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Austroasiatic languages | Etymology | Etymology
The name Austroasiatic was coined by Wilhelm Schmidt () based on , the Latin word for "South" (but idiosyncratically used by Schmidt to refer to the southeast), and "Asia". Despite the literal meaning of its name, only three Austroasiatic branches are actually spoken in South Asia: Khasic, Munda, and Nicobare... |
Austroasiatic languages | Typology | Typology
Regarding word structure, Austroasiatic languages are well known for having an iambic "sesquisyllabic" pattern, with basic nouns and verbs consisting of an initial, unstressed, reduced minor syllable followed by a stressed, full syllable. This reduction of presyllables has led to a variety of phonological shap... |
Austroasiatic languages | Proto-language | Proto-language
Much work has been done on the reconstruction of Proto-Mon–Khmer in Harry L. Shorto's Mon–Khmer Comparative Dictionary. Little work has been done on the Munda languages, which are poorly documented. Proto-Mon–Khmer becomes synonymous with the Proto-Austroasiatic language with their demotion from a prima... |
Austroasiatic languages | Internal classification | Internal classification
Linguists traditionally recognize two primary divisions of Austroasiatic: the Mon–Khmer languages of Southeast Asia, Northeast India, and the Nicobar Islands, and the Munda languages of East and Central India and parts of Bangladesh and Nepal. However, no evidence for this classification has eve... |
Austroasiatic languages | Diffloth (1974) | Diffloth (1974)
Diffloth's widely cited original classification, now abandoned by Diffloth himself, is used in Encyclopædia Britannica and—except for the breakup of Southern Mon–Khmer—in Ethnologue.
Austro‑Asiatic
Munda
North Munda
Korku
Kherwarian
South Munda
Kharia–Juang
Koraput Munda
Mon–Khmer
Eastern Mon... |
Austroasiatic languages | Peiros (2004) | Peiros (2004)
Peiros is a lexicostatistic classification, based on percentages of shared vocabulary. This means that languages can appear to be more distantly related than they actually are due to language contact. Indeed, when Sidwell (2009) replicated Peiros's study with languages known well enough to account for l... |
Austroasiatic languages | Diffloth (2005) | Diffloth (2005)
Diffloth compares reconstructions of various clades, and attempts to classify them based on shared innovations, though like other classifications the evidence has not been published. As a schematic, we have:
Or in more detail,
Austro‑Asiatic
Munda languages (India)
Koraput: 7 languages
Core Mund... |
Austroasiatic languages | Sidwell (2009–2015) | Sidwell (2009–2015)
thumb|right|upright=1.81|Paul Sidwell and Roger Blench propose that the Austroasiatic phylum dispersed via the Mekong River drainage basin.
Paul Sidwell (2009), in a lexicostatistical comparison of 36 languages which are well known enough to exclude loanwords, finds little evidence for internal br... |
Austroasiatic languages | Sidwell (2018) | Sidwell (2018)
Sidwell (2018)Sidwell, Paul. 2018. Austroasiatic deep chronology and the problem of cultural lexicon . Paper presented at the 28th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society. Kaohsiung, Taiwan. (accessed 16 December 2020). (quoted in Sidwell 2021) gives a more nested classification of Aust... |
Austroasiatic languages | Possible extinct branches | Possible extinct branches
Roger Blench (2009)Blench, Roger. 2009. "Are there four additional unrecognised branches of Austroasiatic? ." also proposes that there might have been other primary branches of Austroasiatic that are now extinct, based on substrate evidence in modern-day languages.
