by suffrage limited to heads of families. The Council General replaced the aristocratic oligarchy that previously ruled the state. The New Reform () began after ratification by both Co-Princes and established the basis of the
constitution and symbolssuch as the
tricolour flagof Andorra. A new
service economy arose as a demand of the valley inhabitants and began to build infrastructure such as hotels, spa resorts, roads and telegraph lines. scenery during the Revolution of 1881 The authorities of the Co-Princes banned casinos and betting houses throughout the country. The ban resulted in an economic conflict and the Revolution of 1881, which began when revolutionaries assaulted the house of the syndic on 8 December 1880, and established the Provisional Revolutionary Council led by Joan Pla i Calvo and Pere Baró i Mas. The Provisional Revolutionary Council allowed for the construction of casinos and spas by foreign companies. From 7 to 9 June 1881, the loyalists of
Canillo and
Encamp reconquered the parishes of
Ordino and
La Massana by establishing contact with the revolutionary forces in
Escaldes-Engordany. After a day of combat the
Treaty of the Bridge of Escalls was signed on 10 June. The council was replaced and new elections were held. The economic situation worsened, as the populace was divided over the – the "Andorran Question". The struggles continued between pro-bishops, pro-French, and nationalists based on the troubles of Canillo in 1882 and 1885. Andorra participated in the cultural movement of the Catalan
Renaixença. Between 1882 and 1887, the first academic schools were formed where trilingualism coexisted with the official language, Catalan.
Romantic authors from
France and
Spain reported the awakening of the
national consciousness of the country.
Jacint Verdaguer lived in Ordino during the 1880s where he wrote and shared works related to the Renaixença with writer and photographer
Joaquim de Riba. In 1848,
Fromental Halévy had premiered the opera ''
Le val d'Andorre'' to great success in Europe, where the national consciousness of the valleys was exposed in the romantic work during the Peninsular War.
20th and 21st century: Modernisation of the country and constitution , briefly self-proclaimed King of Andorra in 1934 In 1933 France occupied Andorra following social unrest which occurred before elections due to the
Revolution of 1933 and the FHASA strikes (Vagues de FHASA); the revolt led by
Joves Andorrans (a
labour union group related to the Spanish
CNT and
FAI) called for political reforms, the
universal suffrage vote of all Andorrans and acted in defence of the rights of local and foreign workers during the construction of FHASA's hydroelectric power station in
Encamp. On 5 April 1933 Joves Andorrans seized the Andorran Parliament. These actions were preceded by the arrival of Colonel René-Jules Baulard with 50
gendarmes and the mobilisation of 200 local militias or sometent led by the Síndic Francesc Cairat. On 6 July 1934, adventurer and nobleman
Boris Skossyreff, with his promise of freedoms and modernisation of the country and wealth through the establishment of a tax haven and foreign investments, received the support of the members of the General Council to proclaim himself the sovereign of Andorra. On 8 July 1934 Boris issued a proclamation in Urgell, declaring himself Boris I, King of Andorra, simultaneously declaring war on the Bishop of Urgell and approving the King's constitution on 10 July. He was arrested by the Co-Prince and Bishop
Justí Guitart i Vilardebó and their authorities on 20 July and ultimately expelled from
Spain. From 1936 until 1940, a French military detachment of
Garde Mobile led by well-known Colonel René-Jules Baulard was garrisoned in Andorra to secure the principality against disruption from the
Spanish Civil War and
Francoist Spain and also face the rise of
Republicanism in the aftermath of the 1933 Revolution. During the Spanish Civil War, the inhabitants of Andorra welcomed refugees from both sides, and many of them settled permanently in the country thus contributing to the subsequent economic boom and the entry into the
capitalist era of Andorra. Francoist troops reached the Andorran border in the later stages of the war. (centre). The local comite was led by Francesc Cairat (left), the
First General Syndic with the longest regencie, from 1936 to 1960. During World War II, Andorra remained neutral and was an important smuggling route between
Vichy France and Francoist Spain. Many Andorrans criticised the passivity of the General Council for impeding both the entry and expulsion of foreigners and refugees, committing economic crimes, reducing the rights of citizens and sympathy with
Francoism. General Council members justified the council's political and diplomatic actions as necessary for Andorra's survival and the protection of its sovereignty. Andorra was relatively unscathed by the two world wars and the Spanish Civil War. Certain
