Andorra Mini Guide
The land consists of high valleys carved out by glaciers and drained by tributaries of the Balira, which itself flows into the Segre river in Spain. It mountain peak reach heights between about 1800 and 3000 m (about 5900 and 9800 ft), and the scenery, which looks rather like the Swiss Alps, is spectacular. Cold winter and mild sunny summers add to the principality’s attractions.
About 6 million tourists come here every year to ski in the winter, walk in the mountain in the summer - and take advantage of the duty-free goods on sale. Indeed, tourism and the duty-free trade are Andorra's principal source of income - along with revenues from the sale of postage stamps and from advertising on its radio station, Radio Andorra, which broadcasts throughout Europe.
Because of substantial immigration in the 1960s and 1970s only about one-third of the population of 49 500 are now native-born Andorrans. The official and most used language is Catalan - it resembles Provencal and is also spoken in north-eastern Spain and the adjoining area of France - but French and Spanish are also common.