Pre-Chamic languages (the l... |
Austroasiatic languages | Writing systems | Writing systems
Other than Latin-based alphabets, many Austroasiatic languages are written with the Khmer, Thai, Lao, and Burmese alphabets. Vietnamese divergently had an indigenous script based on Chinese logographic writing. This has since been supplanted by the Latin alphabet in the 20th century. The following are... |
Austroasiatic languages | External relations | External relations |
Austroasiatic languages | Austric languages | Austric languages
Austroasiatic is an integral part of the controversial Austric hypothesis, which also includes the Austronesian languages, and in some proposals also the Kra–Dai languages and the Hmong–Mien languages. |
Austroasiatic languages | Hmong-Mien | Hmong-Mien
Several lexical resemblances are found between the Hmong-Mien and Austroasiatic language families (Ratliff 2010), some of which had earlier been proposed by Haudricourt (1951). This could imply a relation or early language contact along the Yangtze.Haudricourt, André-Georges. 1951. Introduction à la phonol... |
Austroasiatic languages | Indo-Aryan languages | Indo-Aryan languages
It is suggested that the Austroasiatic languages have some influence on Indo-Aryan languages including Sanskrit and middle Indo-Aryan languages. Indian linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji pointed that a specific number of substantives in languages such as Hindi, Punjabi and Bengali were borrowed from M... |
Austroasiatic languages | Austroasiatic migrations and archaeogenetics | Austroasiatic migrations and archaeogenetics
Mitsuru Sakitani suggests that Haplogroup O1b1, which is common in Austroasiatic people and some other ethnic groups in southern China, and haplogroup O1b2, which is common in today's Japanese and Koreans, are the carriers of early rice agriculture from southern China.崎谷満『... |
Austroasiatic languages | Migration into India | Migration into India
According to Chaubey et al., "Austro-Asiatic speakers in India today are derived from dispersal from Southeast Asia, followed by extensive sex-specific admixture with local Indian populations." According to Riccio et al., the Munda peoples are likely descended from Austroasiatic migrants from Sou... |
Austroasiatic languages | Notes | Notes |
Austroasiatic languages | References | References |
Austroasiatic languages | Sources | Sources
Adams, K. L. (1989). Systems of numeral classification in the Mon–Khmer, Nicobarese and Aslian subfamilies of Austroasiatic. Canberra, A.C.T., Australia: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University.
Alves, Mark J. (2015). Morphological functions among Mon-Khm... |
Austroasiatic languages | Further reading | Further reading
Mann, Noel, Wendy Smith and Eva Ujlakyova. 2009. Linguistic clusters of Mainland Southeast Asia: an overview of the language families. Chiang Mai: Payap University.
Sidwell, Paul. 2016. Bibliography of Austroasiatic linguistics and related resources .
E. K. Brown (ed.) Encyclopedia of Langua... |
Austroasiatic languages | External links | External links
Swadesh lists for Austro-Asiatic languages (from Wiktionary's Swadesh-list appendix)
Mon–Khmer.com Lectures by Paul Sidwell
Mon–Khmer Languages Project at SEAlang
Munda Languages Project at SEAlang
RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)
RWAAI Digital Archive
Mich... |
Austroasiatic languages | Table of Content | Short description, Etymology, Typology, Proto-language, Internal classification, Diffloth (1974), Peiros (2004), Diffloth (2005), Sidwell (2009–2015), Sidwell (2018), Possible extinct branches, Writing systems, External relations, Austric languages, Hmong-Mien, Indo-Aryan languages, Austroasiatic migrations and a... |
Afroasiatic languages | short description | The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahara and Sahel. Over 500 million people are native speakers of an Afroasi... |
Afroasiatic languages | Name | Name
In current scholarship, the most common names for the family are Afroasiatic (or Afro-Asiatic), Hamito-Semitic, and Semito-Hamitic. Other proposed names that have yet to find widespread acceptance include Erythraic/Erythraean, Lisramic, Noahitic, and Lamekhite.
Friedrich Müller introduced the name Hamito-Semitic ... |
Afroasiatic languages | Distribution and branches | Distribution and branches
thumb|A diagram of the six widely recognized branches of the Afroasiatic family, including some of the larger or more culturally significant languages in each branch.
