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Andorra

sovereign microstate between France and Spain, in Western Europe

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ228 ↗
Source-derived summary

Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in southwestern Europe, bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south. Believed to have been created by Charlemagne, Andorra was ruled by the count of Urgell until 988, when it was transferred to the Diocese of Urgell. Andorra was formed as a polity by a charter in 1278, being a lordship within the Principality of Catalonia until 1715. It is currently headed by two co-princes: the Bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain, and the president of France. Its capital and largest city is Andorra la Vella.

Andorra is the sixth-smallest state in Europe and the largest of the European microstates, with an area of 468 square kilometres (181 sq mi) and an estimated population of 90,021 as of July 2026. The Andorran people are a Romance group descended from the Catalans. Andorra is the world's 17th-smallest country by land and 11th-smallest by population. Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres (3,356 feet) above sea level. The sole official language is Catalan, while Spanish, Portuguese and French are also used.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Andorra” as sovereign microstate between France and Spain, in Western Europe. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Andorra, sovereign and microstate.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1278, 1715, 2026—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1278, 1715, 1993—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Andorra, sovereign and microstate providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Andorra”, the useful work is to connect “sovereign microstate between France and Spain, in Western Europe” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q228. VIAF identifies the subject as 123100743. The Library of Congress control number is n80113598. Authority coordinates are 42.558, 1.555. 4 of 9 selected statements include explicit references; 5 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1278, 1715 and 2026.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Andorra” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.