groups formed to help victims of oppression in
Nazi-occupied countries, while participating in smuggling to help Andorra survive. Among the most prominent was the
Hostal Palanques Evasion Network Command, which, in contact with the British
MI6, helped almost 400 fugitives, among whom were
Allied military personnel. The Command remained active between 1941 and 1944, although there were struggles with
pro-Axis informers and
Gestapo agents in Andorra. in the streets of Sant Julià de Lòria in Andorra, October 1967 In the capital city there was a smuggling black market of propaganda, culture and cinematic art not favourable to totalitarian regimes, promulgated in such places as the Hotel Mirador or the Casino Hotel, as a meeting place for
Free French forces and a route for escorting downed Allied pilots out of Europe. The network was maintained after the war, when film societies were formed, where movies, music and books
censored in Franco's Spain were imported, becoming an anti-censorship attraction for the Catalan or foreign public even within Andorra. The Andorran opening to the
capitalist economy resulted in two axes: mass tourism and the country's tax exemption. The first steps towards the capitalist boom date from the 1930s, with the construction of FHASA and the creation of professional banking with
Banc Agrícol (1930) and
Crèdit Andorrà (1949), later with
Banca Mora (1952),
Banca Cassany (1957) and SOBANCA (1960). Shortly after, activities such as skiing and shopping helped the country become a tourist attraction, with the inauguration of ski resorts and cultural entities in the late 1930s. A revived hotel industry also developed. In April 1968 a social health insurance system was created (
CASS). .|alt= meeting Austrian foreign minister
Sebastian Kurz at the
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in 2014 The Andorran government necessarily involved planning, projection and forecasts for the future: with the official visit of the French co-prince
Charles de Gaulle in 1967 and 1969; it was given approval for the economic boom and national demands within the framework of
human rights and international openness. Andorra experienced an era commonly known as the "Andorran dream" (similar to the
American Dream) along with the
Trente Glorieuses: mass culture rooted itself in the country experiencing radical changes in the economy and culture. Proof of this was
Ràdio Andorra, the top musical radio station in Europe in this period, with guests and speakers of great importance promoting musical hits from
chanson française,
swing,
rhythm & blues,
jazz,
rock and roll and
American country music. During this period Andorra achieved a GDP per capita and a life expectancy higher than most standard countries of the time. Given its relative isolation, Andorra has existed outside the mainstream of European history, with few ties to countries other than France, Spain and
Portugal. But in recent times its thriving tourist industry, along with developments in transport and communications, have removed the country from its isolation. Since 1976 the country has seen the need to reform Andorran institutions due to anachronisms in sovereignty, human rights and the balance of powers as well as the need to adapt legislation to modern demands. In 1982 a first separation of powers took place when instituting the Govern d'Andorra, under the name of the executive board (Consell Executiu), chaired by the first prime minister
Òscar Ribas Reig with the co-princes' approval. In 1989 the Principality signed an agreement with the
European Economic Community to regularise trade relations. Its political system was modernised in 1993 after the
Andorran constitutional referendum, when the
constitution was drafted by the co-princes and the General Council and approved on 14 March by 74.2% of voters, with a 76% turnout. The
first elections under the new constitution were held later in the year. Andorra formalised diplomatic relations with the United States in 1996, participating in the 51st
UN General Assembly. First General Syndic
Marc Forné took part in a speech in Catalan in the General Assembly to defend the reform of the organisation, and after three days he took part in the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to defend Andorra's linguistic rights and economy. In 2004, the
Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley was enlisted as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site, making it Andorra's first site, for its ancient pastoralism, communal land-use and ironworking traditions. In 2006 a monetary agreement with the European Union was formalised that allows Andorra to use the
euro officially, as well as minting its own euro coins. ==Geography==