Scholars generally consider Afroasiatic to have between five and eight branches. The five that are universally agreed upon are ... |
Afroasiatic languages | Berber | Berber
The Berber (or Libyco-Berber) languages are spoken today by perhaps 16 million people. They are often considered to constitute a single language with multiple dialects. Other scholars, however, argue that they are a group of around twelve languages, about as different from each other as the Romance or Germanic ... |
Afroasiatic languages | Chadic | Chadic
Chadic languages number between 150 and 190, making Chadic the largest family in Afroasiatic by number of extant languages. The Chadic languages are typically divided into three major branches, East Chadic, Central Chadic, and West Chadic. Most Chadic languages are located in the Chad Basin, with the exception ... |
Afroasiatic languages | Cushitic | Cushitic
There are about 30 Cushitic languages, more if Omotic is included, spoken around the Horn of Africa and in Sudan and Tanzania. The Cushitic family is traditionally split into four branches: the single language of Beja (c. 3 million speakers), the Agaw languages, Eastern Cushitic, and Southern Cushitic. Only o... |
Afroasiatic languages | Egyptian | Egyptian
thumb|right|Seal impression from the tomb of Seth-Peribsen (c. 2690 BCE), containing the first complete sentence in Ancient Egyptian.
The Egyptian branch consists of a single language, Egyptian (often called "Ancient Egyptian"), which was historically spoken in the lower Nile Valley. Egyptian is first atteste... |
Afroasiatic languages | Omotic | Omotic
The c. 30 Omotic languages are still mostly undescribed by linguists. They are all spoken in southwest Ethiopia except for the Ganza language, spoken in Sudan. Omotic is typically split into North Omotic (or Damotic) and South Omotic (or Aroid), with the latter more influenced by the Nilotic languages; it is un... |
Afroasiatic languages | Semitic | Semitic
There are between 40 and 80 languages in the Semitic family. Today, Semitic languages are spoken across North Africa, West Asia, and the Horn of Africa, as well as on the island of Malta, making them the sole Afroasiatic branch with members originating outside Africa. Arabic, spoken in both Asia and Africa, is... |
Afroasiatic languages | Other proposed branches | Other proposed branches
There are also other proposed branches, but none has so far convinced a majority of scholars:
Linguist H. Fleming proposed that the near-extinct Ongota language is a separate branch of Afroasiatic; however, this is only one of several competing theories. About half of current scholarly hypothes... |
Afroasiatic languages | Further subdivisions | Further subdivisions
+ Some proposed Afroasiatic subdivisions Omotic
Afroasiatic
Semitic
Old East Africa Cushitic
Erythraic
Cushitic
Beja
Egyptian
Berber-Chadic
Berber
Chadic Omotic
Erythraean
Cushitic
North Erythrean
Chadic
Boreafrasian
Egyptian
Berber
Semitic Omotic
Chadic
Central Afroa... |
Afroasiatic languages | Official Status | Official Status
LanguageBranchOfficial status per countryBerberBerberAlgeria, MoroccoHausaChadicNiger, Nigeria (national)AfarCushiticEthiopia, Djibouti (national)OromoEthiopiaSomaliSomalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti (national)AmharicSemiticEthiopiaArabicAlgeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, Jordan... |
Afroasiatic languages | Classification history | Classification history
A relationship between Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic and the Berber languages was perceived as early as the 9th century CE by the Hebrew grammarian and physician Judah ibn Quraysh, who is regarded as a forerunner of Afroasiatic studies. The French orientalist Guillaume Postel had also pointed out s... |
Afroasiatic languages | Origin | Origin |
Afroasiatic languages | Timeline | Timeline
There is no consensus as to when Proto-Afroasiatic was spoken. The absolute latest date for when Proto-Afroasiatic could have been extant is , after which Egyptian and the Semitic languages are firmly attested. However, in all likelihood these languages began to diverge well before this hard boundary. The esti... |
Afroasiatic languages | Location | Location
Likewise, no consensus exists as to where proto-Afroasiatic originated. Scholars have proposed locations for the Afroasiatic homeland across Africa and West Asia. Roger Blench writes that the debate possesses "a strong ideological flavor", with associations between an Asian origin and "high civilization". An ... |
Afroasiatic languages | Phonological characteristics | Phonological characteristics
