Saturday, 29 November 2014

Andorra

Andorra is one of those countries where I only have about three cards from. I just realised I hadn't posted any here yet so here are a couple of them. The first one is from a swap, the second one from a RR on the Postcrossing forum.


Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, is a sovereign landlocked microstate in Southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe, having an area of 468 km2 and an estimated population of 85,000 in 2012. Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres above sea level. The official language is Catalan, although Spanish, Portuguese, and French are also commonly spoken.

Created under a charter in A.D. 988, the present Principality was formed in A.D. 1278. It is known as a principality as it is a monarchy headed by two Co-Princes – the Spanish/Roman Catholic Bishop of Urgell and the President of France.

Andorra is a prosperous country, mainly because of its tourism industry, which services an estimated 10.2 million visitors annually, and because of its status as a tax haven, although it is in the process of reforming its tax regime. It is not a member of the European Union, but the euro is the de facto currency. It has been a member of the United Nations since 1993. The people of Andorra have the 2nd highest human life expectancy at birth in the world – 84 years.


Andorra has two postal systems, the Spanish and the French one. These stamps are from the Spanish post...


I'm not sure of the exact location of this place, it only says 'Valls d'Andorra' on the back of the card.


... and these stamps are from the French post.

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