Andorra’s Minister of the Presidency and Economy, Jordi Gallardo, attended the Concert for Peace in November 2019. In his remarks, he highlighted the similarities between Andorra and Costa Rica, two States without an army that share a high-quality democracy.
Andorra and Costa Rica: Democracy and Development Without an Army
During his participation, Minister Gallardo highlighted some of the similarities between the two States. Among them, he underscored the high quality of the democracy they enjoy and the fact that both have opted for a development model free of military forces, since neither has an army.
The Concert for Peace commemorates the abolition of Costa Rica’s army, decided on December 1, 1948, and enshrined in Article 12 of the 1949 Political Constitution.
The Principality of Andorra: Key Facts
The Principality of Andorra is a sovereign microstate in southwestern Europe, constituted as an independent, democratic and social State governed by the rule of law, whose form of government is a parliamentary co-principality.
- Territory: about 468 km², located in the Pyrenees, between Spain and France.
- Borders: to the south with Spain, with the Catalan comarcas of Cerdanya, Alt Urgell and Pallars Sobirà; to the north with France, with the departments of Ariège and Pyrénées-Orientales.
- Territorial organization: seven parishes, with a total population of 76,177 inhabitants.
- Capital: Andorra la Vella.
Andorra’s Political System and Languages
Its political system is a parliamentary democracy whose heads of State are the Co-Princes of Andorra: the Bishop of Urgell and the President of France. It also has a Head of Government, equivalent to a prime minister.
The official language is Catalan, which makes Andorra the only independent State with this language as its official language. Due to the influence of neighboring States, Spanish, the everyday language of about one third of the population, and French are also commonly used.
The Chamber, Andorra and Costa Rica
The Israel Ibero-America Chamber of Commerce (CILIB) works with Andorra within its cooperation network. See the Andorra profile, the Costa Rica profile and the Concert for Peace page.