thumb|right|upright=0.8|Speech sample in Shilha (Berber branch)
thumb|right|upright=0.8|Speech sample in the Semitic Neo-Aramaic language, a descendant of Old Aramaic
thumb|right|upright=0.8|Speech sample in Somali (Cushitic branch)
thumb|right|upright=0.8|Speech sample in Classical Arabic ... |
Afroasiatic languages | Syllable structure | Syllable structure
Egyptian, Cushitic, Berber, Omotic, and most languages in the Semitic branch require every syllable to begin with a consonant (with the exception of some grammatical prefixes). Igor Diakonoff argues that this constraint goes back to Proto-Afroasiatic. Some Chadic languages allow a syllable to begin w... |
Afroasiatic languages | Consonant systems | Consonant systems
Several Afroasiatic languages have large consonant inventories, and it is likely that this is inherited from proto-Afroasiatic. All Afroasiatic languages contain stops and fricatives; some branches have additional types of consonants such as affricates and lateral consonants. Afroasiatic languages ten... |
Afroasiatic languages | Consonant incompatibility | Consonant incompatibility
+ Examples of root consonant incompatibilities from Egyptian, after consonant cannot occur with p b, f, m, h r ꜣ, b ḫ h, ḥ, ẖ, q, k, g, ṯ, ḏ s ḥ, z t ꜥ, z, q, g, d, ḏ
Restrictions against the co-occurrence of certain, usually similar, consonants in verbal roots can be found in all Afroa... |
Afroasiatic languages | Vowel systems | Vowel systems
There is a large variety of vocalic systems in Afroasiatic, and attempts to reconstruct the vocalic system of Proto-Afroasiatic vary considerably.
All branches of Afroasiatic have a limited number of underlying vowels (between two and seven), but the number of phonetic vowels can be much larger. The quali... |
Afroasiatic languages | Tones | Tones
The majority of Afroasiatic languages are tonal languages: phonemic tonality is found in Omotic, Chadic, and Cushitic languages, but absent in Berber and Semitic. There is no information on whether Egyptian had tones. In contemporary Omotic, Chadic, and Cushitic languages, tone is primarily a grammatical feature:... |
Afroasiatic languages | Similarities in grammar, syntax, and morphology | Similarities in grammar, syntax, and morphology
At present, there is no generally accepted reconstruction of Proto-Afroasiatic grammar, syntax, or morphology, nor one for any of the sub-branches besides Egyptian. This means that it is difficult to know which features in Afroasiatic languages are retentions, and which a... |
Afroasiatic languages | General features | General features |
Afroasiatic languages | Consonantal root structures | Consonantal root structures
A widely attested feature in AA languages is a consonantal structure into which various vocalic "templates" are placed. This structure is particularly visible in the verbs, and is particularly noticeable in Semitic. Besides for Semitic, vocalic templates are well attested for Cushitic and Be... |
Afroasiatic languages | Word order | Word order
It remains unclear what word order Proto-Afroasiatic had. Berber, Egyptian, and most Semitic languages are verb-initial languages, whereas Cushitic, Omotic and some Semitic subgroups are verb-final languages. Proto-Chadic is reconstructed as having verb-initial word order, but most Chadic languages have subj... |
Afroasiatic languages | Reduplication and gemination | Reduplication and gemination
Afroasiatic Languages use the processes of reduplication and gemination (which often overlap in meaning) to derive nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs throughout the AA language family. Gemination in particular is one of the typical features of AA. Full or partial reduplication of the ver... |
Afroasiatic languages | Nouns | Nouns |
Afroasiatic languages | Grammatical gender and number | Grammatical gender and number
The assignment of nouns and pronouns to either masculine or feminine gender is present in all branches – but not all languages – of the Afroasiatic family. This sex-based gender system is widely agreed to derive from Proto-Afroasiatic. In most branches, gender is an inherent property of no... |
Afroasiatic languages | Noun cases and states | Noun cases and states
Nouns cases are found in the Semitic, Berber, Cushitic, and Omotic branches. They are not found in Chadic languages, and there is no evidence for cases in Egyptian. A common pattern in AA languages with case is for the nominative to be marked by -u or -i, and the accusative to be marked by -a. How... |
Afroasiatic languages | Modifiers and agreement | Modifiers and agreement
