What is the capital of Andorra?

The capital of Andorra is Andorra la Vella. It is both the country’s political center and its largest city, located high in the eastern Pyrenees near the borders of France and Spain.

The settlement has been Andorra’s principal city since 1278, when the agreement establishing joint rule by the Bishop of Urgell and the French co-prince helped shape the country’s unusual political system. Its name is Catalan: “Andorra la Vella” means “the old city of Andorra,” although “Vella” derives from a word meaning city or settlement rather than simply “old.”

A common mix-up is confusing the capital with nearby towns in the Andorran valleys. La Massana, Encamp, and Escaldes-Engordany are important parishes or towns, but none is the national capital. Andorra la Vella’s historic quarter includes Casa de la Vall, a sixteenth-century building that served as the seat of Andorra’s parliament from 1702 until the modern parliament building opened in 2011.