Government, geography, and environmental challenges of Andorra

Andorra is a small country in the southwest Europe in the eastern part of the Pyrenees Mountains of the border of Spain and France. It is hence a landlocked country that shares its border with Spain and France. Its capital is Andorra La Vela which is also the largest city in the country.

There has been a parliamentary democracy in existence with a multiparty system in Andorra since 1993 that retains its heads of state. The government is divided into three branches these are; the executive, legislature and judiciary. The executive council comprises of the head of government and seven ministers that stay in office for a term of four years after they are elected. The executive powers are exercised by the government. The legislative branch is made up of 28 members and the legislative power is exercised by both the government and parliament. Judiciary exists as an independent body and the highest court is the superior court of justice that has five members. A unique factor in Andorra is the fact that it has unique co-principality with co-princes of France and Spain as head of state that has limited powers. Dominant political parties in Andorra are Andorra for change, Democrats of Andorra and Liberty party Reformists. The head of government in Andorra is the prime minister and other heads of states are French prince and Spanish prince who are represented locally by co-princes representatives.

Andorra faces some environmental problems such as deforestation; the overgrazing of the mountain meadows has resulted to soil erosion and with no land that is irrigated leads to land wastage in Andorra. Other issues include air pollution and how the waste water is treated and the manner in which solid wastes are disposed. Even though there are environmental agreements signed they are however there is no ratification of the signed agreements.

The population in Andorra is made up of many ethnic groups that enjoy warm inter-ethnic relations that exist in Andorra. The major ethnic groups are Andorran; Spanish, French and Portuguese .The official language in Andorra is Catalan. This is the traditional language that is used by about 33% of the country's total population. This language is used by national media and official communication in the country. This language is termed as a modern romance language that is related closely to Occitan; a language spoken in southern France which uses acute and grave accents. The main language however is Spanish; spoken by about 60% of the population who are Spanish immigrants. Other languages spoken in Andorra are French and Portuguese. The prominent festivals in Andorra are religious festivals, this include Christmas, Easter, St. George's day where roses and books are gifted to family and friends; St. Lucia fair where goods that are typical for Christmas are sold; St. John's day were there are bonfires made in every city. Many festivals are related to music and art apart from religion. They are festivals such as festival of classic music that is held every September and an international Jazz festival that takes place every Julys. Apart from this there are several dance and music exhibitions held every year between November and May. There is no official religion in Andorra, but it is worth noting that 90% of Andorrans follow the Roman Catholicism and the patron saint is Our Lady of Meritxell. There are special privileges given to religious groups as stipulated by the constitution of the country. Muslim, Jews and Jehovah's Witness are religious minorities in Andorra.