There is no strict distinction between adjectives, nouns, and adverbs in Afroasiatic. All branches of Afroasiatic have a lexical category of adjectives except for Chadic; some Chadic languages do have adjectives, however. In Berber languages, adjectives are rare and are mostly replaced by nouns ... |
Afroasiatic languages | Verb forms | Verb forms |
Afroasiatic languages | Tenses, aspects, and moods (TAMs) | Tenses, aspects, and moods (TAMs)
There is no agreement about which tenses, aspects, or moods (TAMs) Proto-Afroasiatic might have had. Most grammars of AA posit a distinction between perfective and imperfective verbal aspects, which can be found in Cushitic, Berber, Semitic, most Chadic languages, and some Omotic lang... |
Afroasiatic languages | "Prefix conjugation" | "Prefix conjugation"
Conjugation of verbs using prefixes that mark person, number, and gender can be found
in Semitic, Berber, and in Cushitic, where it is only found on a small set of frequent verbs. These prefixes are clearly cognate across the branches, although their use within the verbal systems of the individual ... |
Afroasiatic languages | "Suffix conjugation" | "Suffix conjugation"
Some AA branches have what is called a "suffix conjugation", formed by adding pronominal suffixes to indicate person, gender, and number to a verbal adjective. In Akkadian, Egyptian, Berber, and Cushitic this forms a "stative conjugation", used to express the state or result of an action; the same ... |
Afroasiatic languages | Common derivational affixes | Common derivational affixes |
Afroasiatic languages | M-prefix noun derivation | M-prefix noun derivation
A prefix in m- is the most widely attested affix in AA that is used to derive nouns, and is one of the features Joseph Greenberg used to diagnose membership in the family. It forms agent nouns, place nouns, and instrument nouns. In some branches, it can also derive abstract nouns and participle... |
Afroasiatic languages | Verbal extensions | Verbal extensions
Many AA languages use prefixes or suffixes (verbal extensions) to encode various pieces of information about the verb. Three derivational prefixes can be reconstructed for Proto-Afroasiatic: *s- 'causative', *t- 'middle voice' or 'reflexive', and *n- 'passive'; the prefixes appear with various related... |
Afroasiatic languages | <span class="anchor" id="nisba"></span>"Nisba" derivation | "Nisba" derivation
The so-called "Nisba" is a suffix used to derive adjectives from nouns and, in Egyptian, also from prepositions. It is found in Egyptian, Semitic, and possibly, in some relic forms, Berber. The suffix has the same basic form in Egyptian and Semitic, taking the form -i(y) in Semitic and being written ... |
Afroasiatic languages | Vocabulary comparison | Vocabulary comparison |
Afroasiatic languages | Pronouns | Pronouns
The forms of the pronouns are very stable throughout Afroasiatic (excluding Omotic), and they have been used as one of the chief tools for determining whether a language belongs to the family. However, there is no consensus on what the reconstructed set of Afroasiatic pronouns might have looked like. A common ... |
Afroasiatic languages | Numerals | Numerals
Unlike in the Indo-European or Austronesian language families, numerals in AA languages cannot be traced to a proto-system. The Cushitic and Chadic numeral systems appear to have originally been base 5. The system in Berber, Egyptian, and Semitic, however, has independent words for the numbers 6–9. Thus, it is... |
Afroasiatic languages | Cognates | Cognates
Afroasiatic languages share a vocabulary of Proto-Afroasiatic origin to varying extents. Writing in 2004, John Huehnergard notes the great difficulty in establishing cognate sets across the family. Identifying cognates is difficult because the languages in question are often separated by thousands of years of... |
Afroasiatic languages | See also | See also
Afroasiatic phonetic notation
Borean languages
Languages of Africa
Languages of Asia
Nostratic languages |
Afroasiatic languages | Notes | Notes |
Afroasiatic languages | Citations | Citations |
Afroasiatic languages | Works cited | Works cited
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Afroasiatic languages | External links | External links
Afro-Asiatic at the Linguist List MultiTree Project: Genealogical trees attributed to Delafosse 1914, Greenberg 1950–1955, Greenberg 1963, Fleming 1976, Hodge 1976, Orel & Stolbova 1995, Diakonoff 1996–1998, Ehret 1995–2000, Hayward 2000, Militarev 2005, Blench 2006, and Fleming 2006
Afro-Asiatic and S... |
Afroasiatic languages | Table of Content | short description, Name, Distribution and branches, Berber, Chadic, Cushitic, Egyptian, Omotic, Semitic, Other proposed branches, Further subdivisions, Official Status, Classification history, Origin, Timeline, Location, Phonological characteristics, Syllable structure, Consonant systems, Consonant incompatibility, Vow... |
Andorra | short description | Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a sovereign 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 w... |
Andorra | Etymology | Etymology
The origin of the word Andorra is unknown, although several hypotheses have been proposed. The oldest is one put forward by the Greek historian Polybius (Histories III, 35, 1), who describes the Andosins, an Iberian Pre-Roman tribe, as historically located in the valleys of Andorra and facing the Carthaginian... |
Andorra | History | History |
Andorra | Prehistory | Prehistory
left|thumb|Roc de les Bruixes prehistorical sanctuary in Canillo (detail)
La Balma de la Margineda, found by archaeologists at Sant Julià de Lòria, was settled in 9,500 BCE as a passing place between the two sides of the Pyrenees. The seasonal camp was perfectly located for hunting and fishing by the grou... |
Andorra | Iberian and Roman Andorra | Iberian and Roman Andorra
left|thumb|Hannibal's route (red) during the Second Punic War. The Iberian tribes (green) fought against the Carthaginian army in the Pyrenees
The inhabitants of the valleys were traditionally associated with the Iberians and historically located in Andorra as the Iberian tribe Andosins or An... |
Andorra | Visigoths and Carolingians: the legend of Charlemagne | Visigoths and Carolingians: the legend of Charlemagne
right|thumb|Charlemagne instructing his son, Louis the Pious
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Andorra came under the influence of the Visigoths, the Kingdom of Toledo, and the Diocese of Urgell. The Visigoths remained in the valleys for 200 years, during which t... |
Andorra | Middle Ages: The Paréages and the founding of the Co-Principality | Middle Ages: The Paréages and the founding of the Co-Principality
left|thumb|Sant Joan de Caselles church, dating from the 11th century, part of the Andorran Romanesque heritage
Before 1095, Andorra had no military protection, and the bishop of Urgell, who knew that the count of Urgell wanted to reclaim the Andorran va... |
Andorra | 16th to 18th centuries | 16th to 18th centuries
right|thumb|Main hall of Tribunal de Corts (High Court of Justice) inside Casa de la Vall, the central Judiciary Court of Andorra
In 1601 the Tribunal de Corts (High Court of Justice) was created as a result of Huguenot rebellions in France, Inquisition courts coming from Spain and witchcraft-rel... |
Andorra | 19th century: the New Reform and the Andorran Question <span class="anchor" id="New Reform of Andorra"></span> | 19th century: the New Reform and the Andorran Question
thumb|upright|left|Guillem d'Areny-Plandolit led the New Reform of 1866
After the French Revolution, Napoleon I reestablished the Co-Principate in 1809 and removed the French medieval title. In 1812–1813, the First French Empire annexed Catalonia during the Peni... |
Andorra | 20th and 21st century: Modernisation of the country and constitutional Andorra | 20th and 21st century: Modernisation of the country and constitutional Andorra
thumb|right|upright=0.8|Boris Skossyreff, briefly self-proclaimed King of Andorra in 1934
In 1933 France occupied Andorra following social unrest which occurred before elections due to the Revolution of 1933 and the FHASA strikes (Vagues de... |
Andorra | Politics | Politics
Andorra is a parliamentary co-principality with the bishop of Urgell and the president of France as co-princes. This peculiarity makes the president of France, in his capacity as prince of Andorra, an elected monarch, although he is not elected by a popular vote of the Andorran people. The politics of Andorra... |
Andorra | Law and criminal justice | Law and criminal justice
The judiciary is composed of the Magistrates Court, the Criminal Law Court, the High Court of Andorra, and the Constitutional Court. The High Court of Justice is composed of five judges: one appointed by the prime minister, one each by the co-princes, one by the Syndic General, and one by the ... |
Andorra | Foreign relations, defence and security | Foreign relations, defence and security
thumb|The embassy of Andorra in Brussels
Andorra does not have its own armed forces, although there is a small ceremonial army. Responsibility for defending the nation rests primarily with France and Spain. However, in case of emergencies or natural disasters, the Sometent (an a... |
Andorra | Military | Military
Andorra has a small army, which has historically been raised or reconstituted at various dates, but has never in modern times amounted to a standing army. The basic principle of Andorran defence is that all able-bodied men are available to fight if called upon by the summoning of the Sometent (a civil defence ... |
Andorra | Andorra in the Council of Europe | Andorra in the Council of Europe
Andorra is one of the 46 member states of the Council of Europe, having joined on 10 November 1994. Through its membership in the Council of Europe, Andorra is or has been involved in the following areas:
Prevention of torture: Inspections by the European Committee for the Preventi... |
Andorra | Police Corps | Police Corps
thumb|National Police patrolling the central area of the capital city
Andorra maintains a small but modern and well-equipped internal police force, with around 240 police officers supported by civilian assistants. The principal services supplied by the corps are uniformed community policing, criminal dete... |
Andorra | GIPA | GIPA
The ' (GIPA) is a small special forces squad trained in counter-terrorism, and hostage recovery tasks. Although it is the closest in style to an active military force, it is part of the Police Corps, and not the army. As terrorist and hostage situations are a rare threat to the country, the GIPA is commonly assign... |
Andorra | Fire brigade | Fire brigade
The Andorran Fire Brigade, with headquarters at Santa Coloma, operates from four modern fire stations, and has a staff of around 120 firefighters. The service is equipped with 16 heavy appliances (fire tenders, turntable ladders, and specialist four-wheel drive vehicles), four light support vehicles (cars ... |
Andorra | Geography | Geography
thumb|right|Map of Andorra with its seven parishes labelled
thumb|Topographic map of Andorra |
Andorra | Parishes | Parishes
Andorra consists of seven parishes:
30px| Andorra la Vella
30px| Canillo
30px| Encamp
35px| Escaldes-Engordany
35px| La Massana
35px| Ordino
35px| Sant Julià de Lòria |
Andorra | Physical geography | Physical geography
Due to its location in the eastern Pyrenees mountain range, Andorra consists predominantly of rugged mountains, the highest being the Coma Pedrosa at , and the average elevation of Andorra is .Atlas of Andorra (1991), Andorran Government. . These are dissected by three narrow valleys in a Y shape th... |
Andorra | Environment | Environment
Phytogeographically, Andorra belongs to the Atlantic European province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF, the territory of Andorra belongs to the ecoregion of Pyrenees conifer and mixed forests. Andorra had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.45/1... |
Andorra | Important Bird Area | Important Bird Area
The whole country has been recognised as a single Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International, because it is important for forest and mountain birds and supports populations of red-billed choughs, citril finches and rock buntings. |
Andorra | Climate | Climate
Andorra has alpine, continental and oceanic climates, depending on altitude. Its higher elevation means there is, on average, more snow in winter and it is slightly cooler in summer. The diversity of landmarks, the different orientation of the valleys and the irregularity relief typical of the Mediterranean cl... |
Andorra | Economy | Economy
Tourism, the mainstay of Andorra's economy, accounts for roughly 80% of GDP. An estimated 8 million tourists visit annually, attracted by Andorra's duty-free status and by its summer and winter resorts.
One of the main sources of income in Andorra is from ski resorts, which total over of ski grounds. The spo... |
Andorra | Demographics | Demographics
thumb|The town of Encamp, as seen from the Vall dels Cortals |
Andorra | Population | Population
The population of Andorra is estimated at (). The Andorrans are a Romance ethnic group of originally Catalan descent. The population has grown from 5,000 in 1900.
Two-thirds of residents lack Andorran nationality and do not have the right to vote in communal elections. Moreover, they are not allowed to be... |
Andorra | Languages | Languages
The historic and official language is Catalan, a Romance language. The Andorran government encourages the use of Catalan. It funds a Commission for Catalan Toponymy in Andorra (Catalan: ), and provides free Catalan classes to assist immigrants. Andorran television and radio stations use Catalan.
Because of ... |